Play and Social Skills for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Marjorie H. Charlop, Ph.D., BCBA, has dedicated her life’s work to helping children with autism and their families.  She is Professor of Psychology at Claremont McKenna College and Director of the Claremont Autism Center, her research and treatment center for children with ASD and their families. As a Licensed Psychologist, she also maintains a private practice and consultation services. Dr. Charlop has hundreds of professional conference presentations and publications in the field of autism and has been invited to provide workshops and lectures around the globe.  Her book, “Naturalistic and Incidental Teaching Strategies for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder” is in its second edition. She has served as Associate Editor and on Editorial Boards on numerous behavioral, autism, and education related journals. Dr. Charlop’s research areas focus on the treatment of communication, motivation, social skills, and behavior problems. Using technology is among her newer research interests. Parent collaboration and education is among her primary areas of practice.  Russell Lang, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is an associate professor of Special Education at Texas State University and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral Level. Dr. Lang is also the Executive Director of Texas State University’s Autism Treatment Clinic. He earned a doctoral degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Autism and Developmental Disabilities from the University of Texas at Austin and completed a post-doctoral researcher position at the University of California in Santa Barbara. His primary research interests include teaching play and leisure skills, assistive technology, and the treatment of problematic behaviors in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Child and Family Studies and the Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities.  Mandy Rispoli, PhD., BCBA-D, is an associate professor of Special Education at Purdue University and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst- Doctoral Level. Dr Rispoli is the Co-Director of the Purdue Autism Network. Dr. Rispoli’s research focuses on function-based assessment and interventions for challenging behavior in young children with autism spectrum disorder and on teacher professional development in the area of challenging behavior.

• Chapter 1. More than Just Fun and Games: Definition, Development, and Intervention for Children’s Play and Social Skills.- Chapter 2. New is Not Always Improved: Evidenced-Based Practice in Play and Social Skill Intervention.- Chapter 3. All Children Can Play: Prompting and Modeling Procedures to Teach Play to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.- Chapter 4.Keeping it Real: Naturalistic Teaching Strategies (NaTS) for Play and Social Skills.- Chapter 5. Lights, Camera, Action! Teaching Play and Social Skills to Children Video Modeling.- Chapter 6. Visualizing Success: Visual and Script Training Strategies for Teaching Play and Social Skills.- Chapter 7. Want to Play? Peer Mediated Play and Social Skills Intervention.- Chapter 8. The Power of Parents: Parent Implemented Play and Social Skills Intervention.- Chapter 9. Conclusion: Play and Social Skills as Behavioral Cusps.