Course Title

Building Friendships: Practical Strategies for Peer Interaction and Social Communication among Children with Special Needs

Lecturer

Chen Yi Jie

Lecturer’s Profile

With 22 years of experience as a speech-language therapist, she currently leads a speech therapy practice. She has worked extensively across preschool and school-age settings and collaborates with social service and childcare organisations. An experienced supervisor and trainer, she is frequently invited to conduct professional development workshops and parenting seminars. She is committed to advancing early intervention and communication support.

Course Overview 

In inclusive preschool settings, children with special needs may experience social exclusion or peer conflict because they have difficulty interpreting social cues, expressing themselves, or engaging in play. This course demonstrates how teachers can use structured visual supports, Social Stories, environmental adaptations, board games, and role-play to scaffold peer interaction and  create a warm, inclusive classroom.

Course Objectives

1. Analyse Social Communication Challenges: Identify difficulties in joint attention, social motivation, and emotional regulation that may hinder peer interaction.

2. Apply Structured Support Strategies: Use Social Stories, visual scripts, and peer-mediated strategies to facilitate turn-taking and sharing.

3. Design Inclusive Peer-Play Activities: Incorporate cooperative board games, themed role-play, and sensory play to create natural opportunities for interaction.

4. Manage Peer Conflict through Positive Intervention: Use Functional Communication Training (FCT) to replace emotional or disruptive behaviours with appropriate communication.

Take-home Course Resources

Inclusive Cooperative Game and Learning-Centre Activity Templates

Preschool Peer Play and Social Interaction Observation Scale

	Course Flow
Module 1	Understand the social development of children with special needs and the barriers they may face in peer interaction.
Module 2	Learn how to build communication bridges using Social Stories, visual scripts, and peer-mediated strategies, and design a range of teaching activities.
Module 3	Use cooperative board games, themed role-play, and sensory play to create supportive environments for interaction, and learn positive strategies for managing peer conflict.

 

End-of-Course Assessment

1. In the block area, four-year-old Xiao Yu sits on the same mat as several other children. Each child builds their own castle without talking to one another or sharing blocks. Which stage of Parten’s social play development does this represent?

A. Solitary Play

B. Parallel Play

C. Associative Play

D. Cooperative Play

2. When implementing Peer-Mediated Intervention (PMI), which three core strategies should teachers teach typically developing peer helpers to use?

A. Criticise, Blame, Report

B. Stay, Play, Talk

C. Ignore, Leave, Play Alone

D. Take Over, Assist, Do Everything for Them

3. A teacher creates a Social Story titled “Walking Slowly in Line” for an autistic child who frequently pushes peers while lining up. Which option best describes the story’s primary purpose and guiding principle?

A. To use threatening and punitive statements to discourage inappropriate behaviour.

B. To provide clear visual cues and positive descriptions of appropriate behaviour, helping the child understand the situation, their peers’ feelings, and suitable alternative responses.

C. To require the child to copy the story ten times each day to reinforce their memory.

D. To use the story solely as a punishment when the child experiences an emotional outburst.

4. If a teacher wants to naturally encourage children to make requests and interact with peers in the art and craft area, which environmental arrangement would be most effective?

A. Provide each child with a separate and abundant set of materials so that they do not need to interact.

B. Place only one set of coloured paper and glue in the centre of the table, encouraging children to work in pairs, take turns, and negotiate how to share the materials.

C. Require complete silence during the activity and prohibit all conversation and eye contact.

D. Have the teacher complete all the cutting and pasting while the children watch.

5. When Xiao Ming wants a toy car that another child is using, he often pushes the child and grabs the toy. Which response best reflects Functional Communication Training (FCT)?

A. Reprimand Xiao Ming severely and ban him from the play area for one week.

B. Intervene before Xiao Ming pushes, then use a physical or verbal prompt to help him point to a “Can I have a turn?” picture card or say, “Can I have a turn?” Once he communicates appropriately, immediately facilitate turn-taking.

C. Ignore the grabbing behaviour and allow the children to resolve the conflict through fighting.

D. Confiscate and throw away the toy.