A Systematic Review: The Cool Versus Not Cool Procedure in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Social skill deficiencies are among the most important symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is emphasized that social competences can be developed with social skills training programs. The cool versus not cool procedure is one of the interventions to be used for this purpose. This procedure is a social discrimination program that shows both the appropriate and inappropriate forms of the target social skill. The present study aimed to provide information on the aspects differentiating the cool versus not cool procedure from behavioral skills training, and to analyze descriptively the studies examining its effectiveness in teaching social skills to individuals with ASD. There were eight studies that met the inclusion criteria. They were examined in terms of demographic, methodological, and conclusion characteristics. It was observed that role-playing studies were a critical step for the effectiveness of the intervention, and the interventions were promising in helping the individuals with ASD acquire social skills.