Increasing Social Interaction Skills of Secondary School Students with Autism and/or Intellectual Disability: A Review of Interventions

Abstract

We reviewed studies to identify strategies effective at increasing social interaction skills across a range of secondary school students with autism and/or intellectual disability who experienced limited peer interaction. We were particularly interested in identifying strategies that involved peers and were effective at increasing peer interaction beyond the instructional setting. We identified 13 intervention studies that we analyzed by (a) participant characteristics, settings, and outcomes measured; (b) effective instructional strategies, including role of peers and programming for generalization, related to generalized effects of social interaction interventions; (c) the relation of participant characteristics, type of intervention, and generalization effects; (d) social validation and treatment fidelity measures; and (e) methodological limitations. Findings allowed us to provide recommendations for future research and practice.