Improving socialization for high school students with ASD by using their preferred interests.
Use the student’s special interests to shape inclusive lunchtime activities—engagement and peer initiations rise.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Robert et al.. (2013) worked with three high-school students who have autism.
They picked each teen’s top interest—like anime, trains, or video games.
During regular lunch periods they set up small clubs around those interests and invited typical peers to join.
They tracked how often the students with autism talked or were approached by others.
What they found
All three teens started talking more during the clubs.
Peers also walked up and started conversations more often.
The gains held when new but similar lunchtime clubs were tried later.
Teachers and parents said the clubs felt useful and easy to run.
How this fits with other research
Chen et al. (2001) did something close with younger kids. They trained typical peers to run play groups and saw big jumps in joint attention and language. Robert’s team shows the same idea still works in high-school cafeterias.
Chan et al. (2021) looked at 12 studies where exercise programs helped autistic youth socialize. Their meta-analysis found small-to-moderate gains. Robert’s lunchtime clubs give similar social boosts without needing a gym or extra staff.
Sung et al. (2019) moved social-skills work into job settings for adults. Robert’s study bridges the gap, proving peer-based clubs can work in high school before students reach the workplace.
Why it matters
You can start a peer club tomorrow. Pick the student’s favorite topic, invite two or three classmates, and meet at lunch. No new staff, no cost, and the student practices real conversation with friends who share the same passion.
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Join Free →Ask your student to name their top interest, then set up a 15-minute lunch club with two willing peers around that topic.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
There has been a paucity of research on effective social interventions for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in inclusive high school settings. The literature, however, suggests that incorporating the student with ASD's special interests into activities may help improve their socialization with typical peers. Within the context of a multiple baseline across participants design, we implemented lunchtime activities incorporating the adolescent with ASD's preferred interests that were similar to ongoing activities already available at the schools. Results showed this increased both level of engagement and their rate of initiations made to typical peers. Social validation measures suggest that both adolescents with ASD and typical peers enjoyed participating in these activities and that the results generalized to other similar activities.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2013 · doi:10.1007/s10803-013-1765-3