A Strategy to Increase the Social Interactions of 3-Year-Old Children With Disabilities in an Inclusive Classroom

Abstract

The current study evaluated the play behaviors of children with disabilities (e.g., developmental delays, specific language impairment) who participated in a social communication intervention targeting skills such as initiations, responses, name use, proximity, and turn-taking. Three children who were enrolled in an inclusive classroom met the inclusion criteria. A multiple baseline design was used to determine the effects of the intervention. The social communication intervention was highly effective for all children in increasing the rate of parallel play behaviors. Several implications for practice were derived from the findings. By teaching children social communication strategies, the quality of social interactions that children have with their peers is likely to improve. The intervention offers a more systematic technique for teaching social communication and play skills than do informal strategies commonly used by teachers. Social validity assessments indicated that teachers found the intervention acceptable and produced important changes in behavior.