The Relationship between Stereotypic Behavior and Peer Social Interaction for Children with Severe Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the collateral relationship between engagement in social interaction with peers and the occurrence of stereotypic behavior for two children with severe disabilities. Peers without disabilities were taught to make social initiations to two children with autism and other severe disabilities who engaged in high rates of stereotypic behavior. When the peers made social initiations and the children with disabilities increased their engagement in social interaction, collateral decreases occurred in their stereotypic behavior. Within an ABAB design, the functional relationship between these variables was demonstrated. Implications of these findings for designing interventions for promoting social integration and their possible effects on stereotypic behavior are noted.DESCRIPTORS: autism, challenging behavior, nonhandicapped peers, social interaction, stereotypic behavior Stereotypic behavior and social isolation are defining characteristics of autism (Dawson, 1989;Schreibman, 1988). Stereotypies are highly visible and unusual behaviors that may take the form of body rocking, mouthing, or complex hand a n d finger movements, although vocal stereotypies also occur for

Promoting Social Interactions Between Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders and Their Peers in Inclusive School Settings

“…Consistent with previous research on peer training, the current study demonstrates that peer training can be a viable strategy for increasing interactions between typical peers and students with ASD (Kamps et al, 2002;Kohler et al, 1995;Lee & Odom, 1996;Strain, 1983). Importantly, this investigation focused on social behaviors that took place in natural social contexts in public schools-specifically, lunchtime and recess-thereby addressing ecological validity issues relevant to typical school settings.…”

“…Rogers (2000) reviewed this literature and identified several effective techniques, including Social Stories TM , social skills groups, peer tutoring, pivotal response training, visual cueing in the form of scripts, and adultdirected instruction. The development of peer networks (Garrison-Harrell & Kamps, 1997;Kamps et al, 1997) and general peer training interventions (Gonzalez-Lopez & Kohler et al, 1995;Lee & Odom, 1996;McGee, Almeida, Sulzer-Azaroff, & Feldman, 1992;Morrison, Kamps, Garcia, & Parker, 2001) have also been identified as valuable strategies that can support positive social outcomes. Rogers (2000) further noted that the field is shifting emphasis from adult-directed to peer-based instructional strategies, including peer training, peer tutoring, and peer networking.…”

“…These approaches, which may be collectively referred to as peer-mediated interventions, focus on using typical classmates to improve the behaviors of students with ASD (Kamps et al, 1998). Peer-mediated strategies have been found to be effective in increasing social initiations that peers direct toward students with special needs, such as sharing, suggesting play ideas, assisting, and being affectionate (Kohler et al, 1995;Lee & Odom, 1996). Other research has demonstrated quantitative changes in social interactions between students with autism and their peers when peers are trained to make requests and comments to their peers with autism (Morrison et al, 2001); to prompt students with autism to verbally request items and engage in turntaking (McGee et al, 1992); and to prompt students with autism to imitate actions and follow simple instructions (Gonzalez-Lopez & .…”

Use of video modeling to increase generalization of social play by children with autism.

“…For example, in verbal children, both the frequency of language use, even in an echolalic form, as well as the development of novel vocabulary have been demonstrated to increase along with increases in social engagement (e.g., Krantz & McClannahan, 1993;Kuhl, Coffey-Corina, Padden, & Dawson, 2005;Nikopoulos & Keenan, 2007;Stahmer, 1995;Thorp, Stahmer, & Schreibman, 1995). Furthermore, inappropriate behaviors have been shown to decrease during periods of active social engagement (Lee & Odom, 1996;Nikopoulos & Keenan, 2006).…”

Effects of Video Modelling on Training and Generalisation of Social Initiation and Reciprocal Play by Children With Autism

“…For example, in verbal children, both the frequency of language used and the development of novel vocabulary have been demonstrated to increase along with increases in social engagement (e.g., Krantz & McClannahan, 1993;Stahmer, 1995;Thorp, Stahmer, & Schreibman, 1995). Also, inappropriate behaviour has been shown to decrease during periods of active social engagement (Lee & Odom, 1996). Moreover, while children with autism can learn to respond to social initiations by others, they may face major difficulties in initiating complex social behaviours and as a result conversation and initiating play remain at low levels (Pierce & Schreibman, 1995).…”