TRAINING MILDLY HANDICAPPED PEERS TO FACILITATE CHANGES IN THE SOCIAL INTERACTION SKILLS OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN

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Abstract
We evaluated the effects of a peer‐training strategy, consisting of direct prompting and modeling, on the occurrence and duration of interactions between autistic students and nonautistic peer‐trainers. Data were obtained in both training and generalization settings. The results of a multiple‐baseline design across students demonstrated that: (a) the direct prompting procedure produced immediate and substantial increases in the occurrences and durations of positive social interactions between the peer‐trainers and autistic students; (b) these increases were maintained across time at levels above baseline during subsequent free‐play probes; (c) these findings were judged by teachers to be socially valid; (d) untrained peers increased their interactions with the autistic students in three of the four groups; (e) generalization of behavior change across settings occurred only after specific programming; and (f) interactions between untrained peers and peer‐trainers decreased following training. Variables that may account for the results and the implications of these findings for peer‐mediated interventions are discussed.

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