SAS Method (Social Skills Development): pilot experience with autistic children in a residential setting

SAS is an intervention of occupational therapy that could enter in rehabilitation program that normally children with autism follow. The theoretical bases concern the theory of Professor Gallese about “embodied simulation”... [ view full abstract ]

SAS is an intervention of occupational therapy that could enter in rehabilitation program that normally children with autism follow. The theoretical bases concern the theory of Professor Gallese about “embodied simulation” and the mirror neurons system that put in action “experiential learning”.

The main instruments of SAS are two puppets; they have many faces that could be changed depending on the perceived or expressed emotion. The basic emotions are happiness, fear, sadness, anger.
This pilot experience, which had allowed to use the SSD in a context different from the original, involved 5 children, from 9 to 15 years old, with diagnosis of autism, who lived in a residential setting.
Clinical cases were chosen through a group of 20 children hospitalised.
5 children took part in 20.4 individual treatments of occupational therapy with SAS; sessions were twice a week for 30 minutes.
The goal was to achieve the stage 1 and 2 of SAS: stage 1 is the identification and impression of the basic emotions, stage 2 consists in matching 12 different events to basic emotions (2A) and playing with puppets some of these events (2B).
TEC (Test of Emotion Comprehension) was used to evaluate children skills before and after intervention with SAS.
3 children have reached step 2 and they should be ready to start with step 3, in which there is a group setting.
Generally children who improve in SAS steps even improve their TEC score. Children with higher communication skills progress better and faster.