Promoting Interactions among Preschoolers with and without Disabilities: Effects of a Buddy Skills- Training Program

The promotion of friendship development for children with disabilities is now considered a primary educational goal. Peer-mediated interventions have been used successfully to increase social interaction between children with and without disabilities, although implementation has usually been restricted to play time. We investigated the effects of alternative strategies that included pairing four children with disabilities with several trained peers (“buddies”) during a variety of activities across the school day and teaching interaction skills to both children with and without disabilities. Interactions between children with and without disabilities increased significantly after peer training; supplemental dyadic training resulted in minimal increases in responsiveness on the part of children with disabilities. This intervention appears to be a useful approach for promoting peer interactions, a prerequisite for the development of friendships in integrated preschools.