Presenter: Thea Brain
Time: 28 minutes
Peer-mediated instruction (PMI) is an evidence-based practice that involves teaching typically developing peers to interact with and help learners with developmental disabilities acquire new social skills within natural environments. This presentation will provide a brief overview of PMI research, followed by a description of a research study that employed a low-intensity instructional package with classmates of three middle school students with ASD. The study found increased social engagement and communication for all three participants with ASD. The focus of the presentation will be the discussion of the instructional package and implementation considerations for school teams.
Participants will be able to:
Have knowledge of the research supporting the use of PMIs in school settings to support increased social engagement for students with ASD or other developmental disabilities.
Identify the steps involved in behavioural skills training (BST) and will be able to describe how BST can be used to train peer coaches to implement a low-intensity PMI.
Learn the specific skills taught in a low-intensity PMI for students in middle-school: DO, HELP, TALK.