No abstract

Children with Asperger’s Disorder often have difficulty with peer relationships and socialization. The current study assessed whether peer social interactions would improve in school settings if an intervention was designed that incorporated the children with Asperger’s interests. Three children who were fully-included in regular education classes but did not interact with peers prior to intervention participated in this research. Social lunch clubs, open to both the study participants and their typical peers, were implemented twice weekly during regular lunchtime periods. Results showed that all three children increased their time engaged with peers as a result of the clubs. While their initiations greatly improved over baseline levels and approximated their peers, they were often initiating below the level of most of their peers. Implications for improving peer social interactions for children with Asperger’s Disorder are discussed.

The social vulnerabilities associated with young children with autism are recognized as important intervention targets due to their influence on subsequent development. Current research suggests that interventions that combine motivational and social components can create meaningful changes in social functioning. Simultaneously, it is hypothesized that parent delivery of such strategies can invoke increases in these core social behaviors and parent engagement. This study examined the effects of teaching parents to implement a social engagement intervention with their children. The results indicated that the use of this parent-delivered social intervention led to (a) increases in their children's use of eye contact, directed positive affect, and verbal initiations, (b) increases in parent positive affect and synchronous engagement, and (c) generalized increases in parent and child behaviors.

Proponents of autism intervention and those of the neurodiversity movement often appear at odds, the former advocating for intensive treatments and the latter arguing that autism must be accepted as a form of diversity. The history of behavioral intervention has understandably outraged many in the Autistic community, though many still value supports focused on quality of life. This commentary argues that Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs) hold promise for bridging the gap between early intervention and the neurodiversity movement. However, we recognize NDBIs have much room to grow and suggest multiple strategies for improvement. We believe these updates are not only feasible for clinicians and researchers to implement but will ultimately lead to improved quality of life for Autistic individuals.