Effects of a Social Communication Intervention on Interactive Play for Young Children with Disabilities

Abstract

Early interventions with the goal of altering the trajectory of social skill acquisition are needed in order to establish social competence in young children with developmental disabilities. This study used a unique play-based intervention (the Early Childhood Storybook Intervention) to teach social skills to young children with developmental disabilities using a multiple baseline across dyads design. The aim of the intervention was to increase three specific behaviors that form the foundation of social competence: joint attention, proximity, and more complex levels of interactive play. This intervention was developed with the belief that early identification and intervention of the social trajectory of children with developmental disabilities will lead to long-lasting social relationships and ultimately more successful school experiences in later years. Results indicate that the ECSI intervention increased hierarchical levels of play and reduced instances of non-interactive play during the intervention phase. Proximity results were variable. Associative play, and therefore joint attention instances increased during the intervention phase. Children also showed increases in language and pragmatic assessment scores at the end of the intervention. Implications for further research are discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]