The effectiveness of sibling-mediated cooperative activity schedules on the development of cooperative skills in siblings with autism

This study was conducted with two main aims. The first aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the training package including distance sibling education and coaching support for typically developing (TD) siblings on teaching a cooperative activity schedules to their sibling with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The second aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of a sibling-mediated intervention on following cooperative activity schedules skill in participants with autism. The study was designed and conducted using a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across participants. The participants involved three children with ASD, aged 9-10, and their TD siblings, who were either older or younger than them. The implementation process of the study was carried out in distance and one-to-one teaching sessions at each participant pair's home. The findings indicate that the training package was effective in enabling TD siblings to teach cooperative activity schedules to their siblings with autism. Secondly, the findings reveal that the intervention mediated by TD siblings were effective for children with ASD in completing activities collaboratively by following the cooperative activity schedules. Participants were able to maintain the acquired skill over time and were able to generalize it to a different person. The social validity of the study is interpreted as positive, based on the views expressed by the TD siblings who participated in the study. Keywords: Sibling mediated interventions, Activity schedules, Cooperative, Coaching, Autism spectrum disorder.