Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication, which manifest at school especially in less structured situations such as recess. Recess provides opportunities for relationship with peers in a natural context, for which students with ASD may not be equipped with the necessary skills to use without support. Using a single-case design, we evaluated an intervention applied in recess to improve the social interaction skills of a student with high-functioning ASD mediated by his peers without ASD, in second grade of elementary school. This intervention includes different strategies to initiate the peers without ASD, using direct instruction, modeling, and social reinforcement carried out in the recess setting. After 14 sessions, changes were observed in the rates of initiating and responding to interactions, and a negative trend in the percentage of time that the student maintained low-intensity interactions or was alone. Teachers and family perceived improvements in social skills, more peer acceptance, and increase in the frequency and duration of social interactions. This intervention can help teachers to apply research-based practices to improve some social interaction skills in high-functioning students with autism in inclusive school environments.
Highlights
Last revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) defines autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a single spectrum disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and interaction, as well as restricted repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, observed in early childhood
They have fewer friends and their friendships are of poorer quality (Kasari et al, 2011; Calder et al, 2013) and they have a worse perception of friendship, companionship, closeness, security, and help (Chamberlain et al, 2007; Solomon et al, 2011; Camargo et al, 2014). This usually leads to their isolation, even during recess and in inclusive educational settings (Anderson et al, 2004; Harper et al, 2008; Kasari et al, 2012), where a percentage of social interaction lower than 53% of the time would justify the need for a specific intervention to improve their social interactions (Shih et al, 2014)
This study examines the effectiveness of a peer-mediated intervention program for the development of social interaction skills, in a student with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD)
Summary
Last revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) defines autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a single spectrum disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and interaction, as well as restricted repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, observed in early childhood. They have fewer friends and their friendships are of poorer quality (Kasari et al, 2011; Calder et al, 2013) and they have a worse perception of friendship, companionship, closeness, security, and help (Chamberlain et al, 2007; Solomon et al, 2011; Camargo et al, 2014) This usually leads to their isolation, even during recess and in inclusive educational settings (Anderson et al, 2004; Harper et al, 2008; Kasari et al, 2012), where a percentage of social interaction lower than 53% of the time would justify the need for a specific intervention to improve their social interactions (Shih et al, 2014). Their results indicate that students with autism spent approximately 30% of recess time alone, whereas their peers without autism were alone 9% of recess time, without differential effects as a function of the school
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call