STAY AND PLAY!Target Play Skills in Toddlers with ASDThe Autism Podcast Series

Do you need ideas for designing a comprehensive treatment plan for a toddler or preschoolerwith signs of autism? I can help! Check out The Autism Workbook at teachmetotalk.com!

Autism affects how a child.... interacts, communicates, and behaves. In this series, learn thesedifferences and 12 approaches and strategies to address these challenges.

PODCAST #405 teachmetotalk.com Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP

Play is one of the 7 indicators that differentiate autism from other language delays. Importance of Assessing (and Treating) Play Skills for Young Children with Autism

1.Screen children on your caseload looking at these areas: 1. Eye Contact and Eye Gaze 2. Orienting to One's Name 3. Pointing to or Showing Objects of Interest 4. Pretend Play 5. Imitation 6. Nonverbal Communication 7. Language Development

2. Play is the best way to measure cognitive skill development when a very young child is nonverbal.

3. Play is how little kids learn almost everything! Play is natural or normal for children.

4. Children who don’t play with toys miss hundreds of opportunities to acquire and practice a variety ofskills.

5. Research tells us that toddlers with ASD who have better play skills are much more likely to havebetter play and language skills as preschoolers and older children. That’s compelling support forteaching play!

Spend all or most of playtime exploring rather than playingInflexible during play with toys. (Ex. Limited interests and routines, hoarding, difficulty withtransitions)Struggle with imitation, which makes learning to play with toys difficult.

DIFFERENCES NOTED IN YOUNG CHILDREN WITH AUTISM with Play:1.2.

3.

STAY AND PLAY!Target Play Skills in Toddlers with ASDThe Autism Podcast Series

Do you need ideas for designing a comprehensive treatment plan for a toddler or preschoolerwith signs of autism? I can help! Check out The Autism Workbook at teachmetotalk.com!

PODCAST #405 teachmetotalk.com Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP

STAGES OF PLAY (based on Westby, 2000)Exploratory Play: Sensory and motor exploration of toys and objects as child looks at, reaches for, grasps, and mouths items. Language: Joint attention, longer attention span, and turn taking develop.

Nonfunctional Play: Toys and activities to support important cognitive concepts. Mouthing decreases and new actions emerge. Language: Communicative intent and gestures emerge. Child may use a few words for very specific contexts.

Beginning Functional Play: Use familiar toys for their intended purpose. Trial and error. Need adult assistance to operate toys. Language: Single words to request, command, protest, label, respond, and greet, and social/personal words

Early Symbolic Play: Early pretending with one toy to represent something else during play based on familiar, everyday activities Language: Single words with even more variability in the function, form, and content.

Combining Play Actions with Familiar Routines Play: Several different actions with toys based on everyday activities of others Language: Children begin to combine words using early phrase patterns.

Expanding Play Routines Play: Pretending now includes more steps and less frequent activities. Language: Children use short phrases and sentences with emerging grammar. Asks and answers “wh” questions.

Early Role Play and Games with Rules Play: True pretending with child role playing and changing endings. Peer play develops. Language: Child speaks in sentences with more complex constructions.

Determine current stage of play and work on mastery or bump up to the next level.

Intervention Recommendations for Toys & Specific Strategies:

STAY AND PLAY! Target Play Skills in Toddlers with ASDThe Autism Podcast Series

PODCAST #405 teachmetotalk.com Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP

Activities and instructions for each of these strategies is in my newest treatment manual forparents and professionals... The Autism Workbook at teachmetotalk.com!