Increasing Functional Leisure Engagement for Children With Autism Using Backward Chaining

Area of Science:

• Behavioral psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Special education

Background:

• Functional leisure engagement (FLE) is crucial for individuals with disabilities.
• Intervention approaches like prompting and reinforcement have shown utility in improving toy play.
• Backward chaining is a potential strategy for complex FLE but requires evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a treatment package for enhancing functional leisure engagement (FLE) in children with autism.
• To assess the effects of the intervention on stereotypy.
• To discuss the feasibility of implementing the intervention in a classroom setting.

Main Methods:

• A treatment package including prompting FLE, blocking stereotypy, and differential reinforcement was used.
• The study involved three school-aged children with autism in a therapeutic classroom.
• A multiple probe design across participants was employed, with pretest and posttest sessions.

Main Results:

• All participants demonstrated an increase in functional leisure engagement (FLE).
• Two participants showed a decrease in stereotypy.
• The intervention package showed promise for increasing toy play and reducing repetitive behaviors.

Conclusions:

• The treatment package is a potentially effective intervention for improving FLE in children with autism.
• The findings suggest feasibility for classroom implementation.
• Further research could explore backward chaining for more complex FLE.