High School SUCCESS: Vocational Soft Skills Program for Transition-Age ASD Youth
Phase: PHASE1
Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Sponsor: Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego

High School SUCCESS: Vocational Soft Skills Program for Transition-Age ASD Youth 
NIH_NOA_5R34MH111491 
6/15/21 
STUDY PROTOCOL WITH SAP 
 
RESEARCH AIMS: 
By utilizing research-community partnership methods, we have worked in collaboration with the 
community through our partnership of researchers, providers, educators and consumers (Active 
Collaborative Hub for Individuals with ASD to Enhance Vocation and Education- ACHIEVE) to 
develop a cognitive training intervention for adults that adapted evidenced -based interventions 
for schizophrenia and traumatic brain injury. The original SUCCESS program was designed for 
adults within supported employment community programs. This proposal capitalizes on this 
existing work, using the already established and highly productive ACHIEVE group and current 
resources, to adapt the SUCCESS curriculum for HS/transition programs.  
AIM: With our ACHIEVE partners , develop the High School Supported, Comprehensive 
Cognitive Enhancement and Social Skills (SUCCESS) program to fit the needs of 
transition-age youth with ASD within the community educational system.  
 
 
a. Standardize the High School SUCCESS program by developing a facilitator manual, 
student workbook and corresponding support person materials. 
 
 
b. Develop a training protocol that can be individualized and implemented within the HS 
educational system to provide initial training and ongoing coaching for educators to reach and 
sustain intervention fidelity. 
AIM: Conduct a pilot study to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and implementation 
procedures (recruitment, randomization, retention & training strategies) of TAY 
SUCCESS and to obtain estimates of effects to support a future large-scale effectiveness 
trial.  
 a. Examine intervention feasibility, acceptability, satisfaction, and sustainability. 
  
b. Examine preliminary individual outcomes (executive functioning and social cognitive 
skill development). 
 
Research Design 
Through a randomized clinical trial (RCT) thirty-two eligible TAY with ASD involved in High 
School (HS) diploma track (n=2 ) or Transition Program (TP) (n=2) participated and received 
TAY SUCCESS (intervention group, INT) (n=16) or usual care programming (UC) only (n=16). 
Due to possible meaningful differences across these programs it was necessary to pilot test in 
both program types.  Randomization took place at the school site level. A total of 4 school sites 
participated: 2 HS diploma (1 randomized to UC and 1 to INT) and 2 Transition (1 randomized 
to UC and 1 to INT) with 8 students enrolled in each group totaling 32 students (and parents). 

Staff and eligible students at each school site were recruited to participate. Both groups 
received all other typical supports offered at the school by school staff. The INT group received 
the TAY SUCCESS curriculum weekly, following the manualized program. Sessions were 
delivered sequentially but individualized to allow for review and repeating any content as 
needed for comprehension.  
Participants 
Parent/caregivers were consented as participants and provided permission for students < 18 
years or for those adults with a conservatorship in place. Child student assent (<18 yrs) and 
adult student consent (≥18 yrs) was obtained. Student enrollment will continue until 5 students 
per site participate.  Inclusion/exclusion Criteria: Students were English speaking (15-22 years) 
with ASD diagnoses that have at least 1 year remaining in the school program. (A standardized 
ASD diagnostic assessment conducted at baseline (ADOS-2) confirmed ASD). Students were 
intellectually able with assessed and reported cognitive ability (≥ 75 IQ score in more than one 
subtest assessed by WASI) and ability to read. Student/parents were compensated $100 per 
family. 
 
Statistical Analyses Plan 
To examine the intervention effect for each measure between the intervention group and the 
control group and to control for variations at initial performances of two groups, we conducted 
the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) by controlling for baseline scores. For the ANCOVA, the 
data met assumptions of homogeneity of regression and equality of error variances. Because 
this study assessed the potential value of the intervention with a small community sample, the 
Type I error rate was not adjusted for the number of comparisons and was kept at p < .05 level 
for each comparison. Effect size for the ANCOVA was assessed by partial η2 in which medium 
(>.06) and large (>.14) effects were considered clinically meaningful. Furthermore, in each 
condition group, within-group effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were calculated for all scores using the 
paired-sample t-test.