Association for Behavior Analysis International

Teaching children to play is an integral part of development because it sets the occasion for having social and communicative interactions with peers, increases the likelihood of learning in natural and inclusive settings, and offers flexibility to be used in multiple environments (Barton & Wolery, 2008). Children with disabilities are observed to engage in spontaneous play less often and demonstrate fewer varied pretend play behaviors than children with typical development (Barton, 2015). The long-term effects of an impoverished play repertoire are observed in social interactions later in life. The purpose of this symposium is to review the research supporting the efficacy of the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum (PPLAC) as an effective tool to systematically assess and teach both independent and sociodramatic pretend play and language skills to children ages 2-7. The PPLAC is a behaviorally-based curriculum formulated from the typical developmental sequence of play and language and utilized to establish and expand a child's pretend play repertoire. The five elements of pretend play are identified and separated in teachable components including: agent of play, object of play, category of play, advanced play and the essential skills to sociodramatic play.

Target Audience: BCBA, BCBA-D, BCaBA, SLP, Special educators

Learning Objectives: (1) Identify five elements of pretend play including category, agent, object, advanced play, and the essential skills to sociodramatic play; (2) Identify the systematic approach to introducing and chaining targets in Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum; (3) Describe the steps of utilizing a script fading procedure to teach a sequence of pretend play and language skills; (4) Identify effective prompting procedures and data based modifications when targeting multiple stages of pretend play; (5) Identify effective components for preparing a child to engage in appropriate sociodramatic play.