Evy is a 4-year-old boy in this video, and he has the diagnosis of autism. His mother stands behind a video camera, recording herself engaging Evy in conversations. She is interacting with him and using verbal behavior, a form of applied behavioral analysis (ABA) – which is one of many autism teaching tools.
ABA a therapy that breaks information into discrete steps, so that it can be learned easier. This is an effective form of therapy to help treat autism. In the video, Evy’s mother is using play scripts, a form of therapy where a child is engages with a person in order to play or act out different scenarios, with scripted speech.
She also is able to incorporate into the pretend play important skills like sequencing, as well as “yes” and “no” questions. In this video, his mother is focusing on asking Evy who and why questions, so that his language can expand and be more versatile. Also, it appears that the “script” is improvised rather than “planned,” which can be important because children with autism often memorize things quickly, so acting out a particular script too many times can stifle language development if things aren’t random and varied.
Pretend play is a particular area that is often problematic for children with autism, because children with autism often have trouble with abstract thinking. Practicing or rehearing using these different skills can help a child use them in a natural setting in the future when playing with other children.
What Happens In The Video
In this particular video, Evy and his mother are pretending that they all need to go to sleep. Evy says, “we’re all tired.” His mom then engages him by asking what people do when they are tired, which is a way to prompt him to begin sequencing what people do when they are tired – like make their bed. In this particular case, she asks him, “tell me about how you made the bed?” As a result, she is able to assist him in pretending that his book is his pillow and also to pretend that he is about to go to sleep.
Evy has trouble answering the question, probably not only because “how questions” are difficult – because they can be answered in many different ways, but also because Evy was 4 years old in this video. How questions are difficult for many young children to answer.
After Evy makes the pretend bed and gets in it, he then pretends that he is going to sleep. He says, “I’m ready to go to sleep,” and his mom says, “goodnight.” He also tells whomever is in the room to “turn off the light,” which clearly shows that he is imagining that he is going to sleep, even though he knows he isn’t for real. During this pretend play session, there are ample, natural opportunities to ask why and how questions, like ” why do you turn off the light,” and “how do you turn the light off.”
Another adult engages in the pretend play, which gives the mom another opportunity to ask the how question again of, “how do you make a bed?” when Evy wants a woman named Sue to make a bigger bed, like his.
Evy’s mother also asks mixed “wh” questions about his pretend dreams that he is going to have while sleeping about trains. Asking mixed “wh” questions like, who, what, when, where, why, etc., helps children with autism to learn to answer questions rapidly and also helps them to discriminate between different sounding sentences. In general, it expands natural language.
When Evy doesn’t answer a question or seems confused, his mother quickly prompts him to respond a specific way, which helps a child to learn an answer so that if asked the same question in the future, they will be able to respond.
To watch this video, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWqXOn3nk24
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