Combining Preferred Activities With Peer Support to Increase Social Interactions Between Preschoolers With ASD and Typically Developing Peers

2021 ◽  
pp. 109830072098754
Author(s):  
Xiaoyi Hu ◽  
Gabrielle T. Lee ◽  
Laci Watkins ◽  
Yitong Jiang

This study evaluated the effects of using preferred activities with peer support on the social interactions of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their typically developing peers. Two preschool-aged children with ASD and six peers in an inclusive classroom participated in this study. A multiple-probe single case experimental design across three peers was employed. Results indicated that the participants’ social initiations and responses, as well as the percentage of time engaged in social play, increased following the preferred activity. Gains were also demonstrated across social interactions and time engaged in the preferred activity plus peer support condition. Increases in social interaction behaviors in typically developing peers were also observed, and positive intervention gains were maintained during 5-week follow-up sessions. Implications for research and practice for improving interaction between children with and without ASD in inclusive preschool settings are discussed.

2020 ◽  
pp. 026461962097215
Author(s):  
Michael Tuttle ◽  
Erik W. Carter

Students with visual impairment (VI) often have limited social interactions in inclusive classroom settings. This study used a multiple-probe-across-participants design to evaluate the impact of peer support arrangements on the social interactions of three students with VI in general education classes. Students experienced higher levels of peer interaction while participating in peer support arrangements while maintaining high levels of academic engagement during the intervention. Most students and teachers reported that peer support arrangements provided positive experiences, resulted in multiple benefits, and could be implemented feasibly and acceptably in inclusive classrooms. We offer recommendations for research and practice aimed at enhancing the quality of inclusive experiences for students with VI.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 199-212
Author(s):  
Celia O’Flaherty ◽  
Erin E. Barton ◽  
Claire Winchester ◽  
Maddisen Domingo

Children with or at risk of disabilities engage in fewer and less complex social interactions (SIs) than their typically developing peers. The playground is an ideal setting for teachers to promote SIs among children. However, few studies have examined practical and meaningful strategies for supporting teachers in effectively facilitating SIs. Also, there is a critical dearth of research examining classroom practices for infants and toddlers. A single-case multiple probe design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief training and email performance feedback on toddler teachers’ SI prompts on the playground. Results indicated functional relations between training plus general and specific feedback, teachers’ use of SI prompts, and levels of child SIs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-381
Author(s):  
Patricia E. G. Bestelmeyer ◽  
Bethan Williams ◽  
Jennifer J. Lawton ◽  
Maria-Elena Stefanou ◽  
Kami Koldewyn ◽  
...  

Several recent studies have demonstrated reduced visual aftereffects, particularly to social stimuli, in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This putative impairment of the adaptive mechanism in ASD has been put forward as a possible explanation for some of the core social problems experienced by children with ASD (e.g., facial emotion or identity recognition). We addressed this claim in children with ASD and typically developing children by using an established methodology and morphed auditory stimulus set for eliciting robust aftereffects to vocal expressions and phonemes. Although children with ASD were significantly worse at categorizing the vocal expressions compared with the control stimuli (phoneme categorization), aftereffect sizes in both tasks were identical in the two participant groups. Our finding suggests that the adaptation mechanism is not universally impaired in ASD and is therefore not an explanation for the social perception difficulties in ASD.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Osborne ◽  
Jennifer R. Ledford ◽  
Jessica Martin ◽  
Katelyn Thorne

Multitreatment designs were used to evaluate the relative effectiveness of multicomponent Stay, Play, Talk (SPT) interventions on peer social behaviors for two groups of children, each including one Participant With Autism Spectrum Disorder (PWA) and two socially competent peers. Children were trained to use buddy strategies during 5-min free-play sessions in an inclusive preschool classroom. Additional components were systematically introduced, including a self-monitored group contingency and recorded reminders. Dependent variables were the percentage of intervals peers spent staying near and playing with the PWA, as well as the number of verbal social interactions between the peers and the PWA. Functional relations were identified for some behaviors for some participants, with the SPT variation including recorded reminders and the group contingency associated with the most positive outcomes. Further research is needed to determine effects of the group contingency and recorded reminders without peer training.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-68
Author(s):  
Soo-Young Hong ◽  
Jungwon Eum ◽  
Yanjie Long ◽  
Chaorong Wu ◽  
Greg Welch

