A Review of Peer-Mediated Social Interaction Interventions for Students With Autism in Inclusive Settings
Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders
Watkins, L., O'Reilly, M., et al. (2015).
Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 45(4), 1070-1083.
This systematic review investigates the effects of peer-mediated interventions on the social interaction skills of children and young adults on the autism spectrum in inclusive settings.
Not stated
2008 through 2014
Single-case design studies; group comparison design studies
14
The practitioners, participants, and peers of the included studies reported generally high rates of satisfactions with peer-mediated intervention (PMI). "These positive findings suggest that PMI was generally perceived to be an acceptable intervention for use in inclusive settings and is beneficial and acceptable to both participants and peers, and is supported by teachers in the classroom" (p. 1080).
The reported positive outcomes indicate that peer-mediated intervention (PMI) is a promising intervention for facilitating social interaction between children on the autism spectrum and their peers in inclusive settings. Moreover, the results indicated that PMI had mostly positive effects on generalization, maintenance, and social validity outcomes.
"Beyond using at least one of the main peer implemented strategies (i.e., proximity, prompting and reinforcing, or peer initiation), all studies incorporated a variety of additional strategies ranging from direct instruction of social skills, pivotal response training, visual supports, self-monitoring, social scripts, high-probability request sequences, and participant interest driven activities to increase social interaction" in students on the autism spectrum (p. 1080).
