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Self-prompted communication books were used in combination with conversational peer orientation to increase conversational interactions of verbal high school students with autism or autistic-like behavior with their peers without disabilities. Previous investigators have used communication books only with students with autism or intellectual disability with limited or no verbal or reading skills. The six high school participants in this study could read and were verbal. We sought to determine whether the communication books would be accepted by peers without disabilities in general education classrooms or whether the books would stigmatize the students with disabilities. Finally, we assessed the effects of having a peer with a learning disability as the teacher of conversational interaction skills. We interpreted our results to conclude that the communication book package was associated with increased conversational interactions for all participants with their general education peers and that communication books were viewed positively by conversational partners.

Limited social interaction typically occurs between high school students with autism and their general education peers unless programming is introduced to promote interaction. However, few published social interaction interventions have been conducted among high school students with autism and their general education classmates. Such studies typically have involved considerable researcher assistance in arranging and supporting opportunities for interaction. This study represents a departure from previous interventions by teaching general education students a strategy to prompt themselves to increase their interactions with classmates with autism. Three general education high school students were taught to set interaction goals and monitor their interactions with a peer with autism in their classes. The goal-setting package was associated with increased social interaction among participating students. Based on findings, recommendations are provided for future research and practice.

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.