A Review of Literature on Interventions Aimed at Increasing Play for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Objectives

This review aimed to investigate interventions designed to enhance play for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), emphasizing the utilization of typically developing peers and adults within the intervention. The primary focus is on understanding the impact of such interventions on improving social communication skills, play engagement, and community integration for children with ASD.

Methods

This review examined 20 studies containing interventions to enhance play for children with ASD using typically developing peers and adults as part of the intervention. The studies included single-case designs (SCDs) and group design studies published from 2000 to 2022.

Results

The findings reveal that successful play interventions for children with ASD often involve a combination of practices. Notably, certain components, including following the child’s interest, prompting, video modeling, and live modeling frequently featured across the studies. Also, other components, such as priming and social stories, were less commonly employed. The synthesis of these results sheds light on effective strategies for teaching play to children with ASD and informs the development of comprehensive intervention approaches.

Conclusions

This review concludes that interventions incorporating a combination of strategies prove most effective in enhancing play for children with ASD. The identified components, such as following the child’s interest and various modeling techniques offer valuable insights for designing targeted interventions. By understanding the diverse needs and preferences of children with ASD, interventions can be tailored to foster meaningful play experiences, positively impacting social communication, behavior, and community integration.