Efficacy of Peer Support Arrangements to Increase Peer Interaction and AAC Use.

Four middle-school students with intellectual disability and complex communication needs (CCN) joined general-ed classes.

A team of teachers, speech therapist, and parents planned peer support arrangements.

Typical classmates learned to stay, wait, and prompt short AAC turns. The researchers tracked peer-to-peer talk and AAC use across baseline and intervention days.

Peer interaction jumped for every student; some tripled their back-and-forth comments.

AAC use rose only for one student.

Social gains happened even when the device stayed quiet, showing the power of planned peer support.

Leaf et al. (2012) used peer-delivered visual scripts earlier in middle school. Their single student talked more, but skills did not spread to new peers. E et al. added team planning and peer supports, lifting interaction for all four students without extra generalization steps.

Anderson et al. (2025) later trained paraeducators to give more communication chances during lessons. Both studies show the same leap in expressive turns; one used peers in gen-ed, the other used adults in special-ed.

Klein et al. (2024) taught teachers to give augmented input in special-ed rooms. Gains were modest and took booster sessions. E et al. got bigger peer gains with less AAC focus, showing the partner can matter more than the device.

You can lift social life for students with CCN even if AAC skill growth is slow. Schedule a quick team meeting, pick two classmates, and teach them to stay close, wait, and comment. Track peer talk for a week; you may see the chat double before the device use moves.