Impact of the Learn to Play program on play, social competence and language for children aged 5-8 years who attend a specialist school.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to investigate the change in the relationship between play, language and social skills of children aged 5-8 years pre and post participation in the 'Learn to Play' program. The Learn to Play program is a child led play based intervention aimed at developing self-initiated pretend play skills in children. METHODS: All 19 participants attended a specialist school, with 10 of the 19 children having a diagnosis of autism. The play, language and social skills of the children were assessed at baseline and at follow up. Children were assessed using the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment, the Preschool Language Scale and the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale. Follow up data collection occurred after the children had been participating in the Learn to Play program for 1 hour twice a week for 6 months. RESULTS: After 6 months in the program, typical indicators of play accounted for an increase of 47.3% in shared variance with social interaction and an increase of 36% in shared variance for social connection. For language, object substitution ability accounted for 50% of the shared variance, which was an increase of 27% from baseline. CONCLUSION: The 'Learn to Play' program was associated with increases in children's language and social skills over a 6-month period within a special school setting, indicating the Learn to Play program is an effective intervention for children with developmental disabilities. This paper presents an example of how the Learn to Play program can be adapted into a classroom setting.

Play, behaviour, language and social skills: the comparison of a play and a non-play intervention within a specialist school setting.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the play, behaviour, language and social skills of children aged 5-8 years participating in a play intervention (based on the 'Learn to Play' program) compared to a group of children participating in traditional classroom activities within a specialist school over a six month period. Thirty-five children participated in the study, 19 participated in the play intervention group and 16 participated in the comparison group. Fourteen staff members at the special school were involved. A quasi-experimental design was used with pre and post data collection. Children in the play intervention and the comparison group were assessed using the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (play), Goal Attainment Scaling (behaviour), the Preschool Language Scale (language) and the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (social skills) at baseline and at follow up. Findings revealed that children participating in the play intervention showed a significant decrease in play deficits, became less socially disruptive and more socially connected with their peers. Both groups improved in their overall language skills and significantly improved in their goal attainment. This study supports the use of a play intervention in improving a child's play, behaviour, language and social skills.