Problem: Respond to peer include another option A high-functioning 9-year-old with ASD may have strong academics but still struggle with initiating social interactions. Several ABA interventions can help increase these skills, including imitation/modeling, shaping, and chaining. Imitation/Modeling involves showing the child how to engage socially and reinforcing attempts to copy those behaviors. When adults or peers model greetings, play actions, or conversation starters, the child learns what social behavior looks like in real situations. Research shows that imitation-based interventions improve social communication and engagement in children with ASD (Smith, 2010). According to Cooper, Heron, and Heward (2020), modeling serves as an effective antecedent strategy that increases the likelihood of the desired response. Shaping reinforces small steps toward a target behavior. For social initiation, this might include reinforcing orienting to a peer, approaching, and then speaking. This method is helpful because it rewards progress rather than waiting for a perfect interaction. Cooper et al. (2020) describe shaping as reinforcing successive approximations, making it effective for building complex social skills gradually. Forward or Backward Chaining breaks social interactions into teachable steps, such as eye contact → approach → greeting → response. Forward chaining teaches the steps in order, while backward chaining teaches the last step first so the child contacts reinforcement. Need Assignment Help?