Adult Influence on the Participation of Peers Without Disabilities in Peer Support Programs

Byline: Smita Shukla (1), Craig H. Kennedy (2), Lisa Sharon Cushing (3) Keywords: peer support programs; peers without disabilities; students with severe disabilities; adult influence; social interaction Abstract: Three peers without disabilities who volunteered to serve as peer supports and were identified by general education teachers as having academic difficulties were studied across three conditions. In baseline, a peer without disabilities worked alone, while the student with severe disabilities was supervised by an adult. In the Peer Support condition, peers without disabilities worked with the student with severe disabilities, and both individuals were supervised by an adult. In the Adult Involvement condition, peers without disabilities were supervised by an adult as in the Peer Support condition, but peers worked separately from the student with severe disabilities. Dependent measures included the active engagement of peers without disabilities and students with severe disabilities, and social interactions between students and peers. Our data indicate that the Peer Support and Adult Involvement conditions resulted in higher, but similar, levels of active engagement for two of three peers without disabilities when compared to baseline. For the third peer, high levels of active engagement occurred across all conditions. Active engagement varied across students with severe disabilities, but was typically highest in conditions where peers without disabilities were involved. For all students with severe disabilities, social interactions were more frequent and longer in the Peer Support condition. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education, Florida International University, Miami, Florida (2) Department of Special Education, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee (3) Department of Special Education, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon Article History: Registration Date: 28/09/2004