Developing Friendship Skills with Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders: A Case Study

This is a case study of a group run over ten sessions with a class of children, aged between ten and twelve, in a special school. All of the children had a diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorder, which included Rett's disorder, Autism, and Asperger's Syndrome. In addition two children had a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), one had some loss of vision, two had dyspraxia on fine motor skills, one had Tourette's disorder, and one had Goldenhar Syndrome with an associated disorder of expressive speech. The children were from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The factors they had in common were cognitive delay and low skill levels with the kind of communication skills needed to initiate and develop friendships. The therapy focussed on social skills involved in making and maintaining friendships. The aim of the programme was to improve key skills, and to encourage the group members to telephone peers to have a conversation or to invite them to come and play. All of the children had previous experience of dramatherapy.