Rationale

Why should peer-mediated instruction and intervention be used as an alternative to traditional classroom instruction?

Academic skills can vary greatly for students with ASD from severely delayed to above grade level, but social skills will most likely lag regardless of academic ability. Children with ASD usually have difficulty understanding social situations, but with the assistance of peer models and direct teaching, they can learn ways to react to various situations through using routines and phrases. Families and educators have found that it is extremely challenging for adults to teach developmentally appropriate social skills to children with ASD.

The majority of researchers have emphasized the goals of socialization and academics when using peer-mediated interventions with students with ASD. While individuals with ASD may vary widely from each other and demonstrate special skills or strengths, they generally have impairments in communication, socialization, interests, and behaviors (Quill, et al., 2000). Poor coping capabilities, difficulty reading social cues, limited ability to engage in a “give and take” conversation, and low frustration tolerance can lead peers to avoid them in social situations.

Further, difficulties with attending to relevant facts, shifting attention from one topic to another, sensitivity to sounds, sights, and other conditions in the classroom environment may significantly interfere with student’s ability to perform academically.

By receiving positive social and academic interventions and instruction from peers, students with ASD have significantly increased their responses to their peer tutors as well as to other classmates and are better able to continue interactions. Because the students with autism have difficulties with initiations, the “... first step still has to be made by the non-handicapped child” (Roeyers, 1996, p. 317).

Peer tutoring enables students to clarify and practice skills that are presented in lecture format, demonstration, and independent study (books, computer programs, etc.). It is a significant assistance to the classroom teacher, who may be unable to reach all students in a timely manner or give students with special needs the individual attention that they require.

Perhaps most important, in peer-mediated environments students with ASD are viewed as important members of their classroom and included in the general curriculum. They are positively attended to and assisted by their classmates, and in some cases, they themselves may serve as tutors. Their peers, by getting to know them, appreciate them for who they are, and everybody in the classroom grows in understanding and embracing the uniqueness of individuals.

Researchers have found that such programs promote benefits to both children with ASD and typically developing children. (Goldstein & Strain, 1988; Roeyers, 1996). For example, Roeyers noted significant improvement in peer interactions after giving peers general information regarding autism and engaging them in role-playing sessions in which they were encouraged to initiate and persist in trying to get their peers with ASD to interact with them. Similarly, interviews with 203 students from multiple peer programs indicate that the majority of the students enjoyed teaching their peers with ASD and felt that they too improved their academic and/or social skills (Kamps, et. al., 1998).

Key points:

• increases skill development and acquisition for both children with ASD and typical peers
• stresses social and academic skills
• assists teachers in meeting the needs of all students
• fosters an environment of greater sensitivity, awareness, and appreciation of individual differences