The effects of cool versus not cool procedure in teaching children with autism spectrum disorder social skills

Cool versus not cool procedure is one of the effective procedures to teach social skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cool versus not cool procedure to teach taking on responsibility, a significant social skill, to children with ASD. The study also measured maintenance two and four weeks after the intervention, as well as generalization across people and settings. Social validity data were collected from participating children's mothers. The study employed multiple probe design with conditions across participants to demonstrate the effects of the procedure to teach taking on responsibility skills. The results indicated that all three children with ASD acquired the target skills, maintained, and generalized them across different people and settings. The social validity results showed that the mothers had positive opinions regarding the target skills, the cool versus not cool procedure, and outcomes. Implications and future directions were also discussed.