Teaching Play Skills to Children With Autism Using Visually Structured Tasks

As an early childhood special educator, Ms. Pool is proud of her elementary school's commitment to providing special education programs to students with disabilities in inclusive settings. She is especially excited about Ms. Carter's first grade classroom, in which Keith, a 7-year-old boy diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), has been placed for the past 2 months. However, the two teachers have become increasingly concerned about Keith's obvious social isolation in the classroom. During relatively unstructured free and playtime activities, Keith typically sits by himself in one specific location, repetitively rocking back and forth while quietly humming. Other students do not seem to enjoy this activity, so Keith is usually left alone during these times. Ms. Carter and Ms. Pool are convinced of the benefits that enhanced social interactions could have for Keith. They also believe that if Keith could develop more appropriate toy play behaviors, other students would be more likely to play with him. The question they both pose is how do they best teach Keith these skills?