The games they play: Observations of children with autism spectrum disorder on the school playground.
Sean Gilmore, Lindsay K Frederick, Lupita Santillan and 1 others
PMID 30413135WHAT IT FOUND
Fifty-five children with ASD spent 25% of observed recess and lunch time alone and 30% with peers.
Most initiations and responses were successful. Self-stimulation was infrequent, mainly when alone.
Key findings
01In the timed counts, children with ASD spent 25% of time in solitary engagement and 30% in joint engagement, while written observer notes indicated that 65% spent a portion of each recess interval in some solitary activity.
02Children averaged 7.47 initiations and 6.93 responses, with 80% of initiations and 72% of responses successful.
03Self-stimulatory behaviors were infrequent, appearing in 13% of field notes for an average of 1.21 minutes, and were most frequent during solitary activities.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Observations were only during conjoined recess and lunch, so the study cannot separate what happened in each setting. Each child was observed once in the middle of the school year, so it cannot show how playground behavior changes over time. The sample was mostly male and White, and sex analyses were not possible. There was no typically developing comparison group, so differences from peers were not tested. School records for ASD severity, IQ, and language skills were not available, so findings cannot be linked to those abilities. The sample consisted of children included in general education for 80% or more of the day, so it does not describe nonverbal or less included children. The timed counts assigned an engagement state based on the majority of an interval, so brief changes between solitary and joint engagement may not be counted. Affect was not recorded for every interval, so changes over the whole observation period could not be assessed.
Declared interests
The paper is marked as supported by N.I.H., Extramural and Non-U.S. Gov't. No author conflict-of-interest declaration is included in the text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 80% and 72% success rates as proof that these children's social communication is adequate. This was a single cross-sectional observation of 55 fully included, verbal children with ASD.