Peer tutoring and token economy to increase approvals and spontaneous interactions for three students with autism
Camilla del Balzo, Laura Antonelli, Elena Tucci, Vanessa Artoni
This study tested the effects of peer tutoring (Greer & Polirstok, 1982; Lawson & Trapenberg, 2007) combined with the use of token economy (Ayllon & Azrin, 1968) on increasing approvals and spontaneous interactions in three students with autism spectrum disorder. The participants, aged between 7 and 9 years and with a reader level of verbal development (Greer & Ross, 2008), were selected for the study because they presented a satisfactory repertoire of productive language with adults but no type of interaction with peers was recorded except through the emission of disapprovals. A delayed multiple probe design across participants was used, in which the number of approvals and spontaneous interactions emitted by the participants in non-instructional settings with peers was measured. The intervention consisted in the use of peer tutoring and the implementation of a token economy in order to instruct the tutors in the accurate presentation of learn units (Greer & McDonough, 1999). The results show an increase in approvals and at the same time a decrease in disapprovals, as well as an increase in social interactions which, in this study, were defined as collateral behaviors (Greer & Polirstok, 1982) produced by the introduction of peer tutoring.
Keywords
Autism Spectrum Disorder, peer tutoring, token economy, approvals, spontaneous interactions.
