Promoting autistic children's peer interaction in an integrated early childhood setting using affection activities.

Three autistic preschoolers joined a regular class. Staff ran five-minute group games with hugs, tickles, and songs. Then kids had free play. Researchers counted how often the autistic children talked or played back with typical peers.

The team compared two weeks of regular play to two weeks that started with the affection games. They watched who started play and who answered.

When the day began with affection games, autistic kids gave and got twice as much peer play. They shared toys, spoke, and stayed in the game longer.

The gains showed up right away and kept each day the games ran.

Mace et al. (1990) saw less happy faces from autistic kids during structured joint-attention tests. The new study looks opposite, but the settings differ. Structured tasks stress kids; free play after fun songs lets warmth grow.

Lowe et al. (1995) later taught typical peers to use PRT. Their autistic partners made even bigger social jumps that lasted months. Affection games are a quick start; peer PRT is the stronger follow-up.

Syriopoulou-Delli et al. (2012) moved the same idea to older kids and added initiation training. Gains spread to recess with no adults. The 1988 games plant the seed; later studies show how to keep it growing.

You can run a five-minute cuddle-and-song circle before free play and see peer bids double that day. No extra staff, no toys to buy. Use it as a warm-up while you train classmates in PRT or scripts for longer-term gains.