Peer-mediated teaching and augmentative and alternative communication for preschool-aged children with autism

TLDR

The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of peer‑mediated naturalistic teaching with and without a speech‑generating device for preschool‑aged children with autism. Six typically developing peers were trained to deliver peer‑mediated naturalistic teaching, with and without a speech‑generating device, during play and mealtime sessions across three preschools, using a multiple‑baseline design and generalisation probes. All three children showed immediate increases in communication that generalized to mealtimes, yet only one maintained these gains, indicating preliminary support for combining peer‑mediated teaching with speech‑generating devices.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of two communication interventions for preschool-aged children with autism.Six typically developing peers were taught to implement peer-mediated naturalistic teaching, with and without a speech generating device (SGD), during play sessions with 3 classmates with autism in three preschools. Generalisation probes were conducted during mealtimes at the preschools. A multiple baseline design was used to assess the outcomes of the two intervention conditions.All 3 children with autism increased their communicative behaviours immediately following the introduction of the two interventions, and generalised these increases to mealtime interactions with their peers. However, only 1 child maintained these increases in communication.These results provide preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of combining peer-mediated naturalistic teaching with the use of SGDs for preschool-aged children with autism. Suggestions for improving the maintenance of intervention effects are provided.