Preschool aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have marked deficits in pretend play that impede interactions with typically developing peers in inclusive early childhood settings. This study aimed to teach three young children with ASD to engage in pretend play behaviors with their peers. A multiple probe across participants experimental design was used to evaluate the effects of joint video modeling on scripted and unscripted verbalizations and scripted and unscripted play actions of children with ASD. The participants showed improvement on unscripted verbalizations during pretend play with typically developing peers in an inclusive early childhood setting.
Keywords: Peer-mediated intervention; Pretend play; Video-modeling.