Peer-mediated social skills training program for young children with high-functioning autism.

Chung et al. (2007) ran a peer-mediated social skills program for four boys with high-functioning autism. The boys were six to seven years old.

Each week for twelve weeks the kids met for ninety minutes. Typical peers joined the session. The team used video feedback, praise, and a token board to teach greeting, sharing, and conversation.

Three of the four boys talked and played more with peers after the program. They asked questions, made comments, and stayed in the game longer.

The fourth child showed only small gains. The team noted he needed extra prompts to use the new skills.

Charlop et al. (1992) did something similar with preschoolers. They also saw more social play when peers were trained first. The 2007 study moves the same idea up to early elementary age.

Chester et al. (2019) and Deckers et al. (2016) later tested group social skills classes for eight- to twelve-year-olds. They still saw gains, but the classes were larger and had no peer buddies. The 2007 paper shows the extra boost you get when typical peers stay in the room.

Sasson et al. (2022) mixed peer buddies with short selfie-videos on the playground. Their kids had autism plus intellectual disability and still made big gains. It looks like video plus peers works even when children need more support.

If you run social skills groups for young autistic learners, invite two or three typical classmates. Give the peers a simple script: greet, share, comment, and praise. Record a five-minute clip, show it back, and hand out tokens for tries. You can run the whole cycle in one lunch period and see change within a month.