Teaching games to young children with autism spectrum disorder using special interests and video modelling

Abstract

Background Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may exhibit delayed play skills or repetitive play and have difficulty engaging in spontaneous play with peers. Method A multiple-probe design across participants was used to investigate the effectiveness of a video modelling intervention and the use of children's special interests on their engagement with games and with peers for kindergarten children with ASD.Results Results indicated that all three children with ASD demonstrated increased engagement with the games and social engagement with their peers. Inappropriate behaviour decreased with the intervention. The effects were maintained during the follow-up and generalised to a novel game. Social validity data indicated that the study was meaningful and the intervention was feasible and effective. Conclusion Future research should focus on designing play skills interventions that serve to motivate both children with ASD and their typically developing peers in order to promote more spontaneous and interactive play among them.

Rumo a um framework de ensino baseado em recursos audiovisuais para auxiliar o desenvolvimento de crianças autistas

“…Os estudos [17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34] descrevem resultados na redução e aquisição (intensional) de habilidades e competências a partir do uso de artefatos de mídia. Estes trabalhos publicados entre 2015 a 2017 nas bases de dados ACM, IEEE, Springer e Scopus evidenciam a discussão sobre métodos de intervenção, habilidades sociais gerais, habilidades de mentalização, recreativas e acadêmicas em aspectos como conteúdo, tecnologia e contexto de utilização.…”

“…Por outro lado, no uso diário de sistemas ou aplicativos, a proporção é invertida, dando prioridade aos interesses do portador que faz usos incomuns, restritos e até repetitivos da mídia. Por exemplo, é recorrente entre as crianças com o TEA a reprodução repetitiva de vídeos musicais e desenhos infantis, por apresentarem simplesmente um determinado estímulo visual ou sonoro que as chamou atenção, mesmo que este não tenha função ou motivo com o contexto da atividade em andamento Dentre os estudos [17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34] não foram identificados aspectos de modularidade ou adaptabilidade de conteúdo para atender essas duas linhas de motivação. Sendo assim, percebe-se a necessidade ou melhor, a potencialidade da criação de um aporte teórico para a criação de sistemas de áudio e vídeo interativos que atendam tanto as relações de utilidade e percepção de valor clínica, assim como os interesses lúdicos e potencialidades dos indivíduos.…”

An interest‐based intervention package to increase peer social interaction in young children with autism spectrum disorder

“…Practitioners in inclusive classrooms may find such packages inefficient. Therefore, multicomponent interventions that can be reasonably implemented by practitioners in inclusive settings are needed, and studies conducted within the natural classroom context that rigorously assess both the effectiveness and social validity of the intervention are warranted (Jung & Sainato, ).…”

“…Such strategies are often components of evidence-based intervention packages, including peer-mediated interventions (e.g., Ganz & Flores, 2008;Katz & Girolametto, 2013), video modeling (e.g., Buggey, Hoomes, Sherberger, & Williams, 2011;Maione & Mirenda, 2006), and social-skills training (e.g., Leaf et al, 2009). Preferred interests of the child with ASD are often also incorporated into these interventions to enhance performance by providing a reinforcing context for play and interaction (e.g., Baker, Koegel, & Koegel, 1998;Jung & Sainato, 2015;Jung, Sainato, & Davis, 2008;Katz & Girolametto, 2013;Koegel, Fredeen et al, 2012;Koegel, Kim, Koegel, & Schwartzman, 2013;Koegel, Vernon, Koegel, Koegel, & Paullin, 2012b).…”

“…Practitioners in inclusive classrooms may find such packages inefficient. Therefore, multicomponent interventions that can be reasonably implemented by practitioners in inclusive settings are needed, and studies conducted within the natural classroom context that rigorously assess both the effectiveness and social validity of the intervention are warranted (Jung & Sainato, 2015). Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to investigate whether an intervention package consisting of interest-based structured play activities and brief sessions of adult instruction, modeling, and response to child questions would result in an increase in peer social interaction without the need for more intensive intervention strategies.…”