Training paraprofessionals to improve socialization in students with ASD.
A one-hour BST burst turns lunch aides into social coaches who spark peer play for students with autism.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Koegel et al. (2014) taught lunch-recess aides a quick behavioral-skills package.
The aides then coached students with autism during free-play time.
A multiple-baseline design tracked peer talking and joint play.
What they found
After training, aides used the steps correctly every day.
Students with autism started more games and peers joined in.
Social gains stayed high while the study watched.
How this fits with other research
MacFarland et al. (2025) extends this idea by swapping aides for typical teens.
They used short videos to teach the same lunch-time skills and got the same boost.
Reid et al. (1987) did something similar decades earlier with mixed-ability campers, showing the tactic is old but still works.
Baum (2002) looks like a clash: staff training lifted staff skills yet resident behavior stayed flat.
The gap is setting and prompts: M used adults in a group home with no peer network, while L worked in busy schoolyards full of willing classmates.
Why it matters
You can raise playground interaction without hiring new staff.
Train the aides you already have during one lunch period.
Use the same short script: model, practice, praise, repeat.
Then watch kids with autism start games and keep them going.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
An important line of research relates to whether school personnel, such as paraprofessionals, who are present during unstructured social periods, such as lunch-recess, could successfully implement interventions to improve socialization between students with ASD and their typical peers in a group setting. Therefore, within the context of a multiple baseline across participants design, we assessed whether training paraprofessionals to provide social interventions would enhance social development in students with ASD in a group setting. Results showed that paraprofessionals who were not providing any social opportunities during baseline were able to meet fidelity of implementation following a brief training. Consequently, the children with ASD increased their levels of engagement and rates of initiation with typically developing peers following intervention. Implications for training paraprofessionals to implement effective social interventions for students with ASD are discussed.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2014 · doi:10.1007/s10803-014-2094-x