DS statement says:
For 3a Objectives
? To help X develop "social" skills that can be used to facilitate positive interaction with other people, both adults and children
? To develop x's play skills, including his ability to play in parallel and then interactively with other children.
? To increase x's social interest
Then 3b Provision says
? Provide opportunities for X to engage in simple games with peers
? Provide ABA trained adult support and regular opportunities to model, prompt, facilitate interaction and practice communication and socialization with peers.
? Provide ABA trained adult support, guidance and modelling in situations where X is embarking on new social experiences.
(this was not all our choice as its a bit wordy!)
DS has games taught in 1:1 and small group and then generalised to the playground. So for eg he was taught the rules of chase, stuck in the mud, whats the time Mr Wolf etc in 1:1 with adult(s), then small group, then large group in playground.
He also has targets for observational learning i.e. copying what a peer is doing. This is practised throughout the day eg - lining up, drawing etc etc. Can also do imitation games to build this up. They started off teaching him a game called 'follow the leader' where he literally just had to follow another child and then got rewarded for staying with the other child.
He (age 6) still has to be prompted to 'find a friend' or 'stay with his friends' but is less likely to be on his own now. Having a target to learn observationally is crucial so he can copy the other children when the game changes - which inevitably it does. By teaching games in small groups the other children also learn how to play with the child with autism (by copying how the adult does it) which really helps as they will often make the game easier for DS then in the playground or prompt him themselves to join in etc. I often see him between two girls holding his hands dragging him along to make sure he joins in.
He's also been taught football which he's not very good at but can be a really useful skill for a boy in the playground as they get older. Again start in 1:1.
Its really important they do small group work daily and only choose children who have a genuine interest in your child - do not let them lump yours in with other children with behaviour difficulties to try and do therapy to several children at the same time. You want them to pick the children who are good role models for play and language and who actually want to be with your child. If the 1:1 is well trained they make it so fun children queue up to do small group work (reject the idea that narrative language groups etc are enough to develop social skills - they have to practise the games they will play outside in a structured way). Reception class is the best time to do all of this as it gets harder to take a small group out of class regularly as they move up the school.
We also sent in games eg hot potato, hullabaloo etc which are interactive for small group play indoors - this helps to keep the other children interested as they think its fun to get out of class and play games in the hall.
Completely agree that joining in at playtime for a child with autism is work - DS finds it really really hard - so when he comes in from playtime sometimes he needs to take his break then, as he hasn't had one. Teachers often don't get this.