Relationships Between the Responsiveness of Fathers and Mothers and the Object Play Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

In this observational study, the concurrent relationships between the verbal and play responsiveness of 16 mothers and fathers and the object play skills of 16 children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) were investigated. First, the frequencies of children's play at four levels (i.e., exploratory, relational, functional, and symbolic) across unsupported, motherchild, and father-child play conditions were compared. Next, relationships between mothers' and fathers' verbal responsiveness and the object play skills of their children with ASD were examined. Finally, relationships between parents' play responsiveness and child object play skills were also examined. The results revealed several key findings. Children in the study tended to engage in more relational play with mothers than in unsupported play or play with fathers. For both fathers and mothers, use of responsive verbal behaviors was strongly correlated with higher level object play; however, use of responsive play behaviors was correlated with higher level object play only for fathers. The findings provide a foundation for longitudinal investigations to examine the associations between parental responsive strategies and child play and other developmental outcomes across time as well as for intervention studies to evaluate the efficacy of targeting parent responsiveness to children's play as an intervention strategy for young children with ASD.

Mother-Child Play: A Comparison of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, and Typical Development

“…Moreover, we found a strong positive correlation between maternal verbal solicitation of symbolic play and children actual symbolic play for mothers of children with ASD only. This result suggests that, like all mothers, mothers of children with ASD play a crucial role in their psychological development, but they might contribute even more to determine their actual achievements reducing the effect of the potential limitations imposed by their pervasive deficits (Flippin and Watson, 2011). …”

Comparison of Social Engagement of Children Having Disabilities with Their Mothers and Fathers

“…Within the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) literature, it has been reported by Flippin and Watson (2011) that children with ASD are likely to engage in more relational play with mothers than with fathers. Their study showed that, although both mothers and fathers used similar proportions of responsive play behavior and use of both parents' verbal and play behaviors correlated significantly with higher-level child object play, the use of responsive play behavior was correlated with higherlevel object play only for fathers.…”

Benefícios da Intervenção Precoce para a Família de Crianças com Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo

“…A literatura na área da IP considera e apresenta numerosos estudos onde estão referenciados os diferentes benefícios que as famílias obtêm, pelo fato de serem apoiadas pela IP. A investigação tem documentado, de forma consistente, que a IP tem demonstrado e concretizado resultados positivos para as famílias no que concerne ao bem-estar e qualidade de vida, ao desenvolvimento de competências e controle sobre as suas vidas, à melhoria do conhecimento e da informação obtida e ao nível da promoção da participação/envolvimento das famílias em todo o processo de apoio (DEC, 2014;DEMPSEY;KENN, 2008;BRUDER;ESPE-SHERWINDT, 2014;FLI-PPIN;WATSON, 2011;LEITE;PEREIRA, 2013;MANZ, et al, 2014).…”