Effectiveness of using Scripts to increase play skills for children with ASD

FINAL YEAR PROJECTPRESENTATION

Amanda Goh | Choo Wei Kim | Zerline Goh

Diploma in Childhood Psychology & Early EducationNgee Ann Polytechnic 2011

Play Scripts and Functional Play Skills of Children with ASD

Host OrganisationSpastic Children’s Association of Singapore (SCAS) @ Cerebral Palsy Centre

Aim of Research Project

Using Play Scripts for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

The use of play scripts was investigated to determine if they were effective in teaching functional play in dramatic play settings to children with ASD.

Key Research Questions

• How do play scripts help children with ASD? • What happens when teachers scaffold children's play

during dramatic play session? • What are the teachers’ perspectives about

implementing dramatic play for children with ASD?

• What is the function of play to children with ASD? • What are play scripts?• How can the use of play scripts be beneficial to children

with ASD? • What does literature research suggests about using play

scripts to teach play skills in dramatic play settings to children with ASD?

• Why is it important to scaffold children’s play?• How does supportive adult participation in play

contribute to gains in children’s play skills? • How do teachers teach and guide the children to use the

play scripts?

Sub Research Questions - I

• What does literature research suggests about techniques used in scaffolding children’s play?

• What are the teachers’ beliefs about children with ASD?• What are the teachers’ beliefs about the importance of

dramatic play for children with ASD?• What are the push factors which influence teachers’

decisions regarding whether to implement dramatic play for children with ASD?

• What are the barriers which influence teachers’ decisions regarding whether to implement dramatic play for children with ASD?

Sub Research Questions - II

Children with ASD would show increased functional play skills after intervention using

play scripts

Play scripts work equally well with children ofboth genders

Assumptions

Literature

Results of interviews

Observational records of children

Needs Analysis- Sources

Triad of impairments

Functional play of children with ASD is less elaborated, varied and integrated

Benefits of play scripts for children with ASD• An aid for play and in communication and social interactions between

peers • Provide the right responses to play situations• Although it is not creative, it enables purposeful play

Needs Analysis- Sources

Children with ASD can learn with the provision of instructional supports and visual aids

Wanted to set up a dramatic play area to help children with ASD acquire play and interaction skills

Needs Analysis- Interviews

3 children with ASD

All 3 children exhibit little functional play

Play Skills checklist

Needs Analysis- Observation Records


Needs Analysis- Play Skills Checklist

Early Reactive Play

• Reacts to people

• Joint attention

Early Reciprocal

Play• Joint

attention • Social

referencing • Imitation • Pair games

Independent/ Solitary Play

• Preoccupied activity

• Functional play

• Constructional play

• Self-pretend play

• Object-pretend play

• Sequenced pretend play

Level of Socialisation (Peer Play)

• Observer • Parallel play• Associative

play• Cooperative

play




Setup of Play Area

• Improve the children’s play skills, especially functional play

• Support the teachers’ idea of wanting to set up a dramatic play area

Play Scripts

• As an intervention means to teach functional play by providing instructional and visual supports

Play Skills Checklist

• Allows teachers to record children’s play behaviour during pre- and post- intervention observations

Video

• Staff training• Use when

talking to sponsors

Implementation

The Dramatic Play Area

The Dramatic Play Area

Overall, the project accomplished its’ objectives.

All the children improved in their functional play after intervention, proving that the assumptions

were correct.

Evaluation of Project Outcomes

NATHAN

DAN

MAYIncrease in combining 2 or more objects in

play

Increase in playing with replica objects according to their functions

Increase in using cause/effect toys

Increase in performing actions on object

Similarities and Differences in Results(Functional Play)

Nathan May Dan 01020304050607080

50

25

676775 75

Pre-Inter-vention Observa-tionPost-inter-vention observa-tion

Functional Play Skills

Play

Sco

res

in P

erce

ntag

e (%

)Functional Play Skills Scores Before & After Intervention

Why did May show the most improvement?• Role of cashier• Play actions in script were confined to cash register• Play actions were repetitive

Why did Dan show the least improvement?• Higher cognitive functioning evident from his verbal

skills• Functional play did not provide much scaffold for him• Pretend play provided a better avenue of learning for him

Evaluation of Project Outcomes

Self-pretend play

Increase in describing and

vocalizing the role he takes on

Object-pretend play

Increase in including gestures, sound

effects, or speech that describes a

situation

Describing and vocalizing what he is

doing with play object

Increase in attributing fake properties and

feelings to toys

Sequenced-pretend play

Increase in carrying out familiar

imaginary actions in sequence e.g.

cooking and serving food

DAN

Additional Findings

Reasons For The Increase In Functional & Other Play Skills

Nature of Play scripts

Children could rely on their strengths to learn how to

play

Play scripts provided understanding of the play

situations by defining roles for play

Clear sequence and structure in play scripts

Prompting and Modelling

Teachers gave physical prompts and direct and indirect verbal prompts

Redirect children back to play

Teachers modeled specific play behaviours for higher-functioning

children to imitate

Reasons For The Increase In Functional & Other Play Skills

Family Support

More family support = more secure, more confident children

Children might observe their family members and re-enact their

observations

Family changes might affect the children’s mood to learn new play

skills

Interweaving Factors

School Factor

Exposure to play settings in mainstream preschools

Give the familiarity and ideas on how to play

Consequently, these children might exhibit increased play skills

Interweaving Factors

Qualitative research method used in project

• When exploring the children’s play behaviours, participants can be studied in more depth• Exploratory nature allows comparison of findings and data collection from multiple

sources

Project is easy to repilcate

Easy implementation of the project as it requires minimal logistics

The play scripts can be consistently modified to accommodate each child’s level of play as he progresses

