Semin Speech Lang 2005; 26(3): 170-180
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-917122
Copyright © 2005 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Social Communication Interventions for Preschoolers: Targeting Peer Interactions during Peer Group Entry and Cooperative Play

Geralyn R. Timler1 , Lesley B. Olswang2 , 4 , Truman E. Coggins3 , 4
  • 1Assistant Professor, University at Buffalo, Dept. of Communicative Disorders & Sciences, Buffalo, New York
  • 2Professor and Associate Chair
  • 3Associate Professor, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
  • 4Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
12 September 2005 (online)

ABSTRACT

Some preschoolers with language impairment approach and manage peer interactions less effectively than typically developing peers. This article discusses assessment and intervention strategies for targeting preschoolers' social communication skills during peer entry and cooperative play situations. Essential features of effective interventions include identification of appropriate social communication targets, addressing and facilitating children's use of these targets during small group sessions with peers, and supporting generalization of newly acquired social communication behaviors to children's peer interactions within the classroom setting.

REFERENCES

  • 1 Gresham F, Elliott S. Social Skills Rating System. Circle Pines, MN; American Guidance Service 1990
  • 2 Olswang L B, Coggins T E, Timler G R. Outcome measures for school-age children with social communication problems.  Top Lang Disord. 2001;  22 50-73
  • 3 Clarizio H F. Conduct disorder: developmental considerations.  Psychol Sch. 1997;  34 253-265
  • 4 Brinton B, Fujiki M. Language, social skills, and socioemotional behavior.  Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 1993;  24 194-198
  • 5 Hadley P A, Schuele C M. Facilitating peer interaction: socially relevant objectives for preschool language intervention.  Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 1998;  7 25-36
  • 6 Redmond S M. Social development and language impairment. In: Kent RD The MIT Encyclopedia of Communication Disorders. Cambridge, MA; Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2004: 398-402
  • 7 Bierman K L. Peer Rejection: Developmental Processes and Intervention Strategies. New York; Guilford Press 2004
  • 8 Brinton B, Fujiki M. Social interactional behaviors of children with specific language impairment.  Top Lang Disord. 1999;  19 49-69
  • 9 Craig H K. Social skills of children with specific language impairment: peer relationships.  Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 1993;  24 206-215
  • 10 Craig H K, Washington J A. Access behaviors of children with specific language impairment.  J Speech Lang Hear Res. 1993;  36 322-337
  • 11 Fujiki M, Brinton B, Todd C M. Social skills of children with specific language impairment.  Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 1996;  27 195-202
  • 12 Fujiki M, Brinton B, Morgan M, Hart C H. Withdrawn and sociable behavior of children with language impairment.  Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 1999;  30 183-195
  • 13 Fujiki M, Brinton B, Isaacson T, Summers C. Social behaviors of children with language impairment on the playground: a pilot study.  Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2001;  32 101-113
  • 14 Guralnick M J, Connor R T, Hammond M A, Gottman J M, Kinnish K. The peer relations of preschool children with communication disorders.  Child Dev. 1996;  67 471-489
  • 15 Hadley P A, Rice M L. Conversational responsiveness of speech- and language-impaired preschoolers.  J Speech Lang Hear Res. 1991;  34 1308-1317
  • 16 Rice M L, Sell M A, Hadley P A. Social interactions of speech- and language-impaired children.  J Speech Lang Hear Res. 1991;  34 1299-1307
  • 17 Dodge K A, Pettit G S, Gregory S, McClaskey C L, Brown M M. Social competence in children.  Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 1986;  51 1-85
  • 18 Putallaz M, Gottman J M. An interactional model of children's entry into peer groups.  Child Dev. 1981;  52 986-994
  • 19 Dodge K A, Schlundt D C, Schocken I, Delugach J D. Social competence and children's sociometric status: The role of peer group entry strategies.  Merrill Palmer Q. 1983;  29 309-336
  • 20 Putallaz M, Wasserman A. Children's naturalistic entry behavior and sociometric status: a developmental perspective.  Dev Psychol. 1989;  25 297-305
