This webinar explains how improving pretend play skills in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can “play it forward” to improve a wide array of social and communication skills. Linda Watson and Jessica Dykstra Steinbrenner provide practical information to aid speech-language pathologists in selecting goals and strategies that will support the expansion of pretend play in young children with ASD.
Learning Objectives:
You will be able to:
- explain to parents, teachers, and administrators how working on pretend play goals can contribute to improved social and communication skills in children wi1th ASD
- use a developmental play sequence to choose appropriate, individualized pretend play goals, and apply decision rules to determine when to modify play goals
- select play intervention strategies adapted to behavior and learning patterns common among young children with ASD
Contents
- Introduction/Overview (4 min.)
- Impact of Play on Social and Communication Skills (12 min.)
- Observing Play and Selecting Goals (44 min.)
- Play Intervention: Strategies and Examples (60 min.)
Presenter Information
Linda Watson, EdD, CCC-SLP, is a professor of
Speech & Hearing Sciences at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and brings more than 30 years
of clinical and research experience with children with
autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Since 2007, she has
been involved in the development and evaluation of an
intervention to improve pretend play and social
communication skills in preschoolers with ASD, carrying
out research on this intervention within public school
classrooms across four states. Watson’s keen interest
in research that applies to “the real world” also is
reflected in other projects, including the development
and validation of a parent questionnaire to identify 1-
year-olds who are at risk for later diagnoses of ASD and
a study in which she and her colleagues used this
questionnaire to identify infants at risk for ASD at 12 months of age and then evaluated
the effects of providing in-home coaching to their parents on the use of responsive
strategies to support their infants’ social communication and sensory-regulatory
development. Watson enjoys serving as a research mentor to undergraduate, master’s
degree, and doctoral students and teaching Introduction to Research Methods to
graduate students in SLP and AuD programs, preparing them to evaluate the
applicability of research findings to clinical practice questions
Financial Disclosures:
- Professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Grant funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, NIH/NICHD, Autism
Speaks, and Cure Autism Now
- Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
Nonfinancial Disclosures:
Jessica Dykstra Steinbrenner, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a
research scientist at Frank Porter Graham Child
Development Institute at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been working with
individuals with autism spectrum disorder for more than
15 years. She has clinical or research experience in
preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high
school settings. She worked as a graduate research
assistant on two research grants related to the
Advancing Social-Communication and Play (ASAP)
intervention with Dr. Linda Watson and then received a
small grant to adapt the intervention for elementary
school settings. Steinbrenner’s research interests are
school-based interventions, social communication,
engagement, and individuals with autism spectrum
disorder (ASD) with the most significant communication
needs. Her current projects include studying a comprehensive intervention for high
school students with ASD, developing online modules for paraprofessionals working with
students with ASD, and updating a systematic review on evidence-based practices for
individuals with ASD.
Financial Disclosures:
- Research scientist at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Grant funding from the Organization for Autism Research
- Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
Nonfinancial Disclosures:
- ASHA member
- International Society for Autism Research member
Assessment Type
Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.
To earn continuing education credit, you must complete the learning assessment by October 27, 2023.
Program History and CE Information
Content origination date: October 25, 2017
End date: October 27, 2023
This course is offered for 0.2 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).