Association for Behavior Analysis International

Recent research has identified a strong relationship between deficits in language, play and social skills for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Specifically, severe deficits in language is a predictor of poor play and social skills outcomes. This symposium will consist of two research studies that use behavioral approaches to investigate the effects of language in naturalistic play settings on play and social behaviors. The first study focuses on the Natural Language Paradigm (NLP), with researchers assessing its effectiveness on increasing play and social behaviors such as appropriate verbalizations. In the second study, using a play setting, researchers compared the use of English and the child’s heritage language on play, and social verbal behaviors. Multiple baseline designs were used in both studies to analyze treatment effects, generalization was assessed, and inter-observer reliability was calculated. These two studies provide further support for the link between language, play and social behavior, demonstrating how language can be used to increase the social skills and play behaviors of children on the spectrum.

For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), deficits in language have predicted poor play and social skills outcomes (Toth et al., 2006). However, the Natural Language Paradigm (NLP) has proven to be effective in increasing spontaneous appropriate verbalizations for children with ASD (Koegel et al., 1987). The present study assessed the efficacy of NLP on increasing appropriate play and social behaviors as appropriate verbalizations increased. A multiple baseline design across four children with ASD was used to assess the efficacy of NLP on increasing appropriate play, joint attention and happiness behaviors. Measurements of all behaviors were taken during play sessions for baseline and follow-up probes, play sessions with a parent for generalization probes, and during NLP intervention sessions. Results demonstrated an increase of 50% in appropriate verbalizations across five consecutive sessions in all participants. Additionally, results indicated increases in appropriate play behaviors, joint attention behaviors, and happiness behaviors. Furthermore, results demonstrated generalization of these skills across person and setting. Follow-up play probes and generalization probes indicated maintenance of these skills at two-weeks, one-month, and six-months. The current study demonstrated the robustness and resilience of NLP’s effectiveness on the development of language, play and social skills for children with ASD.