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Developmental Play Skills as Outcomes of Early Intervention

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Abstract

Play is critical in the development of cognitive and language skills in young children with autism; however, few studies have examined the impact of the intervention on the development of play skills. The current study aims to address the change in developmental skills, including play after participation in the JASPER intervention, and to examine the initiation of joint attention as a moderator of the effect of treatment on changes in play skills. The study included 109 preschool-age children who participated in the JASPER intervention and examined changes in developmental skills, including play skills. Children who received JASPER improved significantly in both play diversity (F(1,99) = 4.89, p = 0.029, ES = 0.22) and complexity (F(1,98) = 5.21, p = 0.025; ES = 0.23) compared to children in control conditions. These gains in play skills were associated with concurrent improvements in cognition and communication skills. Additionally, children with more initiations of joint attention skills at entry made greater progress in play diversity (F(1,97) = 15.85, p < 0.001 ES = 0.40) and complexity (p = 0.096). Play and joint attention skills are critical intervention targets and outcomes for children with autism.

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Funding

This study was funded by Organization for Autism Research Grant 20072725; Autism Speaks Grant #7495; UA3 MC 11055 AIR-B HRSA. The authors would like to thank the children, families, and teachers who participated in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Special Education and Counseling, California State University, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Ya-Chih Chang

  2. Department of Special Education and Clinical Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA

    Stephanie Shire

  3. Department of Human Development and Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

    Connie Kasari

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Wendy Shih & Connie Kasari

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  1. Ya-Chih Chang
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  2. Stephanie Shire
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Correspondence to Ya-Chih Chang.

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Conflict of Interest

Connie Kasari and Stephanie Shire are co-authors of the JASPER manual. Ya-Chih Chang and Wendy Shih have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Ethical approval was granted by UCLA Institutional Review Board.

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Informed consent was obtained from all families who participated in the study.

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Chang, YC., Shire, S., Shih, W. et al. Developmental Play Skills as Outcomes of Early Intervention. J Autism Dev Disord (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-06147-8

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