| Abstract: We conducted a study on increasing engagement of appropriate play with leisure items for 5 adolescents diagnosed with autism. Using a multiple baseline design, pre-intervention free operant probes were conducted to assess if participants engaged in appropriate play with leisure items, stereotypy, or passivity across 5-min free-play sessions. Participants who demonstrated a steady state of engagement with leisure items during free operant pre-probe sessions were selected for the intervention. The intervention included up to 3 levels of conditioning treatments to increase appropriate engagement with leisure items. Levels 1-3 ranged from least to most intrusive interventions, respectively. Level 1 intervention utilized operant conditioning procedures to teach appropriate play across a variety of leisure items. Level 2 intervention applied the stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure to condition the items as reinforcers. Level 3 intervention allowed contingent access to a pre-identified reinforcer during engagement of an unconditioned leisure item. The next level of intervention was implemented if the participant did not meet criteria of independently engaging with leisure items in free operant post-probe sessions. Emission of stereotypy was allowed across all intervention levels if the behavior did not interfere with the appropriate engagement of leisure items. Results for the study are ongoing. |