Social inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within educational settings requires ongoing interactions with typical peers that are positively perceived by peers without disabilities, and the formation and maintenance of friendships within those settings (Koster, Nakken, Pijl, & vanHouten, 2009; Locke, Kang-Yi, Pellecchia, & Mandell, 2018; Stahmer & Ingersoll, 2004; Whitaker, 2004). The absence of direct intervention and peer and staff training can contribute to social isolation in children with ASD (Osler & Osler, 2002). Children with ASD who are socially excluded may have higher levels of rejection and experience increased vulnerability to bullying (Cappadocia, Weiss & Pepler, 2012; Fisher, Moskowitz, & Hodapp, 2013; Symes & Humphrey, 2010). Therefore, children with ASD require effective interventions to fully benefit from inclusive education settings (Lord, 1993; Pelicano, Bolte, & Stahmer, 2018). In order to meet the complex social needs of children with autism, social communication interventions must intervene with the child with ASD and the environment and assess the generality of social communication outcomes. The purpose of this dissertation was to understand how current intervention strategies promote generalization and can be combined to improve social communication outcomes for young children with ASD in inclusive education settings. Three independent but related research studies presented in journal submission format follow this introduction as chapters 2-4. Chapter 2 is a meta-analysis of the current single-case experimental design literature on the use of video based intervention (VBI) to target generalization of social communication for preschool and kindergarten children with ASD. The intent of this review was to examine potential moderating variables, such as VBI procedures (e.g., multiple-exemplars, programming common stimuli, and training for generalization) on overall generalization effects and to better understand generalization practices within VBI that promote generalization. Effect sizes between baseline and generalization were computed using Tau-U. This study extends previous VBI meta analytic reviews by evaluating the efficacy of VBI on generalization effects using a non-parametric effect size measure (i.e., Tau-U). Results of the synthesis demonstrate VBI studies assessing generalization of social communication for young children with ASD have an omnibus generalization effect of .83 CI95 [.75-.91]. When VBI studies program generalization this effect is higher .88 CI95 [.80-.96]. Chapter 3 evaluates a packaged peer training intervention using a component analysis approach. An add-in with reversal design was used to evaluate peer training components on peer social responses. The results of the study primarily inform the peer training strategy used in Chapter 4 as part of the multi-component peer mediated approach. Chapter 4 examines the effects of a multi-component peer mediatedintervention on the social communication behaviors of children with ASD and their typical peers during in an inclusive educational setting. A multiple probe across dyads design was used to examine the effects of the intervention (e.g., multiple-exemplar video modeling) on social initiations and social communication exchanges. The study contributes to the emerging literature on the effects of multi-component interventions on social communication among preschools children with ASD. Chapter 5 merges themes across all three publishable papers regarding social-communication, multi-component peer mediated approaches, and the use of VBI to promote generalization.
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