Effects of Peer Training and Written Text Cueing on Social Communication of School-Age Children With Pervasive Developmental Disorder

TLDR

The study examined the effects of peer training and written text cueing on social communication in five elementary students with pervasive developmental disorder. Each child was paired with two nondisabled peers to form triads; peer training taught five facilitative social skills over five days, while written text cues were later introduced to reinforce three communication skills. Peer training increased initiations and contingent responses in four children but deficits persisted, whereas written text cues improved use of three communication skills across all participants and enhanced interaction quality, teacher reports, and friendship ratings, supporting the use of text cues and suggesting combined approaches may be needed.

Abstract

This study consecutively examined the effects of 2 social interventions—peer training and written text treatment—on the social communication of 5 elementary students with pervasive developmental disorder. Each child with autism was paired with 2 peers without disabilities to form 5 triads. In Intervention 1 (peer training), peers were taught to use 5 facilitative social skills over 5 days. After peer training, 4 children with autism increased or used more stable rates of initiations and contingent responses overall. However, all children continued to demonstrate deficits in specific social-communication skills. Once Intervention 2 (direct instruction using written text cues) was implemented, increased use of 3 different communication skills was observed across all 5 participants. In addition, social validity outcomes revealed improved quality of child-peer interactions, 2 teacher reports of improved social skill development, and improved acceptance and friendship ratings for the children with autism. Results support the use of written text cues to improve children's social communication with peers, and suggest that combining approaches may be necessary to improve the quality of children's relationships.