Imitation and Play in Autism

Reliability and Validity of the McDonald Play Inventory

“…Specifically, significantly lower scores were found for children with disabilities on the total inventory score of the MPSI (p 5 .002) and on the following subscale scores: Cooperation (p 5 .01), Peer Acceptance (p 5 .002), Social Participation (p 5 .003), and Physical Coordination (p 5 .003). These results are consistent with the literature noting that many children with LD and ASD have difficulty in social and physical interactions during play (Cordier et al, 2010;Muys et al, 2006;Rogers et al, 2005).…”

“…Difficulty in play performance has been documented for children who have learning, developmental, emotional, and coordination difficulties (Cordier, Bundy, Hocking, & Einfeld, 2010;Muys, Rodger, & Bundy, 2006;Poulsen, Ziviani, Cuskelly, & Smith, 2007;Rogers, Cook, & Meryl, 2005). Specifically, Poulsen et al (2007) found that boys ages 10-13 yr with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) were reported to have higher rates of loneliness and lower participation rates in physical activities, whether structured or unstructured, than boys without DCD.…”

The development of interests in children with autism: A method to establish baselines for analyses and evaluation.

“…Future efforts will add indices of happiness or enjoyment (eg. Green & Reid, 1996), one of the criteria for an event to actually be considered "play" (e.g., Rogers, Cook & Meryl, 2005) as it appeared at times during the engagement counts that Daniel engaged in activities without pleasant affect and that it may have been likely that he was avoiding other activities rather than attracted to the event itself. Additionally, we observed that some of the activities remained constant but that what he did with the materials increased in complexity.…”

“…It is important to note, however, that unless a preference or reinforcer assessment is conducted the taught "play skill" may not actually be "play" as the term is typically defined. Most agree that play means the child chooses the activity, in the absence of programmed prompts or consequences, and has positive affect while engaged in the activity (c.f., Rogers, Cook & Meryl, 2005)). Although some studies have anecdotally reported increased preference and acceptance (e.g., Cameron, Shapiro, & Ainsleigh, 2005), there are no studies that appear to teach play skills and that also formally assess preference or reinforcing function of these newly acquired skills.…”

The Effect of Music Therapy Along With Play Therapy on Social Behaviors and Stereotyped Behaviors of Children With Autism

“…Since a significant reduction was found in SB of children with autism, PT can encourage their participation in a series of motor behaviors, and it, in turn, can promote SB of these children. Therefore, playing activities help these children practice, understand, and utilize social environment (Rogers, Cook, & Merry, 2005;Szabo, 2014).…”