When teaching a child with autism to engage in interactive play, it's important to consider whether or not the child is likely to seek out similar interactions on his own. On one hand, a child may not interact with others because he hasn't yet learned specific ways to interact (e.g., by imitating others, by responding to other's questions or comments, etc.). On the other hand, a child may not continue to seek out similar interactions on his own if he does not find the interactions naturally reinforcing.

Below are five of my favorite early play activities that teach a child to participate in a short play scenario with an adult.

To continue the discussion, I thought I'd share my specific opinions related to each of the guidelines in the last post. I must emphasize that these are my opinions that I purposefully offer up for debate. I'm very interested in starting a dialogue with those whose opinions differ from mine.

1) One general term should be agreed upon as a general umbrella term under which all brands fall. When discussing their brand, individuals should always start by disclosing that their brand falls under this general term.

A recent research study by Dawson and colleagues has created both excitement and frustration for some proponents of ABA therapy. The study, conducted in a randomized controlled trial design, was published in the November 2009 issue of Pediatrics and demonstrated that behavioral intervention with toddlers resulted "in significant improvements in IQ, language, adaptive behavior, and autism diagnosis." ("Randomized, Controlled Trial of an Intervention for Toddlers With Autism: The Early Start Denver Model" Pediatrics, November 2009). However, proponents of ABA have pointed out that the New York Times coverage failed to mention that the study uses applied behavior analytic principles (http://www.blogcatalog.com/search.frame.php?term=aba+therapy&id=905ac454e81811bf6f06a9117f2f8761) and that the CNN coverage perpetuated a common misconception about ABA by comparing the pleasing, playful therapy of the study with "ABA, which is delivered at a desk" (http://blog.navigationbehavioralconsulting.com/).