Effects of the use of visual strategies in play groups for children with autism spectrum disorders and their peers.

The team ran play groups for three preschoolers with autism and their classmates. They taped small script cards and picture cues near the toys. Adults pointed to the visuals when they modeled phrases like "Let’s build a tower."

The researchers used a changing-criterion design. Each week they raised the number of scripted phrases the child had to say before earning a sticker.

All three children used more scripted lines and talked during more play intervals. Their unscripted comments went up and down, and adult prompts slowly dropped as the kids met the rising criteria.

Kocher et al. (2015) later tested a script-frame method and also saw more spontaneous comments, showing the idea holds when you fade the card completely. Charlop et al. (1992) did something similar years earlier with sociodramatic scripts in mixed-ability groups, so the 2008 study extends that work to autism-only triads.

Crozier et al. (2007) used Social Stories visuals in the same preschool setting and got prosocial gains, but one child needed extra verbal prompts. That small mismatch looks like a contradiction until you see the cue type: pictures of social rules versus active script lines. Kids who need clear words benefit more from the script cards.

Sasson et al. (2018) boosted peer bids with a quick outdoor "Buddy Game" and no visuals. Their larger gains for kids with ASD line up with B et al.'s finding that visual supports speed the process inside the classroom.

If you run inclusive preschool play groups, add a few script cards near the toys. Point to them, then let the kids talk. Raise the phrase goal each week and keep the visuals in place until the child hits the new target. You should see more scripted and unscripted language without extra adult talk.