title: Teaching social play skills to adults and children with autism as an approach to building rapport.
abstract: Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and no intellectual disabilities were taught to increase the social play skills of children with ASD as part of a vocational training program. Participants included 3 adults, aged 21 to 27 years, and 6 children with ASD. Probes conducted throughout the study evaluated whether play skills training affected a measure of rapport between the adult and child. Results demonstrated the effectiveness of behavioral skills training for teaching the adult participants the appropriate play skills. In addition, the children's social engagement increased. Finally, rapport probes showed that play skills training increased levels of proximity, our measure of rapport, between the adults and children.
authors.affiliation: University of Houston-Clear Lake.
authors.forename: Molly L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Shireman
authors.affiliation: University of Houston-Clear Lake.
authors.forename: Dorothea C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Lerman
authors.affiliation: University of Houston-Clear Lake.
authors.forename: Conrad B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Hillman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010989:Play Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D010988:Play and Playthings; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D066107:Social Skills; D013663:Teaching; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: adults; autism spectrum disorder; behavior skills training; play skills; rapport