Author(s)

Georgia Strofylla, Sofia Charitou, Katerina Asonitou, Dimitra Koutsouki

Laboratory of Adapted Physical Activity, Developmental and Physical Disabilities, School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.

Typical socialization and communication deficits constitute the defining features of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The purpose of this study was to identify the social skills profile of a total of 86 Greek students with ASD, aged 7-17 years old. Furthermore, it was examined the role of age, gender, language ability and school curriculum in order to determine the possible associations with the deficiency in social functioning. The instrument used was the Autism Social Skills Profile (ASSP) questionnaire and was filled by the special teachers. The findings reported significant social issues in all subscales of ASSP questionnaire for students with ASD. Comparisons of age and gender do not indicate any significant differences in relation to social skills. Language ability and school curriculum seem to mostly affect the development of social skills of students with ASD.

Social Skills, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Quality of Life, Autism Social Skills Profile Questionnaire

Strofylla, G. , Charitou, S. , Asonitou, K. and Koutsouki, D. (2021) Profile of Social Skills in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Advances in Physical Education, 11, 195-206. doi: 10.4236/ape.2021.112015.