Children with autism often display differences in functional and symbolic play and may experience barriers to social inclusion with peers in preschool settings. Therefore, interventions supporting social play between children with autism and their peers that can be feasibly implemented by teachers in inclusive settings are needed. A…

This study compared cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and treatment-as-usual (TAU) in terms of effects on observed social communication-related autism symptom severity during unstructured play time at school for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Thirteen children with ASD (7-11 years old) were randomly assigned to 32 sessions of CBT…

Twenty profoundly retarded children (mean chronological age 14 years) were trained to play with ordinary toys, half by behavior modification and half by a control procedure. Operant training led to some increases in total toy contact but was not significantly more effective than the control technique in promoting independent constructive play.…

The purpose of this study was to modify the affective behavior of three preschoolers with autism in home settings and in the context of play activities, and to compare the effects of video modeling to the effects of "in-vivo" modeling in teaching these children contextually appropriate affective responses. A multiple-baseline design across…

A repeated-measures, waiting list control design was used to assess efficacy of a social skills intervention for autistic spectrum children focused on individual and group LEGO[C] play. The intervention combined aspects of behavior therapy, peer modeling and naturalistic communication strategies. Close interaction and joint attention to task play…