Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T19:56:43.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mothers' use of imitative play for facilitating social responsiveness and toy play in young autistic children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Geraldine Dawson  and
Larry Galpert
Geraldine Dawson*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle
Larry Galpert
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL
*
Address all correspondence to: Department of Psychology NI-25, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The effectiveness of imitating an autistic child's actions as a means for promoting social responsiveness and creative toy play was explored. Fifteen autistic children between the ages of 2 and 6 years and their mothers were assessed before and after a 2-week period during which they engaged in imitative play for 20 minutes per day. At the pre-intervention assessment, autistic children's gaze at mother's face was of longer duration, and their toy play was more creative during imitative play than during a free play session. At the post-intervention assessment, significant cumulative increases in duration of gaze at mother's face and creative toy play were found. Children's positive behavior changes were not found to be a function of developmental level of imitative ability, play skills, Vineland social age, IQ, or severity of autistic symptoms. Instead, the majority of children showed positive responses to this interactive strategy, regardless of these individual characteristics.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , April 1990 , pp. 151 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cohen, D. J., & Johnson, W. T. (1977). Cardiovascular correlates of attention in normal and psychiatrically disturbed children. Archives of General Psychiatry, 34, 561–567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dawson, G., & Adams, A. (1984). Imitation and social responsiveness in autistic children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 12, 209–224.Google Scholar
Dawson, G., & Galpert, L. (1986). A developmental model for facilitating the social behavior of autistic children. In Schopler, E. & Mesibov, G. (Eds.), Social behavior in autism. New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
Dawson, G., Hill, D., Spencer, A., Galpert, L., & Watson, L. (1990). Affective exchanges between young autistic children and their mothers. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawson, G., & Lewy, A. (1989). Arousal, attention, and the socioemotional impairments of individuals with autism. In Dawson, G. (Ed.), Autism: Nature, diagnosis and treatment. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Field, T. (1977). Effects of early separation, interactive deficits and experimental manipulation of infant-mother face-to-face interaction. Child Development, 48, 731–771.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, T. (1979). Interaction patterns of high-risk and normal infants. In Field, T., Sostek, A., Goldberg, S., & Schuman, H. H. (Eds.), Infants born at risk. New York: Spectrum.Google Scholar
Hutt, S. J., Forrest, S. J., Richer, J. (1975). Cardiac arrhythmia and behavior in autistic children. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 51, 361–372.Google Scholar
Hutt, S. J., Hutt, C., Lee, D., & Ounsted, C. (1964). Arousal and childhood autism. Nature, 204, 908–909.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kootz, J. P., & Cohen, D. J. (1981). Modulation of sensory intake in autistic children: Cardiovascular and behavioral indices. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 20, 692–701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kootz, J. P., Marinelli, B., & Cohen, D. J. (1982). Modulation of response to environmental stimulation in autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 12, 185–193.Google Scholar
Malatesta, C. Z., & Izard, C. E. (1984). The ontogenesis of human social signals: From biological imperative to symbol utilization. In Fox, N. & Davidson, R. (Eds.), The psychobiology of affective development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Olley, J. G., & Stevenson, S. E. (1989). Preschool curriculum for children with autism: Addressing early social skills. In Dawson, G. (Ed.), Autism: Nature, diagnosis, and treatment. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Papousek, H., & Papousek, J. (1977). Mothering and cognitive headstart: Psychobiological considerations. In Schaffer, H. R. (Ed.), Studies of mother-infant interaction. New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Prizant, B. M., & Wetherby, A. M. (1987). Communicative intent: A framework for understanding social-communicative behavior in autism. Journal of the Academy of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, 26, 472–479.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1983). Cognitive deficits in the pathogenesis of autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 24, 513–531.Google Scholar
Schopler, E., Reichler, G., Devellis, G., & Daly, K. (1978). Toward objective classification of childhood autism: Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 10, 91–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tiegerman, E., & Primavera, L. (1981). Object manipulation: An interactional strategy with autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 14, 27–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tiegerman, E., & Primavera, L. (1984). Imitating the autistic child: Facilitating communicative gaze behavior. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 11, 427–438.Google Scholar
Uzgiris, I. (1981). Experience in the social context: Imitation and play. In Schiefelbusch, R. L. & Bricker, D. D. (Eds.), Early language: Acquisition and intervention. Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Uzgiris, I., & Hunt, J. M. (1975). Assessment in infancy. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar