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Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using video-enhanced activity schedules on a laptop on the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of schedule following, and pretend play skills in children with ASD. In addition, social validity data were collected from the teachers and the mothers of the participating children. Four children with ASD, aged between 5 and 8 years, participated in this study. A multiple probe design across participants was used. The findings demonstrated that video-enhanced activity schedules on the laptop were effective in acquiring schedule following and three pretend play skills, (tea time, hairdressing, and railway train). In the study, all children maintained and generalized targeted skills across different settings and materials. The teachers and mothers of children reported positive opinions on the acceptability of the intervention and the importance of outcomes achieved. The results suggest that using video enhanced activity schedules for teaching both schedule following and pretend play skills at the same intervention sessions is an effective intervention for some children with autism. Future research implications are discussed.
Pretend play is a precursor of more advanced cognitive, social, and language competence (Barton & Pavilanis, 2012). Typical developing children engage in pretend play at about 18 months of age and advance the skill in complexity as they make progress (Barton & Wolery, 2008). However, pretend play activities of children with ASD are qualitatively different from those of typically developing children (Rutherford et al., 2007). Children with ASD exhibit fewer and simpler pretend play skills than their typically developing peers (Barton, 2010). These difficulties can prevent them from engaging in various play activities by themselves and with their peers independently. Limitations in pretend play complicate the communication of children with ASD with their peers, as well as their social acceptance (Ulke-Kurkcuoglu, 2015). Therefore, they need to learn pretend play skills to have better verbal and intraverbal communication and to advance in interactions with their peers through developmentally appropriate plays (Barton & Pavilianis, 2012). Researchers have developed a variety of practices for teaching appropriate play skills to children with ASD, including video modeling, errorless teaching procedures, reciprocal imitation, activity schedules, etc. (e.g. Akers et al., 2018; Scheflen et al., 2012). An activity schedule can be especially useful for teaching the...