Supporting peer engagement for low-income preschool students with autism spectrum disorder during academic instruction: A pilot randomized trial
Coach teachers to fold JASBER play cues into small-group lessons and preschoolers with autism will engage more with peers while keeping up with academics.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The researchers trained preschool teachers to weave JASPER play routines into small-group reading and math lessons.
Kids with autism joined two classmates at a table. Teachers used JASPER cues like modeling toy play and waiting for eye contact before giving materials.
The team then compared these kids to peers who received the usual curriculum.
What they found
Children in the JASPER groups spent more time looking at, talking to, or sharing toys with classmates.
Their time-on-task and language scores stayed the same as the control group, so learning did not drop.
Gains were small but steady across the eight-week pilot.
How this fits with other research
Wong (2013) ran a similar teacher-JASBER pilot nine years earlier. That study saw bigger joint-attention jumps during free play. The new study moves the same idea into academic centers, showing the trick still works when teachers must also teach letters and numbers.
Thompson-Hodgetts et al. (2024) took the peer-engagement goal outside school. A five-minute peer script at summer camp lifted joint play even more than JASPER did in class. The camp script is faster, but JASPER gives teachers minute-by-minute tools they can use every day.
Cox et al. (2015) mixed one autistic student with two at-risk peers for direct-instruction lessons. Both studies show small academic groups can grow social and academic skills at the same time. JASPER adds play-based prompts that may feel more natural to teachers.
Why it matters
You do not need extra clinicians or pull-out time. Coach teachers to slip JASPER moves—model play, wait for shared looks, offer choices—into the groups they already run. Kids get more peer contact without losing instructional minutes. Try it during your next center rotation.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Schools are the portal through which many children with autism spectrum disorder access early intervention. Collaborating with teachers can be an effective way to implement evidence-based practices. In this study, teachers learned to embed strategies from the Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation intervention into the standard preschool curriculum. Twelve schools with special education preschool classrooms for students with moderate to severe disabilities from under-resourced neighborhoods were randomized to augment their curriculum with Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation strategies or continue the standard curriculum. Teachers’ strategy implementation, children’s time on task, and social communication were examined before and after completing the intervention phase. Teachers in the Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation group implemented more Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation strategies than the control group after the intervention phase. Children in both groups increased time on task during teacher-led small group instruction. Children in the Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation group were more likely to be engaged with peers during small group instruction at the end of the intervention phase. Children from both groups improved in standardized measures of joint attention, requesting, expressive language, and receptive language. Training teachers to embed Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation strategies into small group instruction can help facilitate peer engagement, providing children more opportunities for peer socialization. Children with autism spectrum disorder attending special education preschool classrooms may not receive support that addresses their core challenges, such as engagement and social communication. There are interventions designed to target these core challenges, like the play-based intervention known as Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation. Embedding strategies from an intervention like Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation into more traditional academic activities can help teachers target engagement and social communication throughout the school day. In the current study, we collaborated with special education preschool teachers to embed Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation strategies during small group time for moderate to severe disability students with autism spectrum disorder, 3–5 years of age. Compared to teachers implementing the standard preschool curriculum, teachers trained in Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation strategies effectively embedded these strategies in their small group activities, and their students were more likely to engage with peers during these activities. Supporting teachers to embed targeted strategies in academic activities can help them provide students more opportunities to engage with peers during the school day. Teachers can support their autistic students to interact appropriately with their peers. Unlike interventions that train peers to act as a teacher, embedding Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation strategies during small group academic activities facilitates naturalistic social interactions for autistic students.
Autism, 2022 · doi:10.1177/13623613221085339