This study aimed to investigate typically developing preschoolers’ behavior toward peers with disabilities in inclusive classrooms, focusing on the co-occurrence of the interactions between children with and without disabilities with various classroom contexts. Behaviors of 22 typically developing preschoolers were observed and coded on two different days in both indoor and outdoor classrooms during free play, small group activities, transitions, and meals/snack. Typically developing children interacted with peers with disabilities for a small amount of time; the interactions were significantly more likely in the outdoor classroom, in either child- or teacher-directed activities, and in play activities. There was a lack of adults’ intentional scaffolding for social interactions between children with and without disabilities even when they were near the children. Activity contexts contribute to children’s social behavior, and teachers need more support and training with inclusive and collaborative practices.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramya S. Moorthy ◽  
Kritika Iyer ◽  
R. Hari Krishnan ◽  
S. Pugazhenthi

AbstractPrevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children has been increasing over the years. These children, when compared to typically growing children, face challenges in leading a day-to-day life. Other than the social interactions, communication and cognitive skills, psychomotor skill deficits are also found in them. This paper focuses on enhancement of psychomotor skills in children with ASD by employing a mechatronic training kit. Training using this kit aims at developing skills like ‘palmar grasp’, ‘wrist rotation’ and ‘eye-hand coordination’. Trials were conducted with six children with autism aged between four and nine years. Significant improvements were seen in these children both in skills and in behaviour after the training. Thus, teaching psychomotor skills to children with autism using the newly developed mechatronic door training kit is found to be working and the results are encouraging.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prany Wantzen ◽  
Amélie Boursette ◽  
Elodie Zante ◽  
Jeanne Mioche ◽  
Francis Eustache ◽  
...  

Autobiographical memory (AM) is closely linked to the self-concept, and fulfills directive, identity, social, and adaptive functions. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are now known to have atypical AM, which may be closely associated with social communication difficulties. This may result in qualitatively different autobiographical narratives, notably regarding social identity. In the present study, we sought to investigate this concept and develop a cognitive intervention targeting individuals with ASD. First, 13 adolescents with ASD and 13 typically developing adolescents underwent an AM interview featuring an original coding system designed to analyze the social self. We observed that the narratives produced by the ASD group focused more on the family than on extended social spheres, compared with those of the comparison group. Moreover, participants with ASD did not include themselves in the social groups they mentioned, and produced more references to others, compared with typically developing participants. Second, we designed a cognitive intervention program consisting of individual and group sessions that targeted AM. We conducted a pilot study among three adolescents with ASD aged 12, 16, and 17 years. Preliminary results showed that the program increased extra-family narrative references by the two youngest adolescents, who produced more social integration markers. Our study of autobiographical narratives yielded interesting findings about social positioning in ASD and showed how AM can be targeted in rehabilitation programs as a vector of social interaction.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Ramot ◽  
Catherine Walsh ◽  
Gabrielle E. Reimann ◽  
Alex Martin

AbstractExtensive study of typically developing individuals and those on the autism spectrum has identified a large number of brain regions associated with our ability to navigate the social world. Although it is widely appreciated that this so-called ‘social brain’ is composed of distinct, interacting systems, these component parts have yet to be clearly elucidated. Here we used measures of eye movement and neural typicality – based on the degree to which subjects deviated from the norm – while typically developing (N = 62) and individuals with autism (N = 36) watched a large battery of movies depicting social interactions. Our findings provide clear evidence for distinct, but overlapping, neural systems underpinning two major components of the ‘social brain’, social orienting and inferring the mental state of others.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Fayez S. Maajeeny

Interactive whiteboard instruction technology provides interactive learning environment and serves as a motivational tool for the students. The study aims to investigate the effectiveness of interactive whiteboard (IAW) to teach early numeracy skills to the ASD students. The study has employed single-case design methodology and evaluated students for the effectiveness of using interactive whiteboard for teaching skills to the students through multiple probe design. A total of five baseline sessions were conducted on total four recruited students. During the intervention, data was obtained for at least three sessions from the date each student reached the acquisition criteria. The results showed that introduction of the intervention resulted in all participants meeting the established criteria. The early numeracy skills were generalized by all the four students to a different setting and with different materials. These results have supported the effectiveness of the interactive whiteboard, coupled with DTT to teach early numeracy skills to students with ASD. The study has concluded that interactive whiteboard with DTT was effective to teach early numeracy skills to the ASD students.


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