This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a randomized controlled trial of a social skills intervention, the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS: Laugeson et al. in "J Autism Dev Disord" 39(4): 596-606, 2009), by coding digitally recorded social interactions between adolescent participants with…

Findings from two studies are discussed in relation to the experiences and challenges faced by teachers trying to implement effective group work in schools and classrooms and to reflect on the lessons learnt about how to involve pupils with special educational needs (SEN). The first study reports on UK primary school teachers' experiences of…

The article reports on two effective peer intervention strategies for handicapped children with social deficits. In the first, nonhandicapped children are taught to use interaction promoting strategies and in the second, handicapped and nonhandicapped children are taught sociodramatic play scripts which encourage interaction during free play.(DB)

The paper reviews the literature on the training of social behavior in autistic children and reports on a project which developed and evaluated a program which explicitly trained mildly handicapped peers to facilitate the social behavior of autistic children. The extensive literature review looks at the etiology of social deficits in autistic…

This study examined a system for fading teacher prompts to children who served as peers in peer-initiation interventions for young children with disabilities (n=6). Results indicated that social interaction continued at the levels found during intervention and was maintained during a short maintenance period. (Author/DB)

This study investigated the effects of a peer-mediated intervention on the social interaction of five triads composed of preschoolers with autism and typical peers. Improved rates of social interaction during play were clearly associated with the peer intervention for four of the five children with autism. (Author/DB)

This guide to Asperger syndrome for teachers describes the underlying impairments of the condition, explains how these may lead to problems in school, and offers practical management suggestions. The first part gives an overview of Asperger syndrome and outlines the three core areas of impairment--social interaction, communication, and lack of…

A sequential withdrawal design was used to examine the effect of social skills intervention on the frequency of positive peer interaction in four moderately hearing-impaired preschool children. High rates of positive peer interaction were maintained when teacher modeling and prompting were gradually (but not abruptly) withdrawn. (Author/DB)

This study investigated effects of social interactive strategies (such as, contingent imitation, natural reinforcement contingency, and time delay) in promoting early social-communicative skills of a preschool child with developmental disabilities during daily classroom activities. Results indicated that the child's eye contact, joint attention,…

This case study evaluates the efficacy of intensive interaction approach in developing the social and communication ability of an 8-year-old boy with severe generalized developmental delay. The approach is based on the model of caregiver-infant interaction and principles of early development. Quantitative and qualitative data over 42 weeks showed…

Comparison of two interventions on the peer social interactions of 105 young children with and without hearing impairments found that the integrated activities intervention resulted in greater gains in total positive peer interaction than the social skills intervention. However, withdrawal of either intervention resulted in decreased peer…

Two experiments examined the effects of rewards alone, rewards plus discussion, and self-evaluation plus rewards on peer interactions of elementary level students with emotional or behavioral disorders. Observational data on eight students showed the self-evaluation procedures to be effective in improving peer interactions when implemented in a…

This study demonstrated that five withdrawn adults living in a residential center for psychotic and mentally handicapped persons could serve as peer therapists to increase the social interaction of other withdrawn residents. Positive results were maintained during a four-month follow-up condition. (Author/DB)

This study, involving five elementary students with severe emotional and behavioral problems, demonstrated the effectiveness of an intervention package comprising (1) observation of videotapes following peer activity sessions; (2) self-evaluation of peer interactions observed on videotapes; and (3) delayed feedback and reinforcement for desirable…

This study examined the interactional social behaviors of six elementary grade children with specific language impairment. Data reviewed included teacher ratings of social skills and child self-perceptions of loneliness and peer contacts. Children also were observed during interactional tasks including access, negotiation, and cooperative work.…