Teaching preschool age autistic children to make spontaneous initiations to peers using priming

Abstract

Children with autism rarely initiate social interactions with their peers. Currently available interventions have not increased autistic children' spontaneous initiations in natural settings without extensive teacher involvement. A 'priming' strategy consisting of a low demand, high reinforcement session prior to the regular school activity was used to increase the spontaneous social initiations of 2 preschool age autistic boys to typically developing peers in a regular preschool classroom. Peers were also trained to independently respond to initiations. Implications for developing practical ways to improve autistic children's social functioning in regular school settings are discussed.