Peer-Mediated Social Skills Instruction for Students with ASD in the General Education Classroom

Background:  Social skills are critical to school performance, particularly in high school where conversation is the primary medium of interaction and class participation. Additionally, social skills are one of only three predictive factors associated with all three indicators of post-school success. Many students with ASD lack the requisite social skills to interact effectively with teachers and peers or respond appropriately to social stimuli. However, incorporating general education peers in to social skills instructional programs has been effective at increasing social interactions of high school students with autism spectrum disorders and their typically developing classmates.  

Objectives:   To increase social interacations between high school students with autism spectrum disorders or related developmental disabilities and their typically developing peers in the general education classroom setting.

Methods:  A multiple-baseline design across settings and participants with a multiple-probe component was used to evaluate the effects of communication book use on participants' social interactions. Participants were six students identified with an autism spectrum disorder (including Asperger Disorder) or related developmental disability, three male and three female, ranging in age from 16-18. Each participant attended 4-7 general education classes. Thirty general education students served as conversational partners during intervention, of which 17 were female and 13 were male. The study consisted of three experimental conditions: (a) baseline, (b) communication book training, and (c) communication book use, across which generalization data were collected daily. Follow-up data were also collected. 

Results:  Communication book use was associated with increases in conversational initiations and responses between the students with ASD and their peers. Participants and peers reported that they enjoyed their interactions with each other. Communication book use appeared acceptable across social situations.

Conclusions:  Communication books are effective in promoting interactions across students with varied social skills and, in fact, may serve as a "social prosthetic" to promote interaction among peers who might not typically interact.