Exploring Predictors of Response to a Peer-Mediated Intervention for Preschoolers With ASD

This study will examine what child variables (i.e., social attention and peer interest) predict communication gains in response to a peer-mediated intervention for 40 minimally-verbal preschool children with ASD and 80 peers. The Stay-Play-Talk with iPad intervention will be implemented for 8 weeks. Gains in communication and reciprocity with peers will be measured at post-treatment and in non-treatment settings. Another goal is to determine if variance in communication gains accounted for by the two social variables differs based on the pre-treatment measurement context.