Research shows that caregivers of children with autism can be taught a variety of behavioral strategies, but there is little research on teaching caregivers to prioritize rapport building over skill acquisition during play. The current study evaluated the effects of a digital training package on the rapport-building skills of four caregivers of…

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined interventions targeting play skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involving typically developing (TD) peers. The objectives of this work are to (a) identify and describe the characteristics and components of interventions aimed at improving play skills in children with ASD and…

Technology is the most widely used tool in daily life activities in today's society. This is primarily due to its accessibility for all types of users and its ability to quickly respond to problems that arise in everyday tasks. Its widespread use is extending into various fields of knowledge, including education. Within this domain, the use of…

Video activity schedules are a combination of video modeling and activity schedules that teach a singular task or a series of tasks to be completed. Instead of a sequence of pictures, videos demonstrate to the learner what is expected to be done. Research has focused heavily on using video activity schedules to teach daily living or vocational…

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience difficulty with play, and a number of different interventions have been developed and evaluated to address this deficit. This systematic review of randomized controlled trials identified 19 studies reporting on play-based interventions for children with ASD aged 2-12 years. The components of…

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders often have social-emotional difficulties. Serious games can be used to support their social-emotional learning. This study investigated if 6-10-year-old children with autism spectrum condition, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and developmental language disorder would improve their emotion…

At a young age, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit restrictive/repetitive or stereotypical behaviors that hinder their participation in the general community. The play activities of children with ASD often lack creativity, diversity, and flexibility due to deficits in social and communication abilities. Play activities for…

Playful learning has garnered supporters and research evidence, and also can be seen as nebulous and, therefore, reliant on practitioners' intuitions in early education settings. In this paper, we offer an explicit theoretical account, grounded in developmental psychology of how play might support the acquisition of broad skills and dispositions…

Doll play provides opportunities for children to practice social skills by creating imaginary worlds, taking others' perspectives, and talking about others' internal states. Previous research using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) found a region over the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) was more active during solo doll play…

Purpose: Despite the fact that research on creativity and cognition have garnered the attention of researchers and practitioners for decades, there is a lack of valid, reliable, and accessible instruments for enhancing and measuring these critical skills. Leveraging research from The LEGO Foundation and in collaboration with BrainPOP and the…

There is a growing body of evidence supporting the use of telehealth to provide parent training in behaviour analytic interventions and researchers have begun to focus on international demonstrations of this model. The current study assessed the efficacy of a training package focused on naturalistic teaching strategies designed to upskill parents…

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by socio-emotional deficits, and difficulties with pretend play skills. Play skills are related to processes of adaptive functioning and emotion understanding. The present pilot study implemented an in-person pretend play intervention to school-aged children (ages 6 to 9 years,…

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore affordances for STEM-related skills in a nature preschool in central Texas. Observations were conducted along with the collection of videos and photographs of four preschool-aged participants. Informal interviews were also implemented during data collection and observations. Semi-formal…

A common practice in tact training is to include a supplemental verbal stimulus (e.g., "What is it?") in addition to the presentation of a nonverbal discriminative stimulus. Previous literature has suggested that this supplemental verbal stimulus can impede acquisition and generalization relative to the presentation of the object alone,…

Children with disabilities often engage in less complex play and fewer spontaneous pretend play behaviors. Research has highlighted the value of providing caregivers with sustained support to promote their active involvement in the learning of their children with disabilities. Caregivers; however, are rarely offered opportunities to facilitate…