Effectiveness of puppet therapy interventions in social efficacy of children with high-performance autism

The present study was aimed to examine the effectiveness of puppet therapy interventions in social efficacy of children with high-performance autism. The present research was semi-experimental with a pre-test post-test design, together with an experiment and a control group. The statistical population of the research consisted of all children with autism in Tehran's governmental and private rehabilitation centers for autistic children (2017), who were selected using a convenience sampling method; then, 24 individuals were selected purposefully after performing diagnostic tests for high performance levels (autistic diagnostic interview, screening test for autistic disorders, Wechsler IQ test). And they were randomly divided into two groups: an experiment group (12 individuals) and a control group (12 individuals). The experiment group received 21 sessions (each session: 45 to 60 minutes) within two months; every week, there were 3 sessions of puppet therapy; and the control group was on a wait list. The measurement tool of the research was Belini's social efficacy questionnaire (2007). The analysis of the data obtained from implementing the questionnaire was done using SPSS-19 software in two sections: descriptive and inferential (covariance). Results showed that puppet therapy intervention helps to increase social efficacy and its components (mutual social behavior, social participation, mature and admirable social behavior) in children with high-performance autism. Based on the results of the present research, the use of puppet therapy method is recommended as a proper method for enhancing autistic children's social efficacy in educational environments.