Increasing Functional Leisure Engagement for Children With Autism Using Backward Chaining.
Backward chaining plus prompts and rewards turns non-play into full toy routines and drops stereotypy for many kids with autism.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Three children with autism took part in a classroom leisure program.
The team used backward chaining to teach complete toy-play routines.
They added prompting, blocked stereotypy, and gave praise and tokens for correct steps.
What they found
All three kids quickly learned to play with toys from start to finish.
Two children also showed big drops in hand-flapping and body rocking.
The gains stayed high when staff faded their help.
How this fits with other research
Tereshko et al. (2021) got the same drop in stereotypy with differential reinforcement plus self-management instead of chaining.
The two studies show you can curb repetitive movement either by building long play chains or by teaching kids to watch and reward themselves.
Becerra et al. (2021) widened the idea: they used photo schedules, not chaining, to lift heart-pumping play in younger preschoolers.
Together the papers say any well-sequenced visual or chaining tactic can lift meaningful play in autism, not just one single method.
Why it matters
You can run this package in any classroom with a few toys and token chips.
Start with the last play step, reward it, then add earlier steps one by one.
Block stereotypy gently and praise the next correct move.
In one week you can turn empty wandering into real play and cut repetitive movement at the same time.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Research with individuals with disabilities has demonstrated the utility of intervention approaches to address toy play, also referred to as functional leisure engagement (FLE). Examples include prompting FLE, blocking stereotypy, and differentially reinforcing appropriate FLE with social or automatic (i.e., access to stereotypy) reinforcers. Backward chaining has yet to be evaluated, but may be useful for establishing more complex FLE. The current study employed a treatment package consisting of these components with three school-aged children with autism in a therapeutic classroom. Effects were evaluated during pretest and posttest sessions, which consisted of free access to toys in a novel setting. The percentage of session with FLE was evaluated using a multiple probe design across participants. Results showed all participants demonstrated an increase in FLE and two participants showed decreased stereotypy. Feasibility for classroom implementation is discussed.
Behavior modification, 2018 · doi:10.1177/0145445517699929