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| Playing and Pretending: A Behavioral Approach to Teaching Pretend Play |
| Sunday, September 29, 2019 |
| 2:00 PM–2:50 PM |
| Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, Level 6, A2 |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Nancy J. Champlin (ACI Learning Centers) |
| Discussant: Suzanne N. Ward Taylor (adaptABILITY, LLC) |
| CE Instructor: Nancy J. Champlin, M.S. |
| Abstract: Play is an integral part of a child’s typical development and should be an emphasis in early intervention for children diagnosed with autism (Lifter & Bloom, 1989). The use of behavioral interventions can lead to significant increases in play skills (Stahmer, 1995) while simultaneously decreasing inappropriate behaviors including self-stimulatory behaviors (Sani-Bozkurt & Ozen, 2015). The Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum (PPLAC) is a developmentally-sequenced, behaviorally- based tool designed to establish and expand pretend play in children, ages 2-7. The 5 elements of pretend play (category, agent, object, advanced, and the essential skills to sociodramatic play) are systematically targeted to teach independent and sociodramatic pretend play to children with autism. The studies in this symposium evaluate the effectiveness of utilizing the PPLAC to teach pretend play. The first study analyzes Stage 1: Single Agent to teach children with autism single play actions and vocalizations across 19 different targets. The second study examines Stage 2: Chaining Play to teach a sequence of play actions and corresponding vocalizations to children with autism across 24 different targets. The targets in Stage 1 and Stage 2 are designed to move a child through the progression of play by introducing and expanding on the 5 elements of pretend play. |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |
| Keyword(s): Pretend Play, Social Skills |
| Target Audience: BCBA, BCaBA |
| Learning Objectives: 1) Participants will identify five elements of pretend play including category, agent, object, advanced play, and the essential skills to sociodramatic play 2) Participants will identify the systematic approach to introducing and chaining targets in Stage 1 3) Participants will label the social expectations for targets in Stage 1: Single Agent from the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum 4) Participants will identify effective interventions to chain three pretend play actions and corresponding vocalizations for targets in Stage 2: Chaining Play |
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| Teaching the Foundational Components of Pretend Play |
| MELISSA SCHISSLER (ACI Learning Centers) |
| Abstract: Pretend play provides critical learning opportunities in the everyday lives of all children (Ozen, Batu, & Birkan, 2012) that serves as the primary context to establish and expand social communicative skills (Mathieson & Banerjee, 2010). Sigman and Ruskin (1999) identified a correlation between play and language development. Deficits in functional speech lead to barriers in participation and inclusion during play opportunities (Boesch, Wendt, Subramanian, & Hsu, 2013). Teaching children diagnosed with autism appropriate play skills requires isolating the individual components of play to acquire, maintain, and generalize the target skill. The purpose of this study was to teach children diagnosed with autism, ages 2-5, play actions and vocalizations across 19 targets in Stage 1: Single Agent from the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum. Actions and vocalizations from the familiar category of play were taught across three additional elements of pretend play: agent, object, and essential skills to sociodramatic play. A concurrent multiple baseline across participants was conducted across three to four actions and vocalizations. The outcome of the study demonstrated the efficacy of the steps identified in Stage 1: Single Agent, to teach single play actions with corresponding vocalizations incorporating four of the five elements of pretend play. |
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Teaching a Chain of Play Actions and Corresponding to Children Diagnosed With Autism |
| NANCY J. CHAMPLIN (ACI Learning Centers) |
| Abstract: Play in children with autism is often referred to as stereotypical and lacking in symbolic qualities and flexibility (Lifter, Sulzer-Azaroff, Anderson, & Cowdery, 1993). When utilizing behavioral interventions children with autism are capable of the same level of symbolic play as typically developing children (Charman & Baron-Cohen, 1997). Lifter (2011) emphasized the importance of a developmental sequence of play paired with behavioral interventions. The purpose of this study was to utilize the developmental sequence of play to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching a series of 8 components encompassing the second developmental stage of play, chaining play. Least-to-most prompting was used to teach a chain of 3 play actions and vocalizations to 3 children diagnosed with autism, ages 3-5. All 3 children were taught each chain of play actions across agent of play: self as agent, passive figure, and active figure. Advanced play was targeted in the form of rotating and combining play schemes both independently and with peers. Lastly, the essential skills to sociodramatic play, initiating, responding, and expanding were targeted through the sequence. A multiple baseline across participants was conducted. The outcome of this study demonstrated the efficacy of the 8 teaching components as steps to teach all 4 children a chain of play actions with corresponding vocalizations across all 5 elements of pretend play. |
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