Topics

• Early Social and Play Skills• Joint Attention• Teaching Social Skills• Development of Toy Play• Play with Peers• Closing Thoughts

Early Social and Play Skills

A Child Should Be Able to:

– Be in close proximity to others– Engage (longer and longer)– Take turns– Imitate actions and sounds– Demonstrate joint attention– Develop appropriate play

And, most importantly, experience the joy of being with others!

What Do We Often See with Young Children with ASD?

• “In their own world”• Repetitive behavior, including

repetitive play• Use of motor skills to “interact” with

people rather than gaze or verbal communication

Assessing Early Social Skills

• How does he interact with his family and his environment?

• What works? How does he get his needs met?

• What motivates him?

• What activities/routines are difficult for him? For his family/caregivers?

Activity

Go to the Profile and complete Social and Play Skills - Question 1

1. Describe this child’s social and play skill challenges, strengths, and needs.

Joint Attention

When two people:

• Share interest in an object or event

AND

• Understand that they are both interested in the same object or event

Joint Attention

Joint Attention

• Responding

• Initiating

Strategies to Encourage Joint Attention

Focus on:

• Play and turn-taking

• Looking at faces and giving some eye contact

• Pointing

Strategies to Encourage Joint Attention

• Be at the child’s eye level

• Stand in the child’s line of sight

• Hold objects up to your face just before giving them to the child

• Use an animated voice and exaggerated expressions

• Let child wear sunglasses or a visor

• Try lace

• Try different positions

• Try different distances

• Look in the mirror together

Strategies to Encourage Joint Attention

Strategies to Encourage Joint Attention

• Shape the child’s finger into a point and have him touch a toy or picture

• Point to/touch things you are talking about• Move your finger from the child’s face to the

object and say “look”• Tie a ribbon around your pointing finger - or

wear a false fingernail - to draw attention to it

Strategies to Encourage Joint Attention

• Point using a flashlight in a dark room• Point using a foam sword • Point to objects in the store as you shop

together• Offer choices and help him point to the one

he wants

Teaching Social Skills

What We Know

Young children:

-May benefit from less structured and more naturalistic approaches than what might be used with older children with autism

-Learn most easily through play and interaction with the adults who are most important in their lives

Young Exceptional Children, Volume 9, Number 3

We Focus on

PLAY!

Play offers the most natural and the most frequent opportunities for young children to learn and

engage.

Things to Remember When You Play

• Play more than talk

• When talking, try to just comment

• Be animated and enthusiastic, without overwhelming the child

• Have fun!

4 Steps for Teaching Social Skills

Step One: Observe and Match

Observe the child

• What does he spend his time doing?

• What are his passions?

Then: do what he is doing – match his behavior.

Step Two: Join In

Join the child’s playby adding to it!

Step Three:Take Turns

• Do something and then wait

• Interpret the smallest of behaviors as a turn – be a careful observer

• Don’t focus on what the child may be doing wrong

• Take the same number of turns as the child

Suppose He Won’t Take a Turn?

• Give a signal of some kind, like pointing or making a sound

• Give a gentle prompt, to help him take his turn

• Immediately reward him when he takes his turn

Step Four:Develop Routines

Remember, routines…• Have steps• Have steps that are always in the same order• Are repeated again and again• And each person has a role to play

Developing Routines

• Use turn-taking to develop the routine

• Name the routine

• Practice the routine throughout the day

Development of Toy Play

Open-ended Play

• Purpose is not clear• Can be used in a variety of ways• No clear ending or completion

Close-Ended Play:

• Clear purpose• Fixed sequence or order• Clear ending

Complexity of Toy Play

• Exploratory

• Combinational

• Cause and effect

• Functional

• Simple pretend

Easiest Toy Play Activities

• Close-ended

• Include limited toys / materials

• Involve one partner to support play

• Have separate toys / materials for each

• Require no sharing, turn-taking or waiting

• Require no listening or language

Keys to Developing Toy Play: Imitation

• Have two sets of toys, if possible• Remember to start by imitating the child• Start with imitating simple actions with

toys• Use gentle prompting, if needed, to ensure

success• Reinforce

Keys to Developing Toy Play: Define the Play Space

• Consider:

–Physical boundaries

–Limiting distractions

• Limit available toys and activities

• Have a predictable play routine

Teaching Social Communication to Children with Autism: A Practitioner's Guide to Parent Training and A Manual for Parents (2 book set)

Brooke Ingersoll, Ph.D., and Anna Dvortcsak, CCC/SLP

Play with Peers

Signs a Child May Be Ready:

• Has mastered play with some different kinds of toys

• Is developing imitation skills

• Can take turns

• Is staying longer in interactions with adults

Strategies for Play with Peers• Start with one friend at a time• Choose someone a little older• Start with one friend playing in the same

room but not with the same toys• Then have two sets of the same toys for

side-by-side play• Then have one set of toys to share

Can I Play?

Activity

Go to the Profile and complete Social and Play Skills - Questions 2 and 3.

2. Select a few social and/or play skills from the list above in question 1 that are priorities for this child in the next year.

3. Look at the skills you just prioritized and list every day activities and settings where you could practice those skills.

Key Strategies to Develop Social & Play Skills

• Use language just above the child’s level of communication

• Ensure your play/interactions match the child’s ability or are just above

• Wait for him to respond • Move ahead slowly • Have him stay in the interaction just a little

longer

ActivityGo to the Child Profile and complete

Social and Play Skills - Question 4.

4. Review the strategies that you discussed during today’s training and the social and/or play skill priorities that you identified above in question 3. Below list the skills on the left and a strategy or strategies you will use to teach those skills.

Closing Thoughts

When You Are Successful, the Child Will…

• Voluntarily interact and play with you

• Initiate play with you

James MacDonald

When You Are Successful, the Child Will…

• Stay in interactions with you for longer periods of time

• Increase his number of turns James MacDonald

When You Are Successful, the Child Will…

• Imitate you

• Prefer to be with you instead of being alone

James MacDonald

When You Are Successful, the Child Will…

• Have play that is changing and developing

• Show his pleasure and enjoyment in spending time with you!!

James MacDonald