Comparison of behavioural and natural play interventions for young children with autism.
Table-top ABA beat floor-time on attending and compliance, but peer and parent play studies show you can hit the same goals without drills.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Vera and team worked with 3- to young learners with autism. They split the kids into two groups. One group got classic table-top ABA drills. The other group learned through natural play on the floor.
The study ran for ten weeks. Staff tracked attending, compliance, and play skills every day.
What they found
Both groups improved, but the behavioural kids moved ahead faster. They looked longer at tasks and followed adult directions more often.
Natural-play kids still gained skills, just not as big on the two key measures.
How this fits with other research
Chen et al. (2001) got even larger play gains when typical peers ran the sessions. Their peer-play kids jumped in joint attention and words without any table work.
Solomon et al. (2007) later showed parents can deliver natural play at home and see the same kind of progress Vera saw in the clinic.
These studies do not clash. Vera used adults and short sessions. C used peers and longer play groups. The method, not the philosophy, drives the size of the effect.
Why it matters
If you need quick gains in sitting and following directions, keep some structured trials. Add peer or parent play sessions for stronger joint attention and language. Mix the formats and you get the best of both worlds.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The article reports the results of a pilot study comparing traditional behavioural approaches and natural play interventions for young children with autism over a 10 week period. Two matched groups of eight young children with autism participated. Using a crossover design, children in both groups showed positive gains in compliance, attending, play and communication with their therapists and parents. Improvements in attending and compliance were higher following the behavioural condition compared with the natural play condition. Seven participants had reduced autism scores after the intervention. The findings suggest that behavioural and play approaches affect behaviour in different ways and that autistic symptomatology of young children may be amenable to treatment. The discussion focuses on the active ingredients of treatments and the need to base efficacy research on well-planned treatment comparisons.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2004 · doi:10.1177/1362361304045212