 Study Conducted in 2009  Lead Researchers: Blythe Corbett, Joan Gunther & Dan Comins ◦ University of California, Davis  Results Published in Journal of Autism Development Disorders (2010)

Major Components of Learning Deficit:  Difficulty understanding other individual’s thoughts & feelings  Difficulty perceiving and understanding emotions  Limited ability to empathize  Poor communication skills

Successful Behavioral Intervention Strategies  Peer Mediation  Active Learning  Practice Key to Success  Supportive Environment

Children with autism spectrum disorders would show improvement in social-emotional skills from participating in a peer-mediated musical theatrical program.

 Pretest – Posttest Design  Evaluated changes in 3 neuropsychological measures

 8 Children (7 boys, 1 girl)  Age Range: 6-17 (M = 13.86, SD = 3.49)  IQ Score Range: 62 – 102 (M = SD = 16.44)

 Autistic children paired with normally developing peer actors  Role of peer actors: ◦ Serve as peer models & co-stars in a musical performance ◦ Perform peer’s role for video modeling

Rehearsals  3 months  Rehearsal schedule increased gradually from 1 day to 4 a week  Held in supportive environment

 2 of the 3 measures produced statistically significant results: ◦ Matching Faces [t(7) = -2.62, p = 0.034] ◦ Theory of Mind [t(7) = -2.73, p = 0.034]

Need More Robust Follow Up Study  Larger sample required  Control group  Participants need to stop other interventions