TEACHING PRESCHOOL AGE AUTISTIC-CHILDREN TO MAKE SPONTANEOUS INITIATIONS TO PEERS USING PRIMING

Children with autism rarely initiate social interactions with their pe ers. Currently available interventions have not increased autistic chi ldren' spontaneous initiations in natural settings without extensive t eacher involvement. A ''priming'' strategy consisting of a low demand high reinforcement session prior to the regular school activity was us ed to increase the spontaneous social initiations of 2 preschool age a utistic boys to typically developing peers in a regular preschool clas sroom. Peers were also trained to independently respond to initiations . Implications for developing practical ways to improve autistic child ren's social functioning in regular school settings are discussed.