  • 21 Craig-Unkefer L A, Kaiser A P. Improving the social communication skills of at-risk preschool children in a play context.  Top Early Child Spec. 2002;  22 3-13
  • 22 Hopmeyer A, Asher S R. Children's responses to peer conflicts involving a rights infraction.  Merrill Palmer Q. 1997;  43 235-254
  • 23 Conroy M A, Brown W H. Preschool children: putting research into practice. In: Goldstein H, Kaczmarek L, English K Promoting Social Communication: Children with Developmental Disabilities from Birth to Adolescence. Communication and Language Intervention Series; vol. 10. Baltimore, MD; Paul H Brookes 2002: 211-237
  • 24 Bishop D VM. Specific language impairment: diagnostic dilemmas. In: Verhoeven L, van Balkom H Classification of Developmental Language Disorders: Theoretical Issues and Clinical Implications. Mahwah, NJ; Lawrence Erlbaum 2004: 309-326
  • 25 Coggins T E, Olswang L B. Tele-collaboration in speech and hearing sciences: social communication. Available at: http://depts.washington.edu/soccomm/index.html Accessed on March 1, 2005
  • 26 Redmond S M. The use of rating scales with children who have language impairments.  Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2002;  11 124-138
  • 27 Rice M L, Sell M A, Hadley P A. The Social Interactive Coding System (SICS): an on-line, clinically relevant descriptive tool.  Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 1990;  21 2-14
  • 28 Brown W H, Odom S L, Conroy M A. An intervention hierarchy for promoting young children's peer interactions in natural environments.  Top Early Child Spec. 2001;  21 162-175
  • 29 Kamps D M, Kravits T, Ross M. Social-communicative strategies for school-age children. In: Goldstein H, Kaczmarek L, English K Promoting Social Communication: Children with Developmental Disabilities from Birth to Adolescence. Communication and Language Intervention Series, vol. 10. Baltimore, MD; Paul H Brookes 2002: 239-278
  • 30 Brown W H, Conroy M A. Promoting peer-related social-communicative competence in preschool children. In: Goldstein H, Kaczmarek L, English K Promoting Social Communication: Children with Developmental Disabilities from Birth to Adolescence. Communication and Language Intervention Series, vol. 10. Baltimore, MD; Paul H Brookes 2002: 173-210
  • 31 Goldstein H, Kaczmarek L, Pennington R et al.. Peer-mediated intervention: attending to, commenting on, and acknowledging the behavior of preschoolers with autism.  J Appl Behav Anal. 1992;  25 289-305
  • 32 Goldstein H, English K, Shafer K, Kaczmarek L. Interaction among preschoolers with and without disabilities: effects of across-the-day peer intervention.  J Speech Lang Hear Res. 1997;  40 33-48
  • 33 Craig-Unkefer L A, Kaiser A P. Increasing peer-directed social-communication skills of children enrolled in Head Start.  J Early Intervention. 2003;  25 229-247
  • 34 Beilinson J S, Olswang L B. Facilitating peer-group entry in kindergartners with impairments in social communication.  Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2003;  34 154-166
  • 35 McGill F, Timler G. A social communication intervention for preschoolers with mild language concerns. Poster Session presented at: Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders June 2004 Madison, WI;
  • 36 Thiemann K S, Goldstein H. Effects of peer training and written text cueing on social communication of school-age children with pervasive developmental disorder.  J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2004;  47 126-144
  • 37 Timler G, Olswang L, Coggins T. “Do I know what I need to do?” A social communication intervention for children with complex clinical profiles.  Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2005;  36 73-84
  • 38 Chandler L K, Lubeck R C, Fowler S A. Generalization and maintenance of preschool children's social skills: a critical review and analysis.  J Appl Behav Anal. 1992;  25 415-428
  • 39 English K, Goldstein H, Shafer K, Kaczmarek L. Promoting interactions among preschoolers with and without disabilities: effects of a buddy skills-training program.  Exceptional Children. 1997;  63 229-243
  • 40 Hart C H, Olsen S F, Robinson C C, Mandleco B L. The development of social and communicative competence in childhood: review and a model of personal, familial, and extrafamilial processes. In: Burleson B, Kunkel A Communication Yearbook 20. Thousand Oaks, CA; Sage 1997: 305-373

Geralyn R TimlerPh.D. 

Dept. of Communicative Disorders & Sciences, University at Buffalo

3435 Main Street, 122 Cary Hall

Buffalo, NY 14214-3005

Email: grtimler@buffalo.edu

    >