The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of the system of least prompts (SLP) for increasing the levels of play behaviors in four young children with disabilities. A multiple probe across participants’ single case research design was used to examine the relation between SLP and child-targeted behaviors. The results demonstrated that the instructional package was functionally related to increased levels of independent play and diversity of targeted play actions. Furthermore, play levels were maintained when intervention was withdrawn.
AyresK.LedfordJ. R. (2014). Dependent measures and measurement system. In GastD. L.LedfordJ. R. (Eds.), Single case research methodology: Applications in special education and behavioral sciences (pp. 124–153). New York, NY: Routledge.
2.
BartonE. E. (2015). Teaching generalized pretend play and related behaviors to young children with disabilities. Exceptional Children, 81, 489–506.
3.
BartonE. E.ChenC.PribbleL.PomesM.KimY. (2013). Coaching preservice teachers to teach play skills to children with disabilities. Teacher Education and Special Education, 36, 330–349.
4.
BartonE. E.ChoiG.MauldinE. G. (2018). Teaching sequences of pretend play to young children with disabilities. Journal of Early Intervention. Manuscript accepted for publication.
5.
BartonE. E.WoleryM. (2008). Teaching pretend play to children with disabilities: A review of the literature. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 28, 109–125.
6.
BartonE. E.WoleryM. (2010). Training teachers to promote pretend play in young children. Exceptional Children, 77, 85–106.
7.
BelskyJ.MostR. (1981). From exploration to play: A cross-sectional study of infant free play behavior. Developmental Psychology, 17, 630–639.
8.
BlascoP. M.BaileyD. B.BurchinalM. A. (1993). Dimensions of mastery in same-age and mixed-age integrated classrooms. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 8, 193–206.
9.
DiCarloC. F.ReidD. H. (2004). Increasing pretend toy play of toddlers with disabilities in an inclusive setting. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 37, 197–207.
10.
FreyJ. R.KaiserA. P. (2011). The use of play expansions to increase the diversity and complexity of object play in young children with disabilities. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 31, 99–111.
11.
GastD. L.LloydB. P.LedfordJ. R. (2014). Multiple baseline and multiple probe designs. In GastD. L.LedfordJ. R. (Eds.), Single case research methodology: Applications in special education and behavioral sciences (pp. 251–296). New York, NY: Routledge.
12.
KasariC.ChangY.PattersonS. (2013). Pretending to play or playing to pretend: The case of autism. American Journal of Play, 6, 124–135.
13.
KratochwillT. R.HitchcockJ. H.HornerR. H.LevinJ. R.OdomS. L.RindskopfD. M.ShadishW. R. (2013). Single-case intervention research design standards. Remedial and Special Education, 34, 26–38.
14.
LeeS. Y.LoY. Y.LoY. (2017). Teaching functional play skills to a young child with autism spectrum disorder through video self-modeling. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47, 2295–2306.
15.
LewisV.BoucherJ. (1988). Spontaneous, instructed and elicited play in relatively able autistic children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 6, 325–339.
16.
LifterK.EllisJ.CannonB.AndersonS. R. (2005). Developmental specificity in targeting and teaching play activities to children with pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Early Intervention, 27, 247–267.
17.
LifterK.MasonE. J.BartonE. E. (2011). Children’s play: Where we have been and where we could go. Journal of Early Intervention, 33, 281–297.
18.
MacDonaldR.SacramoneS.MansfieldR.WiltzK.AhearnW. H. (2009). Using video modeling to teach reciprocal pretend play to children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42, 43–55.
19.
MaloneD. M. (1997). Preschoolers’ categorical and sequential toy play: Change over time. Journal of Early Intervention, 21, 45–61.
20.
RutherfordM. D.RogersS. J. (2003). Cognitive underpinnings of pretend play in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33, 289–302.
21.
SigmanM.RuskinE.ArbelleS.CoronaR.DissanayakeC.EspinosaM.. . . ZierhutC. (1999). Continuity and change in the social competence of children with autism, Down syndrome, and developmental delays. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 64, 1–114.
22.
StrainP. S.SchwartzI.BoveyE. (2008). Social competence interventions for young children with autism: Programmatic research findings and implementation issues. In BrownW. H.OdomS. L.McConnellS. R. (Eds.), Social competence of young children: Risk, disability, and intervention (pp. 253–272). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
TothK.MunsonJ.MeltzoffA.DawsonG. (2006). Early predictors of communication development in young children with autism spectrum disorder: Joint attention, imitation, and toy play. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 993–1005.
