A five-year-old, severely handicapped boy was trained to activate an adapted battery-operated and electronically controlled toy. Training involved the use of verbal and three different types of physical prompts. Among findings were that physical prompting was effective in rapidly establishing the response and the response was later also performed…

Mixed dyads of attention deficit disorders (ADD) and normal boys were videotaped in free play, cooperative task and simulated classrooms. (Author/NH)

The study investigated the relationship between symbolic play and language performance for 20 young hearing-impaired children. Results indicate a significant difference in symbolic play between 20 young hearing impaired children in two ordinal communication levels. Additionally, there was a strong positive relationship observed between the…

Explores two widely held beliefs that conflict with available evidence: (1) handicapped children don't play and (2) play is a good way for handicapped children to pass the time. Concludes by proposing that play can help handicapped children learn. (RH)

Discusses aspects of the play environment and its effect on children's play behavior. Indoor and outdoor play spaces are considered along with factors affecting the use of outdoor environments for play. Children's preferences for different outdoor play environments and for various play structures are explored. Guides for choosing play equipment…

Research is cited on methods to teach, generalize, and evaluate social interaction skills to handicapped children through specific systematic instruction that considers prompts, praise, training settings, time of day, teacher role, student grouping, and nature of activities. (CL)

The author describes how she has used computer technology as an aid to intervention with young children who have language difficulties. The approach features appropriate language goals, play contexts, and the use use of synthesized speech output. (CL)

A method for fading object rewards for superordinate prerequisites to social play simultaneously with socially rewarded training on specific play was effective in teaching games to 15 institutionalized retarded adolescents. (Author/CL)

A longitudinal study of five handicapped hospitalized infants revealed that restriction in objects available for play was associated with a delay in play skill acquisition, lack of appropriate consistent interactive experiences with caretakers may have contributed to delayed development, and infants unable to initiate social contact had limited…

Using formal and informal interviews and systematic and casual observations, children's play facilities in seven multifamily housing developments for moderate and low income families were evaluated. Results of the evaluation for both children and adults are reported. (RH)

Social and nonsocial behaviors of infant rhesus (macaca mulatta) and pigtail (M. nemestrina) monkeys reared in total social isolation were compared with those of socialized controls. Results question the generality of rhesus total isolate behavior as a model for some human problems. (Author/SB)

This study explored Korean and American children's play behaviors during board games in a kindergarten classroom using an ethnographic approach. The Korean participants were 20 children and one teacher of one classroom at attached kindergarten of public elementary school. The American participants were 11 kindergarten children and one teacher from…

This magazine provides teachers with classroom learning materials to help children learn to be tolerant with others. Articles in the magazine are: "A Standard to Sustain" (Mary M. Harrison); "Let's Just Play" (Janet Schmidt); "Who's Helen Keller?" (Ruth Shagoury Hubbard); "Margins of Error" (Joe Parsons);…

Filial therapy is an alternative method for treating emotionally disturbed children in which the parent is used as an ally in the therapeutic process. Filial therapy teaches the parent a new way of interacting with their child, thus improving the parent-child relationship. Additionally, filial therapy provides focused attention to the child from a…

Previous studies of imaginary companions consistently have found a relation between the incidence of these "fantastical friends" and children's birth order. Unsuccessful attempts to link imaginary companion formation to child characteristics may be due to researchers' treatment of these friends as a form of pretend play rather than as a…