Teaching social skills to students with autism to increase peer interactions in an integrated first-grade classroom.
Ten-minute recess clubs where typical peers learn to invite and play can triple social time for first-graders with autism and keep the gains.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with first-graders with autism in a regular classroom.
They ran 10-minute social-skills groups four times a week at recess.
Typical classmates learned to start play, share, and stay in the game.
What they found
Kids with autism talked and played with peers far more often.
The extra contact lasted after the groups ended.
Peers kept choosing to play with them even when adults stepped back.
How this fits with other research
Barrett et al. (1987) first showed that teaching peers to initiate helps withdrawn kids.
Jones et al. (1992) moved the same idea into everyday recess with bigger, lasting gains.
Syriopoulou-Delli et al. (2012) later added initiation drills so the boost spreads to new kids and games.
Rodríguez-Medina et al. (2016) later copied the recess plan with looser teaching and still saw good results.
Why it matters
You can run tiny recess clubs and see big social jumps. Pick two typical peers, teach them to invite and stay, then watch the child with autism join four times more play. No extra staff, no pull-out room, just 10 minutes at recess.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
We investigated the use of social skills groups to facilitate increased social interactions for students with autism and their nonhandicapped peers in an integrated first-grade classroom. Social skills groups consisted of training students and peers in initiating, responding, and keeping interactions going; greeting others and conversing on a variety of topics; giving and accepting compliments; taking turns and sharing; asking for help and helping others; and including others in activities. Training occurred during the first 10 min of 20-min play groups, four times per week. Using a multiple baseline across subjects design, results demonstrated increases in the frequency of, time engaged in, and duration of social interactions, as well as the responsivity of students and peers to each other. Results were maintained when students were monitored and given feedback on social performance in play groups and during follow-up.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1992 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1992.25-281