Strengths of Project

Time Constraint• Short time for intervention• Difficult to let children exchange roles to find out if results will be

affected • Difficult to determine if the children could generalise the play skills

learnt to other settings

Findings cannot apply to larger populations

• Emphasis on 'deep data'• Case studies cannot be implemented in projects requiring many

participants• Findings apply to children with ASD only

Improvements

Find out if children can generalise play skills learnt to other settings

• The play skills checklist can be used at home by parents to record children's play• Observe children's play in other play settings

Give children multiple roles• With better time management, let children exchange roles• Provides a more in-depth study on the effectiveness of play scripts to teach functional

play

Recommendations

Using play scripts to teach functional play skills to

children with ASD is effective when:

Teachers scaffold, facilitate and guide the children

The strengths of children arecapitalized

Activities & materials are tailored to meet the children’s

needs

Conclusion

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

• Teacher AideRole

Played

• Help out in class during lessons• Clean up after the children, especially

during feeding• Conduct simple tabletop activities with

the children• Bring the children to therapy, and also

fetch them back to class from therapy• Bring the children for transport

services

Tasks Assigned

Personal Reflections (Amanda)

• Positive attitude• Accepts all children as they are• Willing to learn and try new things• Eager for feedbacks and improves on criticisms

Strengths

• Inflexible with planned activities• Needs to be more confident

Weaknesses


Lesson learnt from the job of an intervention professional

Be open to new ideas, and do not be afraid to try new things


Follow up actions

Read up about different techniques and methods to help children with

special needs cope with daily living, and discuss some workable methods with experienced persons

in the field


Lesson learnt from the Industry/Sector

Understand that maintaining positive relationships with other professionals

in the field is vital for maximum benefit to the child


Follow up actions

Honour and recognise fellow professionals

Exchange information about the child regularly with professionals involved in

aiding various aspects the child’s development


Lesson learnt in Personal/Professional Development

Appreciate strengths, instead of focusing on weaknesses


Follow up actions

Read up about children with special needs and generally identify the strengths

of children with different disabilities

Interact with more individuals by visiting organisations who caters to

children with special needs


• Teacher AideRole Played

• Assisted in daily routines (circle and snack time)• Use of Picture Exchange

Communication System (PECS)

• Assisted in daily activities (play sensory, outdoor and gross motor)

Tasks Assigned

Personal Reflections (Wei Kim)


• Conducted ‘Work with Teacher’ time• Handwriting skills for the higher

functioning • Fine motor activities for the

lower functioning• Bring and play with the children

during water play

Tasks Assigned


• Willingness to learn from host teachers, field mentor and other staff• Learning from others’ experiences• Open to others’ ideas and opinions

• Having a positive attitude• Self-motivated

Strengths

• Too much of a perfectionist

Weakness


Lesson learnt from the job of an intervention professionalPassion and commitment

Importance of tailoring activities and materials to the children’s needs

Children’s safety well-being is most important

Job which requires communication and collaboration with people


Follow up actions

Have a vision to make a difference in the lives of the children

Make the choice to recognise the satisfaction and joy that comes with

it

Observe the children in class for their strengths and weaknesses


Follow up actions

Monitor children’s progress frequently

Pair visual supports with any instructional activity

Respect, share knowledge and build consensus with family members, psychologists, therapists, social

workers, interventionists



What makes up this industry? Most precious resource is people

What is this industry about? Delivering programmes, lifelong learning, purposeful

intervention Family support

Public education to raise awareness


Follow up actions

Maintain positive relationships by collaborating, communicating, sharing, exchanging, recognising and respecting

Recognise and promote lifelong learning for children and professionals



Appreciate and value people as who they are

Embrace diversity

Have to constantly upgrade our skills and knowledge to stay abreast


Follow up actions

Let all children have the right to learn and play in an inclusive environment

Let all children express their thoughts, ideas and opinions

Reflect on own teaching practices and beliefs regularly


Follow up actions

Attend relevant workshops

Share and exchange experiences and knowledge with fellow teachers

Read up on recent developments on

early intervention



• Assist in class routines, feeding and conduct simple activities

• Help out in exercises and massages for the children

• Fetch children to and from therapy sessions and their transport services

Tasks Assigned

Personal Reflections (Zerline)

• Shows initiative in asking questions• Shows confidence in handling and interacting with

children• Take instructions and work on them • Learn from criticism

Strengths

• Inadaptability to different teaching styles of teachers• Lack of initiative in follow-ups of activities

Weaknesses


Lesson learnt from the job of an intervention professional

Equal partners in learning


Follow up actions

Gain knowledge from books on specific disability to further understand the children’s needs

Conduct interviews with parents to know more about their children

Conduct home visits to observe children’s behaviours at home



Any person involved in the early intervention sector is

not a lone ranger


Follow up actions

Conduct regular informal sharing sessions between therapies, parents,

interventionists and other professionals to inform each other about the

children’s progress, approximately once every two months



Learning based on real life experiences allow better

understanding


Follow up actions

Connect with different professionals to gain further

insights to the tasks of different professionals that are involved

in the early intervention program


THANK YOU