Stahmer AC, Schreibman L. Teaching children with autism appropriate play in unsupervised environments using a self-management treatment package.
J Appl Behav Anal 1992;
25:447-59. [PMID:
1634432 PMCID:
PMC1279723 DOI:
10.1901/jaba.1992.25-447]
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Abstract
The present study used a self-management treatment package to teach 3 children with autism, who exhibited inappropriate play behaviors, to play appropriately in the absence of a treatment provider. After self-management training, generalization and maintenance of the behavior change were assessed. Because of the detrimental effects of self-stimulation (arm flapping, spinning toys, twirling, etc.) on learning, the relationship between self-stimulatory behaviors and appropriate play was measured. Results indicated that the children learned to exhibit appropriate play skills in unsupervised settings, appropriate play skills generalized to new settings, and 2 of the children maintained their gains at 1-month follow-up. In addition, self-stimulatory behaviors decreased as appropriate play increased. Treatment implications of these findings are discussed.
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