Teaching Sequences of Pretend Play to Children With Disabilities

Children with disabilities demonstrate fewer complex pretend play behaviors than children with typical development, which might limit their social participation in early childhood settings. A multiple-probe design was used to examine the relation between a single prompt procedure—constant time delay—and the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of sequences of pretend play by children with disabilities. Results indicated systematic instruction was functionally related to increased levels of unprompted and different sequences of pretend play in all three participants. However, individual adaptations were required for two of three participants. The findings replicate previous research on adult systematic instruction using response-prompting strategies to teach pretend play and extend the literature by measuring and reporting generalized sequences of pretend play. Overall, this study supports systematic, individualized instruction using response-prompting strategies to teach sequences of pretend play to children who do not display such behaviors