Four adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were taught to interact with peers by asking social questions or commenting about others during game play or group activities. Participants were shown a video model and then given an opportunity to perform the social behavior depicted in the model when playing a...
Three Evidence-Based Strategies that Support Social Skills and Play Among Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Research demonstrates young children with autism and other developmental disabilities can benefit from participation in play activities with peers. Play provides opportunities to increase social skills across developmental domains in an integrated manner and provides opportunities to develop a sense of belonging and friendship; these goals are†critical for young children...
Evaluating group activity schedules to promote social play in children with autism
We evaluated the effects of group activity schedules on social engagement among children with autism spectrum disorders. Although activity schedules are often applied to dyads, we assigned children to small groups (e.g., 3-4 children) to increase the number of available play partners and potential social validity of the intervention. We...
Symbolic Play in School-Aged Minimally Verbal Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Few interventions exist for school-aged minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Even though play skills are associated with children's production of language, few studies have focused on play for minimally verbal children. Fifty-eight minimally verbal children with ASD received a naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention. Children were randomized to...
Child-centered play therapy as an intervention for children with autism: A literature review Heidi Hillman Eastern Washington
The purpose of this article was to systematically review the play therapy literature examining the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy with the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) population. Child-centered play therapy is shown to be an evidencebased, effective intervention for children; however, a systematic review of childcentered play therapy as an...
Utilizing child-centered play therapy with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and endured trauma: A case example
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a prevalent childhood disorder as 1 in 68 children, 8 years old and younger, are diagnosed with ASD. Additionally, childhood trauma impacts 60% of children living in the United States. Due to the lack of social awareness and increased sensitivity to various stimuli, children diagnosed...
Using Peer-Mediated LEGO® Play Intervention to Improve Social Interactions for Chinese Children with Autism in an Inclusive Setting
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a peer-mediated LEGO® play intervention on improving social skills for children with ASD in an inclusive preschool in China. Three boys with ASD and 13 typically developing children participated in this study. A multiple-probe across participants design was used....
Increasing “Object-Substitution” Symbolic Play in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may not develop symbolic play skills, so such skills need to be taught specifically. We report an experiment regarding a procedure targeting "object-substitution " symbolic play skills. The "object-substitution " symbolic play behavior occurred when the child labeled a common object with the name...
Social Interactions Between 24-Month-Old Children and Their Older Sibling with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Characteristics and Association with Social-Communicative Development
This study compared sibling interactions between 24-month-old children and their older sibling with ASD (high-risk; n = 24) with 24-month-old children and their typically developing older sibling (low-risk; n = 32). First, high-risk sibling pairs showed lower levels of positive behaviour and younger siblings of children with ASD imitated their...
Designing augmentative and alternative communication applications: the results of focus groups with speech-language pathologists and parents of children with autism spectrum disorder
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to gain insight from speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) regarding appealing features of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) applications. Method: Two separate 1-hour focus groups were conducted with 8 SLPs and 5 parents of children with...
I Wanna Play Too: Factors Related to Changes in Social Behavior for Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder After Implementation of a Structured Outdoor Play Curriculum
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties interacting with same-aged peers during unstructured play (e.g., on the playground). Thirty-five toddler and preschool children with and without ASD participated in a structured 15-min outdoor play curriculum. The intervention, the Buddy Game, used familiar songs, movement, and games to promote peer...
An evaluation of group activity schedules to promote social play in children with autism
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have deficits in social skills and may avoid engaging in play activities with typically developing peers. The purpose of this study was to identify the utility of activity schedules, with embedded scripts, to teach three children with ASD to play a complex social...
Using Progressive Time Delay to Increase Levels of Peer Imitation During Sculpting Play
A multiple probe across participants with an embedded withdrawal single case research design was used to examine the effectiveness of a progressive time delay (PTD) procedure to teach preschoolers with disabilities to imitate their peers during a sculpting play activity. Data indicated the presence of a functional relation between the...
The intervention priorities of parents of children with autism spectrum disorders in Iran
When designing and implementing evidence-based programs for children with an autism spectrum disorder, the intervention priorities of parents are important criteria. Although studies in developed countries have explored parents' intervention priorities, there is a paucity of this kind of research in developing countries. This research explores the intervention priorities of...
Effects of Joint Video Modeling on Unscripted Play Behavior of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Preschool aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have marked deficits in pretend play that impede interactions with typically developing peers in inclusive early childhood settings. This study aimed to teach three young children with ASD to engage in pretend play behaviors with their peers. A multiple probe across participants...
Etiological pathways toward autism and diversities of treatments: From unimodal to multidimensional approaches. Commentary on “An integrative model of autism spectrum disorder: ASD as a neurobiological disorder of experienced environmental deprivation, early life stress, and allostatic overload” by William M. Singletary, M.D.
The diversity of factors that may contribute to autism is enormous. Some lead to therapeutic ideas, most do not. Our own early work focused on possible endogenous opioid excesses in the brain, which lead to the use of low doses of naltrexone (LDN, 0.25 mg/kg, every other day, orally administered)....
Effects of prenatal exposure to valproic acid on the development of juvenile-typical social play in rats
Autism is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by qualitative impairments in social behavior, communication, and aberrant repetitive behaviors. A major focus of animal models of autism has been to mimic the social deficits of the disorder. The present study assessed whether rats exposed prenatally to valproic acid (VPA) show deficits...
Effects of English versus heritage language on play in bilingually exposed children with autism spectrum disorder
An alternating treatments design was used to assess the effects of the language of instruction (English vs. heritage language) on the play skills of four bilingually exposed children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Baseline consisted of 5-min free-play sessions conducted in English. Intervention consisted of two alternating conditions: 5-min play...
Clinical outcomes of interactive, intensive and individual (3i) play therapy for children with ASD: A two-year follow-up study
Background: The outcomes of psycho-educational interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) comorbid with severe to moderate intellectual disability (ID) are insufficiently documented. In this prospective study, we examined a developmental individual, interactive and intensive approach, called the '3i method', which is based on play therapy. Methods: Twenty DSM-IV-TR ASD subjects...
Rats selectively bred for low levels of play-induced 50kHz vocalizations as a model for Autism Spectrum Disorders: A role for NMDA receptors
Early childhood autism is characterized by deficits in social approach and play behaviors, socio-emotional relatedness, and communication/speech abnormalities, as well as repetitive behaviors. These core neuropsychological features of autism can be modeled in laboratory rats, and the results may be useful for drug discovery and therapeutic development. We review data...
