The Effects of Response-Stimulus Pairing on Toy Play and Stereotypy in Three Children on the Autism Spectrum in China

Abstract

Children on the autism spectrum who exhibit a restricted range of interests may engage less in appropriate toy play and display stereotypy, which may negatively affect their social engagement and task performance. Our study replicated and extended prior research by implementing response-stimulus pairing to increase appropriate toy play and decrease inappropriate toy play and stereotypy in three Chinese children (aged 4–5 years) on the autism spectrum. We used a multiple probe design across participants. Results indicated that the intervention effectively increased appropriate toy play while decreasing inappropriate toy play and stereotypy. These improvements were also observed during free play. Two weeks after the completion of the intervention, all participants maintained the target behavior. Future research should consider collecting generalization data from home settings and conducting more rigorous functional behavior assessments.