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A majority of social skills research in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and interventions target school age males and no published studies target adolescent females with ASD or related disabilities. Females with ASD are at risk for internalizing symptoms, and experience greater challenges in socialization and communication as social demands become increasingly complex in adolescence. This paper provides a thorough description of a social skills and self-care program designed to address the specific needs of adolescent females with ASD. The approach is peer mediated and occurs within natural or community settings to facilitate generalization. Findings from program evaluation data collected across 4 years illustrate significant improvements in perceived social competence, self-perception, and quality of life and suggests the approach is feasible and social valid.

A plethora of literature suggests that collaborative partnerships among families, educators, and outside service providers are necessary and beneficial to address behavior problems, but there continues to be a lack of coordination among these stakeholders. The current study used conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) to facilitate the development and implementation of collaborative intervention plans. Parents, teachers, and an outside mental health provider worked together to create and support behavioral intervention plans that were implemented at home and school. The results of this multiple baseline study indicate that collaborative interventions developed through the CBC process were effective in improving behavior at home and school. More specifically, visual analysis of the data, along with calculated effect sizes, showed an increase in the percentage of time that all 3 participants complied with expectations during problematic routines at home and school. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Children living in rural and underserved areas experience decreased access to health care services and are often diagnosed with autism at a later age compared to those living in urban or suburban areas. This study examines the utility and validity of an ASD assessment protocol conducted via video conferencing (VC). Participants (n = 17) included families with young children (2.5-6 years) requesting an evaluation for ASD in an interdisciplinary clinic. We randomly assigned families to complete an additional evaluation either in-person or via VC prior to their clinic appointment and compared diagnostic impressions to their interdisciplinary clinic evaluation. Results demonstrate excellent inter-rater agreement on diagnoses between clinicians in the VC setting and the interdisciplinary team, which suggests VC may be a viable method to increase access to autism diagnostic services, and ultimately early intervention, for families in rural and underserved areas.

The relationship between dating violence and anger experience and expression were investigated in samples of l7 men who reported at least one incident of physical aggression toward a female dating partner (DV) and of 16 men who reported a nonviolent interaction history (NV). Participants completed the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) and performed the articulated thoughts during simulated situations (ATSS) paradigm while listening to anger-arousing audiotapes. Participants' thought articulations were coded for anger-related affect, other negative emotions, and aggressive verbalizations. Results indicated that relative to NV men, DV men scored significantly higher on STAXI Trait Anger, Anger In, and Anger Out scales and lower on STAXI Anger Control. DV men articulated more aggressive verbalizations during ATSS anger arousal than did NV men. However, the groups did not differ on the number of angry verbalizations. The findings are interpreted in the context of social learning theories of partner violence.