Do I need a diagnosis of autism to start the PLAY Project?
Before beginning the Home Consultation Program, parents typically establish the diagnosis of an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) for their child from a pediatric professional. If your child does not yet have a diagnosis, please contact us to discuss possibilities.
How can PLAY Project help my child?
You are your child’s first and best teacher and you know your child better than anyone else. Full Potential OT is considered a parent-implemented autism intervention. The Full Potential OT Consultant assesses your child’s developmental and behavioral changes at each visit. The assessment is used to develop the child’s individualized PLAY Plan: a set of techniques and activities designed to help your child reach these outcomes:
- Increased caregiver/parent and child interaction
- Increased social interaction of child with autism
- Improved social-emotional development of child with autism
- Improved autism-related diagnostic category/symptoms including behavioral compliance.
Our certified PLAY Project Consultants are specialists in the fields of child development and autism spectrum disorders who are trained to educate, guide, and support you as you learn to
nurture your child’s social and emotional development, but we consider you, as parents and caregivers, to be the expert on your child.
What can I expect at my first PLAY Project visit?
At the first visit, the certified PLAY Project Consultant gets to know you and your family and
explains the basic elements of what will occur in future visits and answers your questions. Our
PLAY Project Consultants are partners in your child’s progress.
We will collect the following information at the first visit:
- Your child’s background
- The current services your child is receiving
- Formal and informal assessments to establish your child’s baseline for autism and levels of cognitive, language, adaptive, social, and sensory functioning
The interaction between the PLAY Project Consultant and the Caregiver includes:
- A discussion of the PLAY Project intervention; length of time differs whether you have taken the Welcome to The PLAY Project online course (recommended).
- A discussion about the PLAY Project consultant’s role as your coach
- Establishing a mutual formal agreement detailing the obligations and expectations for both the PLAY Project Consultant and the caregivers.
Next, your Full Potential OT Consultant will observe and video record you and your child in natural play for 15-20 minutes. Beginning at this session or the next, your Full Potential OT Consultant will begin coaching and modelling techniques for increasing interaction between you and your child. No special toys are needed.
What are regular PLAY Project Visits like?
In between coaching and modelling, the Full Potential OT Consultant will assess your child’s progress and videotape short playful interactions between you and your child. This monthly video analysis helps the Full Potential OT Consultant develop an ongoing Plan with individualized suggestions and recommendations for you to help your child keep making progress.
What can I expect after each visit?
Within 2 weeks of the first visit and every monthly visit, your Full Potential OT Consultant will send you:
1. A video of you and your child’s playful interaction
2. A written assessment and PLAY Plan
3. Written coaching feedback and detailed recommendations
4. Supplemental handouts that will guide you in playing and interacting with your child
What is The PLAY Project?
The PLAY (Play and Language for Autistic Youngsters) Project is a cost-effective, parent implemented, early intervention program for young children with autism spectrum disorders that has been proven to work!
PLAY Consultants coach families in the natural environment of the home to help their child improve language, development and social interaction, and reduce autism severity.
Is there evidence for The PLAY Project?
In 2014, The PLAY Project published the result of one of the largest and most rigorous research studies on autism early intervention ever conducted in the U.S.
The study’s findings, published in the peer reviewed Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, showed significant improvements in:
- Caregiver/parent and child interaction
- Social interaction of children with autism
- Social emotional development of children with autism
- Autism severity
Secondary outcomes:
- Reduction in parent stress and depression
- High PLAY Project Consultant fidelity: PLAY Consultants delivered the model with high quality and consistency.
How does The PLAY Project work?
- A trained and certified PLAY Project Consultant visits the family home one time per month for a 2-3 hour visit.
- During visits, the PLAY Consultant models and demonstrates the PLAY approach and coaches parents in The PLAY Project’s 4 priciples, 5 methods, and dozens of techniques and activities.
- The consultant videotapes interactions and develops a PLAY Plan so parents’ play is fun and effective and helps their child make progress.
Why The PLAY Project?
The PLAY Project’s autism early intervention program addresses the core deficit of autism spectrum disorders-poor social interaction. Parents spend more time with their children then all of their teachers and therapists combined.
In PLAY we empower parents to make every interaction a good interaction and engage their child in a playful way that improves their child’s social development.
Who developed The PLAY Project model?
Richard Solomon MD, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician with over 25 years’ experience with thousands of children with autism and their families, developed and researched the model.
Richard Solomon
Founder, Author, MD