Increasing leisure‐item engagement in individuals with autism

Five kids with autism who never touched leisure items got a new teaching plan. The team tried two steps: first, only prompts; second, prompts plus DRA (rewarding any play). They used a changing-criterion design, raising the time goal each week.

Items were simple—puzzle, ring stack, beads. Sessions ran 5 min in a quiet clinic room. Prompts started with hand-over-hand and faded to a light touch.

All five kids ended up playing with every item for 3–5 min with no help. Three kids needed only prompts; two kids took off only after DRA was added.

Problem behavior stayed low. Parents said the kids later picked up the same toys at home.

Leif et al. (2020) did almost the same mix—prompts plus DRA—inside a competing-stimulus assessment. They got the same jump in play and a drop in self-stim. The new study just moved the mix outside the CSA and into pure teaching sessions.

Wilder et al. (2020) also paired DRA with a three-step prompt, but for compliance, not play. Same engine, different gear—shows the package travels.

Burgio et al. (1986) used max-to-min prompt fading to teach a soccer pass. Roscoe flips the order—start small, add DRA later—proving the old fade still works when you let data choose the next step.

You can run this two-step plan in any clinic or home bin. Start with simple prompts; if the child doesn’t play after two days, layer in DRA. Track 30-s bins, raise the goal only when the last one hits 80 %. No extra staff, no fancy toys—just good prompt fading and a bag of Skittles.