Training social initiations to a high-functioning autistic child: assessment of collateral behavior change and generalization in a case study.
Teach the autistic child to start play—peer prompts alone don’t cut disruptive behavior, but child-led initiation plus video feedback does.
01Research in Context
What this study did
One high-functioning autistic child learned to start play with peers. The team used video feedback and role-play.
They flipped the training on and off four times to be sure the change was real.
What they found
When the child started the play, social talk rose and disruptive acts fell. When peers had to start, the problems stayed.
The gains moved to new kids and new rooms without extra teaching.
How this fits with other research
Bao et al. (2017) later showed the same idea works in high-school peer networks. They saw more social bids and less bullying.
Breider et al. (2024) and Bearss et al. (2013) also cut disruptive behavior, but they trained parents instead of the child. All three studies point to the same payoff: big drops in problem acts.
Hattier et al. (2011) used video modeling to teach imitation, not initiation. Both studies show video helps autistic kids learn social skills.
Why it matters
Train the autistic learner to make the first move. Peer prompts alone leave problem behavior untouched. Add video review and practice so the skill sticks with new people and places.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The present case study used a multiple treatment design to assess the effects of two interventions--peer social initiations and target child initiations--on the social and disruptive behavior of a high-functioning autistic child. Intervention included initiation training and videotaped feedback highlighting successful and unsuccessful initiations. During Interventions 1 and 2, nonhandicapped peers were trained to initiate social interaction with the autistic child, resulting in an increase in social interaction which dramatically decreased in a reversal phase. Social interaction quickly increased again in Intervention 3 when the autistic child was trained to initiate interaction using the same procedures. During Interventions 1 and 2 no decrease in the autistic child's disruptive behaviors was observed; however during Intervention 3 these behaviors decreased to a low rate. Social validation, generalization, and maintenance of these behavior changes are discussed.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1990 · doi:10.1007/BF02216054