This article reports on a 4-year follow-up study from the Learning Experiences and Alternative Program for Preschoolers and Their Parents (LEAP) randomized trial of early intervention for young children with autism. Overall, participants from LEAP classes were marginally superior to comparison class children on elementary school outcomes specific…

This article reports on a 4-year follow-up study from the Learning Experiences and Alternative Program for Preschoolers and Their Parents (LEAP) randomized trial of early intervention for young children with autism. Overall, participants from LEAP classes were marginally superior to comparison class children on elementary school outcomes specific…

The article presents a four-step intervention model to both improve the social skills of socially isolated (often handicapped) children as well as improve peer attitudes. Use of the model with 6 autistic-like preschool children and 10 normal peers resulted in autistic Ss achieving positive interacton within the normal range. (DB)

A peer-initiation condition, in which confederates were taught to initiate interaction with three autistic four- year-olds, reliably increased the Ss's social responses. A teacher-antecedent condition, in which teachers prompted the autistic Ss to initiate with confederates who had been taught to reciprocate, increased the initiations and…

This article suggests the need to embed social skills intervention within the more general context of long-term early intervention efforts that promote all dimensions of developmental performance. Results from former clients of the LEAP program are discussed and demonstrate evidence of sustained growth and development over nearly two decades.…

Using a series of reversal designs, interventions to improve the active engagement and peer social skills of five preschool boys with autism were investigated. In contrast to intervention for engagement, peer social skill intervention resulted in "free effects" for all participants, including increased engagement with peers and exposure…

This study examined the impact of play activities, teachers' predictions of children's sociability, and intervention fidelity variables on levels of interaction between three preschoolers with autism and their nondisabled peers. Results indicated that social reciprocity and peer effort correlated highly with children's levels of social…

A study examined the effects of combining naturalistic teaching and peer-mediated tactics to address the developmental skills of 10 preschoolers with autism. Compared to naturalistic tactics only, the involvement of typical peers resulted in a substantial increase in the duration and rate of skills addressed during each teaching episode.…

This study represents an attempt to build a home-based intervention package wherein caregivers encourage positive interactions between young children with autism and their siblings. Using a previously validated, classroom-based social skills intervention package, caregivers in three homes were able to produce substantial improvements in sibling…

Three preschool boys with autism received social skills training and an intervention that encompassed adult prompting, edible reinforcement contingent on positive exchanges, and self-monitoring of social behaviors. The self-monitoring package increased target children's interactions with peers and/or siblings. School and home procedures produced…

This document presents the final report of a 4-year project (ending in 1991) which conducted six studies of the impact of various peer-mediated interventions on the acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of social interaction skills of preschoolers with severe disabilities. The report covers project objectives, the project's theoretical…

This study of interactions between three severely withdrawn, autistic preschool children and six nonhandicapped peers found that peers can be effectively taught strategies to increase appropriate social behaviors of autistic classmates, and a group-oriented reinforcement contingency is an effective complement to teacher-prompted interventions and…