سیده آفاق حسینی

Impact of interactive games on social skills and aggression in high-functioning children with autism

Aggression is a common clinical manifestation of autism disorder. Considering the skill and cognitive limitations of autistic children compared to other children, we can expect more aggressive and uncompromising behavior from them. These children do not show a behavior model that fits the society's custom to communicate with others. Defects in the expression of this social pattern affect on children's social behavior. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of interactive games on social skills and aggression in high-functioning autistic children. The present study was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. In this research, ۲۰ children from Ray Children and Adolescent Specialized Center were selected as an available sample from the target population and were randomly devided in two intervention groups (۱۰ people) and control group (۱۰ people). The data collection tool included the Bass and Perry aggression scale, and the standard autism social skills profile questionnaire. In the intervention group, interactive games intervention was done in ۱۰ sessions for ۵ weeks. In order to analyze the data, descriptive statistics including mean ± standard deviation, ANCOVA and   ۲۵ statistical software were used. The intervention and control groups are almost identical in terms of demographic characteristics and there were no significant differences. The average score of aggression and social skills before the intervention was not significantly different in the intervention and control groups. The average score of aggression and social skills after the intervention in the intervention and control groups had a significant difference (P=۰.۰۰۱), so that in the play therapy group, the average score of aggression decreased significantly and the average score of social skills increased significantly. Group play led to the improvement of aggression and social skills. For the comfort of children, safer and less complicated methods should be sought, so play therapy is an easy, cheap and available method that has found the most clinical use. The results of this study confirmed the positive effects of interactive games.

Keywords: autism, high function, aggression, social skills, interactive games.