Frequency and latency of social interaction in an inclusive kindergarten setting: a comparison between typical children and children with autism.

Jahr et al. (2007) watched autistic and typical kids in the same kindergarten room.

They counted how often each child started a social move and how long they waited to start it.

All children were five to six years old and shared the same toys, tables, and teachers.

Autistic children started social contact far less than their classmates.

The wait time before the first move was the same for both groups.

Shorter wait time linked to more moves only for the typical kids, not for the autistic kids.

SPettingell et al. (2022) extends these numbers. They tracked autistic students from kindergarten through third grade and still saw about seven initiations in every twelve-minute slice.

Cohen et al. (1990) is the earlier map. They first showed autistic pupils used mostly body moves toward teachers; Jahr et al. (2007) added the peer-rate ruler we now use as a goal.

Newcomb et al. (2025) used the same match-up style. They compared problem-behavior rates instead of social rates, proving the "compare to typical" method works across domains.

You now have a clear peer benchmark: typical kindergarteners initiate around seven times in twelve minutes.

Set that number as your social-skills target and watch both frequency and the link between quick starts and high totals.

If an autistic learner reaches the peer rate but still shows flat progress, check other variables like play complexity or joint attention rather than just pushing more initiations.