A peer-mediated social network intervention to enhance the social integration of persons with moderate and severe disabilities.
Let typical students design and run daily social contacts at lunch and transitions and friendships grow for classmates with moderate or severe disabilities.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers asked nondisabled middle- and high-school students to build a 'social network' around classmates with moderate or severe disabilities. The peers planned, ran, and tracked extra social contacts during lunch and hallway time. A multiple-baseline design showed what happened when each student’s network started.
What they found
The number and quality of social contacts rose for every student with disabilities. Real friendships formed and lasted after the study ended. Peers kept inviting their new friends to sit together and walk to class.
How this fits with other research
Laermans et al. (2025) and Zhang et al. (2022) now give clearer numbers. They used teacher-run Stay Play Talk and PRT embedded in iPad work. Both found large, measured gains in play and initiations, updating the 1992 idea with stronger data. The 1992 study still matters because it was the first to let peers design the whole program, not just follow teacher scripts.
Barthelemy et al. (1989) and Christopher et al. (1991) did almost the same thing one year earlier with isolated but nondisabled children. Their quick recess-helper model is a direct ancestor. The 1992 paper simply widened the lens to students with significant disabilities and added lunch and hallway spots.
Roeyers (1996) later used an RCT and showed the same peer-contact logic works for children with PDD. The 1992 single-case evidence helped pave the way for that group design.
Why it matters
You can copy the network idea tomorrow. Pick two willing classmates, give them a simple daily goal like ‘invite Jake to lunch and ask one question,’ and let them track it on an index card. No extra staff, no fancy materials, just peer power that keeps working after you fade.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Increasingly, parents, teachers, and students with disabilities are advocating for interventions that go beyond skill training to provide support for participation in integrated environments and support for friendships. The present research demonstrated a social network intervention for youths with moderate and severe disabilities. Two groups of nondisabled peers were recruited to participate in weekly discussions with an adult integration facilitator to increase opportunities for social interaction for 2 students (1 with autism and 1 who was moderately mentally retarded). The groups met to discuss social interactions that had occurred with the students with disabilities and to talk about strategies to promote greater inclusion of the students into ongoing social interaction. The nondisabled students participated in the design and implementation of social skills interventions during transition times and lunch. The nondisabled students used self-monitoring data sheets to record the quantity and quality of interactions. The frequency of interaction, number of opportunities for interaction, and appropriateness of social interactions were analyzed with a multiple baseline design. Results indicated that the social network intervention was successful in increasing the quantity and quality of interactions and that the network strategy promoted the development of friendships. The results are discussed in terms of the need for additional research showing the relationships between increases in social competence, peer-mediated intervention, and the development and support of friendship.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1992 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1992.25-319