Peer Play in Inclusive Child Care Settings: Assessing the Impact of Stay, Play, & Talk, a Peer-Mediated Social Skills Program

Abstract

Peer-mediated interventions are highly effective strategies in supporting the development of social skills for young children; however, research has focused on how peer-mediated interventions are beneficial for children with social communication challenges such as Autism Spectrum Disorder. The goal of this study was to measure the efficacy of Stay, Play, & Talk for typically developing children in an inclusive child care setting to extend the use of the intervention beyond its previous focus on children with identified or suspected social communication challenges. Using pre-and post-intervention measures, social skills (communication, cooperation, empathy, and responsibility) increased significantly and problem behaviors (hyperactivity/inattention and internalizing behaviors) decreased significantly for children in the intervention group; whereas, their peers in the control group experienced significant increases in communication skills and bullying behaviors. These findings provide preliminary support for the efficacy of this peer-mediated intervention in supporting the development of social skills in typically developing young preschool-aged children.

High-Quality Inclusion in Preschool Settings: A Survey of Early Childhood Personnel

“…Specific instructional strategies for high-quality preschool inclusion involve using special equipment for children to access all activities, providing multiple ways for children to play, using children’s unique interests, adapting materials (e.g., different tools, use of contrasting colors), using peers for support, and ensuring children have augmentative communication available as needed in all activities (e.g., Cate et al, 2010). Use of these high-quality preschool inclusion practices is associated with increased belonging and membership for children with and without disabilities (e.g., Guralnick & Groom, 1988), improvements in children’s language skills (e.g., Justice et al, 2014; Yeomans-Maldonado et al, 2019), and better social skills for children with and without disabilities (e.g., Feldman & Matos, 2013; van Rhijn et al, 2021).…”