Peer's pragmatic language outcomes following a peer-mediated intervention for children with autism: A randomised controlled trial.
Typically-developing peers also improve their pragmatic language after joining peer-mediated autism interventions, so invite them in.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Ethridge et al. (2020) ran a randomized trial with preschoolers. Half joined a peer-mediated play group. The other half stayed on the wait-list.
Each autistic child paired with a typically-developing playmate. The pair played together in clinic and at home. Parents coached the play at home.
What they found
The playmates without autism made big gains in pragmatic language. Their social talk, turn-taking, and eye contact all improved.
The gains stayed strong three months later. Kids kept using better language with new classmates.
How this fits with other research
Parsons et al. (2019) showed which autistic kids gain the most from peer play. High context-use and low vocabulary scores predicted success. The new study adds a twist: peers also grow.
Honig et al. (1988) first proved peer models teach expressive language as well as adults do. Ethridge et al. (2020) extends that idea into pragmatic language and adds parent coaching at home.
Farmer-Dougan (1994) used peer incidental teaching with adults in group homes. Both studies show peers can be teachers, not just learners.
Why it matters
You no longer need to pick between helping the autistic child or protecting the peer. Invite both. Train the peer to prompt, wait, and praise. Send home simple play scripts so parents can coach. You get two gains for the price of one session.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Peer-mediated pragmatic language interventions can be of benefit to children with autism as they simultaneously target an individual child's pragmatic language skills and contextual factors related to social interactions. However, little is known about peer outcomes following peer-mediated interventions. AIMS: This study evaluated the pragmatic language outcomes for typically-developing (TD) playmates who participated in a peer-mediated intervention for children with autism. METHODS: Dyads (child with autism and TD-playmate; n = 71) were randomised to a treatment-first or waitlisted-first comparison group. Dyads attended 10 clinic play-sessions with a therapist and parents mediated home-practice. The Pragmatics Observational Measure 2nd edition (POM-2), and Social Emotional Evaluation (SEE) evaluated pragmatics before, after and 3-months following the intervention. RESULTS: Changes in both outcomes measures were equivalent for intervention-first and waitlisted TD-playmates, but all TD-playmates made significant gains in pragmatics following the intervention. Treatment effects maintained for 3-months (p < 0.001-0.014, d = 0.22-0.63), were equivalent in different environments (clinic and home). Peer relationship type and therapist profession mediated POM-2 scores across the study, while expressive language ability moderated SEE scores. CONCLUSIONS: This peer-mediated intervention had a positive impact on TD-playmate's pragmatic language capacity and performance.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2020 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103591