Functional Communication in Autistic Children Impacts Skill Development After Participation in a CBT-Based Program

Challenges with functional communication (e.g., language use in situational contexts), are a core feature of autism. Challenges in functional communication are related to social interaction difficulties and may impact engagement in interventions such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). CBT is a common intervention used to support emotion regulation and social skills development in autistic children. Programming relies on the participant’s ability to engage in complex language. The present study examined whether the functional communication level of autistic children (8-12 years) impacted social skills and emotion regulation development after participation in a CBT-based program. Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed no significant differences in emotion regulation, however, there was a significant main effect for social skills, based on functional communication levels. T-tests revealed significant improvements for all measures in the clinically significant functional communication group, but not the at-risk or non-significant groups. These results illustrate the importance of considering functional communication levels in autistic children.