Can I Learn to Play? Randomized Control Trial to Assess Effectiveness of a Peer-Mediated Intervention to Improve Play in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Cally and her team ran a randomized trial with elementary students who have autism. Half the kids got the PLF play program. The other half kept their usual school routine.

Typical classmates learned to invite, share, and stay in play. Kids with autism practiced with these peers during recess and free-choice time.

The PLF group showed moderate gains in play skills right away. Three months later the boost was still there and parents saw the same progress at home.

Interactive play rose and solo play dropped. The size of the change was medium, not huge, but it held without extra coaching.

Laermans et al. (2025) got even bigger gains with preschoolers. They added teacher-led BST and saw play double. Younger kids and adult help may juice the effect.

Zhang et al. (2022) conceptually copied the idea in academics. They paired peers for PRT during iPad work and also found medium social gains. Peer-mediated NET works in both play and class tasks.

Castells et al. (1979) looks like a contradiction at first. Their peer prompts raised social acts during sessions but vanished after. The key difference: PLF trains peers to keep natural play going, while the 1979 study stopped prompts once sessions ended.

You can hand the teaching to typical peers and still see real, lasting play growth. Use the PLF script or fold its steps into recess BST. Train three to four peers, run short practice rounds, then let them play. Check back at three months—you may still see the gains without extra staff time.