Using Contingency Contracting to Promote Social Interactions Among Students With ASD and Their Peers.

Three elementary students with autism played alone at recess. The researchers first taught typical peers to invite them to play. That peer training by itself did nothing.

Next the team added a simple contract. If the student with autism joined and stayed in the game for five minutes, he earned two extra minutes of computer time in class. The contract was written on an index card and signed by the student, the peer, and the teacher.

Social play jumped from almost zero to 80-a large share of recess time for every student. The gains showed up right away and stayed high for the rest of the school year.

When the contract stopped, play time dropped a little but stayed far above baseline, so the skill stuck.

Sasson et al. (2022) got the same big recess gains using video models instead of contracts, but their students also had intellectual disability. The contract method may be easier when kids can read simple rules.

Dudley et al. (2019) reviewed 30 school studies and warned that most social programs are run by researchers, not teachers. Abdullah et al. show a teacher can carry the whole plan with one index card.

Sasson et al. (2018) found that a short “Buddy Game” helped preschoolers with autism play more outside. Their positive result seems to clash with older papers that saw little peer interaction at recess. The fix: you need an active tool—contract, game, or video—not just free play.

You don’t need a big grant or extra staff. Write a 3-sentence contract, pick a willing peer, and reinforce joining the game. Five minutes of recess can turn into lasting friendships and an IEP goal met without pulling the child out of class.