By Sandra Clark and Jennifer Huffman, PhD
Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by a continuum of impairments occurring in three core areas: communication, social interactions, and repetitive and restricted interest. Recent studies indicate that the prevalence of autism is even higher than previously thought, estimating that one in 50 children between the ages of 6–17 are currently diagnosed with ASD. This high prevalence rate highlights an increased need for services provided to children with ASD, especially early intervention. Studies have demonstrated that intensive, early behavioral intervention can result in significant improvements in symptoms for children with ASD. Developmental and behavioral pediatrician, Richard Solomon, developed The PLAY Project in response to this need for intensive early intervention services for children on the autism spectrum.
What is the PLAY Project?
The PLAY (Play and Language for Autistic Youngsters) Project is an evidence-based intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorders. Unlike many other interventions, which are designed to be administered primarily by a clinician to the child, the PLAY Project is a parent-mediated model. This means that a trained clinician still provides direct intervention to the child, but coaching, modeling, and practice for parents are the focus of sessions, making parents an integral part of each session.
The PLAY Project targets skills that are foundational for communication and social interaction such as motivation, social initiation, and joint attention. These skills are like the foundation for a house, and without them more complex skills like language often lack the interactional quality that we hope our children will demonstrate when they learn to use communication skills.
These foundational skills are also often the focus of other ABA based interventions (e.g., pivotal response training), but the PLAY Project teaches children interaction skills using a different approach: following the child’s lead. The PLAY Project works on developing a positive relationship between parent and child, by focusing on the child’s current interests and developmental level. In this way, children learn the interactional skills, like language, that we want them to learn, but do so in a way that builds on a foundation of a positive, interactive relationships with others. Research on the PLAY Project has shown that families who participate in PLAY demonstrated significant improvements in the following areas:
- Increased caregiver/parent and child interaction
- Increased social interaction of child with autism
- Improved social-emotional development of child with autism
- Improved autism-related diagnostic category/symptoms including behavioral compliance.
What does a session look like?
There are two primary ways that the PLAY Project is administered to families: in-home and in-clinic. Some providers administer the intervention primarily in the home of the family, making monthly visits to help parents develop the relationships and skills needed to help their child progress. Other providers administer the intervention primarily in-clinic, providing the same intervention but on a weekly basis at a center. Some centers do a combination of the two. In both settings, parents and caregivers interact with their child and the consultant provides coaching and modeling of PLAY techniques to help both parents and child learn skills that they can then apply at home. The PLAY consultants also video-record parents and the consultant interacting with the child during visits, and provide direct feedback based on interactions, so that parents don’t just hear and read suggestions, they can see their interactions and their child’s progress over time.
As part of PLAY Project visits, an individualized PLAY Plan is developed for each child that includes information about their developmental level, sensory motor needs, and the specific interests of the child (called comfort zone activities). This information is used to teach parents and caregivers techniques for interacting with their child, based on their specific plan to develop interactional skills.
PLAY Project Consultants are providers with a Masters Degree or equivalent who have experience in fields working in child development, such as psychologists, early intervention specialists, and occupational therapists. These professionals complete a certification process to provide PLAY Project services, including an intensive workshop and 12–18 months of additional supervision.
The ABLE Center is proud to be a Certified Play Project Center. We believe strongly in intervention services that empower and support parents of children with neurodevelopmental conditions. For more information about whether Play Project is appropriate for your child, contact the ABLE Center at 309-661-8046. You can also learn more about Play Project on the web at playproject.org.
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