ACTIVITY ENGAGEMENT AND SOCIAL-INTERACTION DEVELOPMENT IN YOUNG-CHILDREN WITH AUTISM - AN EXAMINATION OF FREE INTERVENTION EFFECTS

Using a series of reversal designs, interventions to improve the activ e engagement and the peer social skills of five preschool boys with au tism were investigated, In contrast to intervention for engagement, pe er social skill intervention resulted in a number of ''free effects'' for all the participants. Specifically, children's engagement with pee rs increased, as did their exposure to nondisabled children when the p eer social skill intervention was in effect.