Therapy Guide
$50–$120/session (group rate per child); $800–$2,000 per multi-week program
Typical Cost
Typically 1 session per week for 12–20 weeks per program cycle
Frequency
5–18 years (age-grouped; some adult programs available)
Age Range
5
Provider Types
Clinician-led social skills groups are eligible under OAP core clinical services when delivered by regulated health professionals or BACB-certified practitioners. The OAP childhood budget can cover group therapy fees. Recreational social groups without clinical goals are not OAP-eligible.
Several manualized social skills programs have research support for autistic individuals. The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS), developed at UCLA by Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson, is one of the most extensively studied. PEERS teaches concrete social skills including conversational rules, electronic communication etiquette, handling disagreements, and managing bullying through didactic instruction, role-play, and coached social activities.
Secret Agent Society (SAS), developed by Dr. Renae Beaumont, uses a spy-themed computer game and group activities to teach emotion recognition, regulation, and social problem-solving to autistic children aged 8–12. A 2015 RCT published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry demonstrated significant improvements in social-emotional functioning maintained at five-month follow-up.
In Ontario, many children's treatment centres, autism service providers, and private clinics offer social skills groups. When selecting a program, families should look for groups that use a structured curriculum, match participants by age and developmental level, include parent training components, and provide opportunities for practising skills in natural settings.
A typical social skills group session lasts 60–90 minutes and includes 4–8 participants grouped by age and skill level. Sessions follow a predictable structure: review of the previous week's practice assignment, introduction of a new skill through discussion and video examples, guided practice through role-play or structured activities, and assignment of a practice task for the coming week.
Parent involvement is a key component of effective social skills programs. Many programs include concurrent parent sessions where caregivers learn strategies to support skill practice at home and facilitate peer interactions outside of group. Research shows that parent-mediated generalization is critical for translating group-learned skills into real-world social success.
Laugeson et al. (2012)
Evidence-based social skills training for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: The UCLA PEERS Program. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(6), 1025-1036.
Beaumont et al. (2015)
A randomized controlled trial of a social skills intervention for autistic children using the Secret Agent Society program. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56(1), 58-67.
Commitment to Accuracy: Our data is verified against official government reports (FAO, MCCSS), peer-reviewed scientific literature, and accessible public records. Last updated: March 24, 2026.
Verified Facts
Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) delivered to children aged 18–30 months produced significant gains in IQ, adaptive behaviour, and autism severity — some children no longer met diagnostic criteria at follow-up
Cochrane systematic review finds evidence that early intensive behavioural intervention (EIBI) may produce positive effects on adaptive behaviour and communication for young children with ASD (low certainty of evidence)
WHO recommends accessible, community-based early interventions for children with autism — timely evidence-based psychosocial interventions improve communication and social engagement
88,175, children are registered in the Ontario Autism Program
23.4%, Only 20,666 children have active funding agreements () — less than one in four