1. Increasing 'Object-Substitution' Symbolic Play in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Author
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Sheng Xu, Shao Ju Jin, Gabrielle T. Lee, and Hua Feng
- Subjects
object substitutions ,Male ,050103 clinical psychology ,genetic structures ,Autism Spectrum Disorder ,media_common.quotation_subject ,education ,Object (grammar) ,autism ,Child Behavior ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,Education ,Developmental psychology ,Nonverbal communication ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,mental disorders ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,medicine ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Girl ,Child ,media_common ,Common object ,05 social sciences ,Substitution (logic) ,050301 education ,medicine.disease ,Imitative Behavior ,functional play ,Play and Playthings ,Psychotherapy ,Clinical Psychology ,Treatment Outcome ,Action (philosophy) ,Child, Preschool ,symbolic play ,Autism ,Female ,Imitation ,Psychology ,0503 education - Abstract
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 of a substitute and used the object to perform a play action (e.g., As she put a bowl on her head, she called it a hat). A multiple probe across behaviors design was employed with five children (four boys and one girl, aged 3 to 6 years) with ASD. All children had verbal communication and demonstrated functional play and generalized imitation, but no symbolic play skills prior to the study. The instruction consisted of intraverbal training, picture prompts, and modeling of play actions. All children demonstrated object-substitution symbolic play skills after the instruction. The occurrences of response generalization were also discussed.
- Published
- 2017
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