As a growing number of students with disabilities are included within general education environments, it is important to plan ahead for the new and exciting social opportunities they will encounter in these environments. In addition to teaching programs designed to overcome basic communication deficits, it is important to give careful consideration to what students will talk about as they become fully participating members across a variety of new social environments. Students with disabilities often require repeated practice to acquire, generalize, and maintain social communication skills. A structured, reciprocal peer tutoring program can provide students with many opportunities to respond with immediate feedback. When implemented systematically, peer tutoring programs are able to support students as they practice the skills necessary for a conversational exchange. Therefore, this article describes how to create a systematic peer tutoring program with sports trivia content to teach and support social conversational skills for individuals with disabilities.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allsopp, D.H. (1997). Using classwide peer tutoring to teach beginning algebra problem-solving skills in heterogeneous classrooms. Remedial and Special Education, 18(6), 367—379.
2.
Arreaga-Mayer, C. (1998). Increasing active student responding and improving academic performance through classwide peer tutoring. Intervention in School and Clinic, 34(2), 89—94, 117.
3.
Barbetta, P.M., Miller, A.D., Peters, M.T., Heron, T.E., & Cochran, L.L. (1991). TUGMATE: A cross-age tutoring program to teach sight vocabulary. Education & Treatment of Children, 14, 19—37.
4.
Brady, N. (1997). The teaching game: A reciprocal peer tutoring program for preschool children. Education & Treatment of Children, 20, 123—149.
5.
Calculator, S.N. (1988). Promoting the acquisition and generalization of conversational skills by individuals with severe disabilities. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 4(2), 94—103.
6.
Cartledge, G., & Lo, Y. (2006). Teaching urban learners: Culturally responsive strategies for developing academic and behavioral competence. Champaign, IL: Research Press.
7.
Chadsey, J.G., & Han, K.G. (2005). Friendship facilitation strategies: What do students in middle school tell us?Teaching Exceptional Children, 38(2), 52—57.
8.
Cohen, J. (1986). Theoretical considerations of peer tutoring. Psychology in the Schools, 23, 175—186.
9.
Cooke, N.L., Heron, T.E., & Heward, W.L. (1983). Peer tutoring: Implementing classwide programs in the primary grades. Columbus, OH: Special Press.
10.
Cooke, N.L., Heron, T.E., Heward, W.L., & Test, D.W. (1982). Integrating a Down's syndrome child in a classwide peer tutoring system: A case report. Mental Retardation, 20(1), 22—25.
11.
Downing, J. (1999). Teaching communication skills to students with severe disabilities. Baltimore: Brookes.
12.
Duan, D.W., & O'Brien, S. (1998). Peer-mediated social-skills training and generalization in group homes. Behavioral Interventions , 13, 235—247.
13.
Freeman, S., & Dake, L. (1996). Teach me language: A language manual for children with autism, Asperger's syndrome and related developmental disorders. Langley, BC: SFK Books.
14.
Frost, L., & Bondy, A. (2002). The picture exchange communication system training manual (2nd ed.). Newark, DE : Pyramid Educational Products.
15.
Goldstein, H., & Morgan, L. (2002). Social interaction and models of friendship development . In H. Goldstein, L. A. Kaczmarek, & K. M. English (Eds.), Promoting social communication: Children with developmental disabilities from birth to adolescence (pp. 5—26). Baltimore : Brookes.
16.
Greenwood, C.R. (1991). Classwide peer tutoring: Longitudinal effects on reading, language, and mathematics achievement of at-risk students. Journal of Reading, Writing, and Learning Disabilities International , 7(2), 105—123.
17.
Gresham, F.M. (1981). Social skills training and handicapped children: A review. Review of Educational Research, 51(1), 139—176.
18.
Gumpel, T.P., & Frank, R. (1999). An expansion of peer tutoring paradigm: Cross-age peer tutoring of social skills among socially rejected boys. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 32, 115—118.
19.
Han, K.G., & Chadsey, J.G. (2004). The influence of gender patterns and grade levels on friendship expectations of middle school students toward peers with severe disabilities. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities , 19(4), 205—214.
20.
Heron, T.E., Welsch, R.G., & Goddard, Y.L. (2003). Applications of tutoring systems in specialized subject areas: An analysis of skills, methodologies, and results. Remedial and Special Education, 24, 288— 300.
21.
Houghton, S., & Bain, A. (1993). Peer tutoring with ESL and below-average readers. Journal of BehavioralEducation, 3, 125—142.
22.
Kamps, D., Barbetta, P., Leonard, B., & Delquadri, J. (1994). Classwide peer tutoring: An integration strategy to improve reading skills and promote peer interactions among students with autism and general education peers. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27, 49—61.
23.
Kuder, S.J. (2003). Teaching students with language and communication disabilities (2nd ed.). Boston : Allyn & Bacon.
24.
Maheady, L., Mallette, B., & Harper, G.F. (2006). Four classwide peer tutoring models: Similarities, differences, and implications for research and practice. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 22(1), 65—89.
25.
Miller, A.D., Barbetta, P., & Heron, T.E. (1994). START tutoring: Designing, training, implementing, and adapting tutoring programs for school and home settings. In. R. Gardner, D. M. Sainato , J. O. Cooper, T. E. Heron, W. L. Heward, J. Eshleman, & T. A. Grossi (Eds.), Behavioral analysis in education: Focus on measurably superior instruction (pp. 265—282). Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole.
26.
Reichle, J., Beukelman, D.R., & Light, J.C. (2002). Exemplary practices for beginning communicators: Implications for AAC. Baltimore: Brookes.
27.
Stokes, T.F., & Baer, D.M. (1977). An implicit technology of generalization. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10, 349—367.
28.
Sundberg, M.L., & Partington, J.W. (1998). Teaching language to children with autism or other developmental disabilities. Pleasant Hill, CA: Behavior Analysts.
29.
Van Norman, R.K., & Wood, C.L. (in press). Effects of prerecorded sight words on the accuracy of tutor feedback. Remedial and Special Education.
30.
Wacker, D., Berg, W., & Harding, J. (2002). Replacing socially unacceptable behavior with acceptable communication responses. In J. Reichle, D. R. Beukelman, & J. C. Light (Eds.), Exemplary practices for beginning communicators: Implications for AAC (pp. 97—121) Baltimore: Brookes.
31.
Wacker, D., Peck, S., Derby, M., Berg, W., & Harding, J. (1996). Developing long-term reciprocal interactions between parents and their young children with problematic behavior. In L. K. Koegel, R. L. Koegel, & G. Dunlap (Eds.), Positive behavioral support: Including people with difficult behavior in the community (pp. 51—80). Baltimore: Brookes .
