SAS Research

RCT

A randomised-controlled trial has shown that children with Asperger Syndrome who participated in the Secret Agent Society (SAS) Program showed greater improvements in social and emotion management skills than children who received treatment as usual for the two month intervention period. In fact, the social skills of 76% of child participants improved to within the range of typically developing children. Research has also shown that these improvements in social functioning were maintained five months after the program ended.

For further information about the results of this trial, please refer to the following article:

ARC Linkage Grant

With the support of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage grant, Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) are implementing and evaluating the Secret Agent Society Program across multiple school satellite classes in NSW from 2010 to 2012.

Recent SAS Research

Recent evaluations have shown that SAS leads to improvements in children's emotion regulation and social skills based on parent-report, teacher-report and/or child competency measures. These research trials have been conducted in the following contexts:

• In specialist autism spectrum disorder satellite classes across five school districts in NSW, Australia (University of Sydney and Autism Spectrum Australia)
• University clinic delivery to children with social and emotional difficulties but without an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis (University of Queensland)
• Delivery to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders attending mainstream schools (University of Queensland, Education Queensland and Catholic Education Queensland)
• Skype and telephone assisted delivery of the program to rural/remote families (University of Queensland)

The results from these trials are currently being prepared for publication.

Please watch this space for progress updates.

If you are interested in conducting research with the Secret Agent Society Program, please Contact Us.