Children with PIMD in interaction with peers with PIMD or siblings.
Siblings more than double peer-directed behaviors in children with PIMD—use combined verbal/nonverbal attention bids for best effect.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team watched children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) during two play set-ups.
In one set-up the child played with another child who also had PIMD. In the other set-up the same child played with a typically developing brother or sister.
The researchers counted how often the child looked at, touched, or made sounds toward the partner.
What they found
Children directed more than twice as many behaviors to siblings (about 31 out of every 100 chances) than to peers with PIMD (about 14 out of every 100 chances).
Siblings used both words and gentle taps or gestures at the same time. These combined bids caught the child’s attention best.
How this fits with other research
Roeyers (1996) and Jason et al. (1985) already showed that typical peers can boost social acts in kids with developmental disabilities. The new data say brothers and sisters can do the same job, only stronger.
McQuaid et al. (2024) followed families for months and found that warm sibling ties forecast later prosocial gains. The 2016 snapshot matches that long-term story: more sibling warmth equals more social behavior right now.
Zhang et al. (2022) taught typical classmates to prompt children with autism during iPad lessons. Both studies find medium social gains, but siblings win without any training.
Why it matters
If you serve a child with PIMD, invite the sibling into therapy or play sessions. Ask the brother or sister to speak while also tapping a toy or the child’s arm. This simple combo move may double the child’s social responses on the spot. No extra staff, no peer training, just family power.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The complex disabilities of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) impede their presentation of peer directed behaviours. Interactions with typically developing peers have been observed to be more frequent than those with peers with PIMD. The typically developing peers with whom people with PIMD have frequent contact are their siblings. In this study, the amount of peer directed behaviours was compared between an interaction with a sibling and an interaction with a peer with PIMD. In addition, the attention directing strategies of the siblings, and how these affect the presentation of peer directed behaviours, were examined. METHOD: Thirteen children and young people with PIMD, who had a typically developing sibling, were identified. For each of these thirteen children, a peer with PIMD and a sibling were selected. The child with PIMD was observed together with a peer with PIMD and together with a sibling. In both conditions, video observations were conducted. A coding scheme for the peer directed behaviours of the children and young people with PIMD and a coding scheme for the attention directing behaviours of the siblings were used. Descriptive, comparative and sequential analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Significantly, more peer directed behaviours of the children with PIMD were observed in the condition with the sibling (30.76%) compared with that of the condition with the peer with PIMD (13.73%). The siblings presented attention directing behaviours in 30% of the time; the most frequently used was nonverbal behaviour. When the siblings presented a combination of verbal and nonverbal attention directing behaviours, they elicited multiple peer directed behaviours in the children and young people with PIMD. CONCLUSIONS: Persons with PIMD interact more with their siblings compared with their peers with PIMD. Interacting with siblings may probably be more motivating and encouraging. Presenting a combination of verbal and nonverbal behaviours attracts more attention of the persons with PIMD.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2016 · doi:10.1111/jir.12231