Preschool-aged children with autism in the Lansing Unified School District 469 early childhood program have begun building stronger connections among themselves and their neurotypical peers.  

“Once I read a little bit about it, I jumped on board,” Dr. Rebecca Dalton, principal of early childhood at USD 469, said of the Peer Inventions for Preschoolers with Autism, or PIPA, a research project of Juniper Gardens Children’s Project at The University of Kansas. The interventions that are part of the research began last fall at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year. 

The research pairs preschoolers with autism or those who display autistic-like characteristics, with their neurotypical peers to carry out “Stay, Play, Talk”, an evidence-based intervention designed to increase the social interactions between neurotypical and autistic preschool children. 

“We really want the peer to guide the communication,” said Dr. Kathy Bourque, research professor with the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project. “All the prompting goes through the peer and the peer learns how to be responsive to the (autistic) child.” She said the sooner that communication interventions can be implemented in an autistic child’s life, the better. 

“The earlier we can focus on it, the earlier we can change their trajectory,” she said.    

Bourque said before the research is conducted at the preschool site, the peer students are briefly trained on how to carry out the “Stay, Play, Talk” intervention that involves the peer staying close to the autistic child, playing together and continuing to talk to the autistic child to keep them engaged.  

“We want to give them (peers) a repertoire of tools,” Bourque said. “It’s teaching them to be responsive and encourage the (autistic) child’s communication. That’s the definition of peer mediation. They can get the children motivated to do things that adults can’t.” 

Dalton said there were six preschool-aged students who were chosen to be peer models with the three children who have autism or similar traits. She said several of her staff and other Lansing USD 469 staff members wanted to be a part of the research and learned how to help the peers use the interventions. When implemented, the interventions increased the number of “reciprocal communication and communication acts per minute between the preschoolers,” she said.  

“It was so powerful seeing how the peers learned how to build connections and friendships,” Dalton said. “Their confidence just soared.”  

She said the children with autism also had “marked gains” in their communication and interactions with the peers as well. 

Both the parents of the peers and those of the preschoolers with autism, Dalton said, were proud of their children for participating in the PIPA project. She said the peers’ parents were proud of how their children advocated for the children with autism, while the parents of the preschoolers with autism were proud of the work their children did to increase their communication and interactions with the peers. The children who participated in the research were awarded certificates while they and their families were recognized in June during a meeting of the Lansing USD 469 board of education. 

Dalton said she is also particularly proud of her staff members who “were willing to put in the legwork for something they felt passionate about.” 

“This has created a closer community,” Dalton said of the families, Lansing USD 469 staff and KU researchers. “It wouldn’t have been able to be done without the staff and families. They are the stars of the show, for sure.”  

Dalton said the Lansing early childhood program plans to continue participating in the five-year research project beginning this fall.  

“I’m excited to partner with KU for a second year,” she said. “We’re in it for the long haul.” 

In Kansas, Bourque said the other PIPA project research participants are Blue Valley Unified School District 229’s Hilltop Learning Center and Project Eagle, a program of the University of Kansas Medical Center providing early childhood education and other services in Wyandotte County.  

The research is funded by a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). For more information about participating in the research project, contact Dr. Kathy Thiemann-Bourque at thiemann@ku.edu or (816) 517-0333.