Peer-Mediated Instruction and Intervention in English and Spanish for Bilingual Children with Autism Spectrum Disorde

One of the diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is deficits in social communication. Peer-mediated instruction and intervention (PMII) is an evidence-based intervention that targets these skills for students with ASD. Although shown to be effective with students from preschool through high school, it has not been systematically studied with bilingual students. The current study implemented PMII with two bilingual students and bilingual peer buddies. During intervention phases, the students were directed to speak in English or Spanish, but peers matched the spontaneous language of the target peers if there was a change in language. Results show an increase in verbal utterances during both English and Spanish PMII phases compared to baseline phases. Implications for future research are discussed.