Abstract
This RCT study examined efficacy of a preschool peer social intervention (PPSI) in facilitating social engagement of preschoolers with high-functioning ASD (HFASD; N = 65). HFASD participants were randomly assigned by preschool to a 6-month intervention (play, interaction, or conversation) or a waitlisted-treatment-as-usual control group. Trained on-site therapists led the PPSI in preschools, in small (n = 3–4) mixed (HFASD/typical) groups. Results showed that all intervention groups improved over time, each mainly in its own targeted peer-engagement domain, but the control group even deteriorated on some measures. Intervention groups also showed generalization to untrained domains (adaptive skills) and settings (play complexity during preschool activities). It is advised that individualized needs-based holistic peer intervention, comprising all three domains, should be part of early ASD intervention.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 844-863 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 27 Nov 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Mar 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Funding
This research was partially supported by the Association of Children at Risk given to the first author. The study was prepared based on doctoral dissertations of the second, third, and fourth authors under the guidance of the first author. Special thanks are extended to the children, preschools, and therapists who took part in this study. The authors would like to express their appreciation to Dee B. Ankonina for her editorial contribution.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Association of Children |
Keywords
- High-functioning children with autism spectrum disorders (HFASD)
- Peer interaction
- Peer talk and conversation
- Social intervention
- Social play