Children with autism suffer from poor or absent peer relationships across their life span and regardless of age and ability. Although a number of peer intervention models have been employed, these models have not been subjected to systematic comparison, nor have they been implemented in regular school programs for school-aged children. The proposed research examines the effects of intervention on the peer relationships and social networks of children with autism. The goal of the proposed project is to examine children with autism's social inclusion in the classroom as a result of two different targeted peer interventions, a combined intervention condition, or no treatment. In one treatment, the intervention focuses on specifically improving the social skills of the child with autism. In the other treatment, the intervention focuses on peer engagement skills of typical classmates with the target child with autism. The combined condition offers a more comprehensive intervention, working with both the child with autism and their typical peers. The no-treatment comparison group reflects the current state of practice in local school districts, in which there are typically no systematic peer related interventions, just exposure to typical models.
Specific AIMS of this project are to 1) Examine the effects of 2 different peer interaction interventions, a combination condition, and no systematic intervention on the social inclusion (social network ratings) of children with autism. 2) To assess the quality of peer interactions in unstructured playground settings as a function of intervention or no-intervention groups. 3) To determine the individual characteristics of child, teacher and classroom that predict better social inclusion outcomes. 4) To determine the effects of interventions on ratings of loneliness and friendship quality for targeted children.
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