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Autism and Developmental Disorders
2025. Vol. 23, no. 3, 44–52
doi:10.17759/autdd.2025230305
ISSN: 1994-1617 / 2413-4317 (online)

Peer-Mediated Interventions in Autism: Methodology for Developing Social-Communication Groups

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. Individualized interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) do not always lead to the generalization of acquired skills beyond therapeutic settings. Within the framework of evidence-based practice, peer-mediated interventions (PMIs) have demonstrated efficacy in promoting social and communicative competencies. In these interventions, typically developing peers model target behaviors and serve as partners in social interaction, thereby facilitating the acquisition and transfer of communicative skills. Aim. To develop and pilot a structured protocol for the organization and implementation of social-communication groups based on PMIs, aimed at enhancing communicative competence in children with autism and developmental disorders. Hypothesis. The inclusion of typically developing peers in PMI-based social-communication groups contributes to more effective development of communication skills in children with ASD. Methods and materials. The study involved four children aged 10—12 years: two boys diagnosed with autism and expressive speech disorders, and two typically developing peers. The intervention program targeted the formation of specific communicative responses (e.g., supportive comments, reciprocal utterances), incorporated visual prompts and structured scripts, and included systematic training of peer partners to ensure consistency in modeling and interaction. Data were collected using specially designed behavioral checklists. Results. Both participants with ASD and those with speech impairments demonstrated a consistent positive trajectory, characterized by reduced reliance on prompts, an increase in spontaneous verbalizations, and improvements in turn-taking and dialogic maintenance. Conclusions. The study presents a structured protocol for PMI-based interventions aimed at fostering communicative development in children with developmental disorders. The effectiveness of the program is determined by several key conditions: careful participant selection, continuous assessment of progress, and gradual task complexity progression. The protocol can be effectively implemented within a reverse-inclusion framework and adapted for varying age groups and developmental levels.

General Information

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder (ASD), peer-mediated interventions (PMI), social-communication skills, group intervention, inclusive education, visual supports

Journal rubric: Education & Intervention Methods

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/autdd.2025230305

Funding. This research was supported by the Presidential Grants Foundation (Project “PMI” no. 20-1-016295)

Acknowledgements. The authors thank A.V. Lucishin, Principal of School no. 1465, for facilitating the practical implementationwithin the educational process and the Charitable Foundation “Absolut-Help”.

Received 11.07.2025

Revised 05.08.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Presnyakova, Yu.V., Men, E.E. (2025). Peer-Mediated Interventions in Autism: Methodology for Developing Social-Communication Groups. Autism and Developmental Disorders, 23(3), 44–52. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/autdd.2025230305

© Presnyakova Yu.V., Men E.E., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Yulia V. Presnyakova, Psychologist, ВСаВА, IBA certified behavior analyst, Behavioral Program Supervisor, ANO ”Autism Challenge Center: Education, Research, Rights Protection”, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1826-5529, e-mail: jpresnyakova133@gmail.com

Ekaterina E. Men, Philologist, organizational psychologist, President, ANO ”Autism Challenge Center: Education, Research, Rights Protection”, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0946-3449, e-mail: Katya-men@yandex.ru

Contribution of the authors

Yulia V. Presnyakova: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data curation, formal analysis, visualization, methodology writing.

Ekaterina E. Men: literature review, theoretical framework, writing — original draft preparation.

All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

The research was conducted in accordance with the Ethical Code of the Russian Association of Behavior Analysts (RusABA), approved by the Association’s Extraordinary General Assembly on July 8, 2020.

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