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[quote=Anonymous]
The table below (that I could only paste as a list) is from "Social Skills Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Intervention Research", published in 2006 in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. It will sound very familiar.

I agree with 9:42 that over the long run these programs might no be worth the expense for the average-income family. What is CRITICAL for all special needs, however, is that the parent must initiate and be responsible for creating the right environment at home and other non-clinical settings for their child. It is such a daunting task for non-professionals, especially given the fact that we must be experts for all categories of need, and that most of us only see our kids in the morning and evening, that a lot of us find our only solution is to throw money at the problem and outsource.

I'm struggling right now to decide whether to continue social skills group for DC1 this Fall, because of the exact problem OP mentioned - generalization and extrapolation to the larger world. I think one option is to have occasional "refresher" courses once a year, to obtain group speech/social therapy in school and to fill our child's schedule with activities where he will HAVE to work as a team. Regularly, we go over what he has learned in social skills group and try to discuss how to apply it to his camp or class situation. This summer, DC1 goes to drama camp, where he he sings, dances and rehearses with other children. He has not made friends, but he at least interacts with others during classes. He loves being on stage - it is the only time he can be in public with a supportive group. Why? because he only has to learn a script to be appreciated instead of wondering what to say every second!!! This year I am also enrolling him in a classical children's chorus - again the public performances as a group and voice training will help him build confidence and work as a team.
In the future I have been thinking of Robotics camp - a friend told me some worked in teams to build robots then had competitions - this is exactly what would motivate my son and force him to interact.
Any other ideas welcome...

Here is the table:

Goal Strategies
Increase social motivation 
Foster self-awareness and self-esteem
Develop nurturing, fun environment
Intersperse new skills with previously mastered skills
Start with simple, easily learned skills (errorless teaching)
Increase social initiations 
Make social rules clear and concrete (e.g., stay one arm’s length from other person)
Model age-appropriate initiation strategies
Use natural reinforcers for social initiations (e.g., follow child’s conversation lead/interest)
Teach simple social ‘scripts’ for common situations
Improve appropriate social responding
Teach social response scripts
Reinforce response attempts
Use modeling and role-play to teach skills
Reduce interfering behaviors
Make teaching structured & predictable
Differentially reinforce positive behaviors
Keep behavior charts (e.g., checkmarks or stars) for positive behavior
Review socially appropriate and inappropriate behaviors of the participants as a group, via video or audiotape segments
Promote skill generalization
Orchestrate peer involvement (e.g., prompting & initiating social interactions, physical proximity)
Use multiple trainers & individuals with which to practice skills
Involve parents in training
Provide opportunities to practice skills in safe, natural settings (e.g., field trips)
Use time between session to practice skills (e.g., via ‘homework’)[/quote]

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