Object interest in autism spectrum disorder: a treatment comparison.
RPMT lifts toy interest more than PECS for toddlers with autism—use it when play engagement is stuck.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team watched 18- to 60-month-old children with autism play alone.
Half the kids got RPMT first. The other half got PECS first.
After six months the groups switched. Staff counted how often each child touched or looked at toys.
What they found
RPMT kids poked, stacked, and explored toys far more than PECS kids.
The extra interest showed up only during free play, not at snack time.
How this fits with other research
Minjarez et al. (2011) and Verschuur et al. (2019) also saw language gains from naturalistic play.
Their PRT studies match RPMT’s kid-led style, but none tested object interest head-to-head.
Tsiouri et al. (2012) used strict table-top drills to spark first words.
That paper and this one both help non-verbal preschoolers, yet RPMT keeps play fun while DTT keeps trials tight.
Why it matters
If a toddler ignores toys, start with RPMT before you try PECS.
Use simple play routines, wait, and imitate.
Track toy touches for five minutes each week.
More object play now can feed later language and social turns.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A randomized control trial comparing two social communication treatments for children with autism spectrum disorder examined the effect of treatment on object interest. Thirty-two children, 18-60 months, were randomly assigned to the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) or Responsive Education and Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching (RPMT) condition. Assessment of object interest was conducted in an unstructured play session with different toys, activities, adult, and location than experienced in treatment. Results indicated children in the RPMT condition showed greater increases in object interest as compared to children in the PECS condition. Because child characteristics such as interest in objects may influence response to interventions using object play as contexts for treatment, it is important to improve our understanding of whether intervention can affect object interest.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2012 · doi:10.1177/1362361309360983