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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
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A Familiarization Protocol Facilitates the Participation of Children with ASD in Electrophysiological Research
Published on: July 31, 2017
Setting generality of peer modeling in children with autism
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
|March 1, 1990
Summary
Autistic children can learn peer imitation skills through guided play. A study showed that with peer modeling and prompting in a fun activity, children with autism generalized learned behaviors to new settings.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
Background:
- Peer modeling is crucial for typical behavior development in children.
- Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often struggle to imitate neurotypical peers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify factors that enhance peer imitation acquisition in children with ASD.
- To promote the generalization of imitative skills to different settings.
Main Methods:
- A 'Follow-the-Leader' preschool activity was used as the intervention.
- Four preschool children with ASD participated, receiving demonstrations and physical prompts from a neurotypical peer.
- The intervention involved various actions and object manipulations.
Main Results:
- All four children with ASD successfully acquired peer imitation skills.
- Imitative skills were generalized to a new environment with novel actions and object manipulations.
- The use of multiple training objects/responses and intrinsically reinforcing activities may enhance imitation and generalization.
Conclusions:
- Peer modeling, particularly within engaging activities, can effectively teach imitation skills to children with ASD.
- Facilitating attention to the model and utilizing intrinsically reinforcing activities are key for skill acquisition and generalization.
- This approach holds promise for improving social interaction and learning in children with autism.
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