| Autism Spectrum Disorder(s) (ASD) presents with impairments in social and communication skills as well as stereotyped, restrictive, and repetitive behaviors. Screening measures that are quick and effective for young children are needed in order to detect ASD when symptoms first begin to emerge. The purpose of the present study was to determine the efficacy of four brief quantitative play measures to differentiate young children with ASD from typically-developing children. Participants included 30 typically-developing children and 30 children with ASD between the ages of 24 and 68 months for a total of 60 participants. The dependent variables measured included the number of toys on which children demonstrated differentiated play (object exploration), the number of different, anticipated action types used in play (diversity of play), the number of object exchange turns, and doll interest, which was measured by the number of seconds in which children simultaneously directed eye gaze and touch towards four dolls with various characteristics (i.e. a doll with no eyes, a doll without a mouth, a doll without any facial features, and a doll with symmetrical features).;The first hypothesis of this study was that children with ASD would demonstrate less object exploration than typically-developing children. The second hypothesis was that children with ASD would demonstrate significantly less diversity in their play compared to typically-developing children. The third hypothesis was that children with ASD would demonstrate significantly fewer object exchange turns than would typically-developing children. In addition, the study explored if seconds of simultaneous eye gaze and touch (i.e. "interest") toward dolls with different facial features significantly differentiated children with ASD from typically-developing children.;The results suggest that children with ASD performed fewer object exchange turns. On the other play measures, cognitive ability accounted for more of the difference between groups than did diagnosis. Age was also significantly related to turn-taking. The results of the doll interest measure indicate that older typically-developing children showed more interest in the doll with eyes and a mouth as well as the faceless doll. Implications of these results for future diagnostics and research for Autism Spectrum Disorder are discussed. |
