In typically developing children, play emerges and develops without explicit, systematic instruction. In children with an autism diagnosis, play is often described as absent or restricted. Behavior analysts have the skill set to teach play, but a working definition of what play actually is, will be a critical first step. Play is not work. This episode defines pure play and outlines how that is different than just using/manipulating toys. Learn about the features of pure play and how to start recognizing those characteristics and observing them in your clients and learners, to progress toward the development of play skills that are maintained by automatic reinforcement and readily generalized to other settings with a goal of building higher level social skills in later development.

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www.Mission-Cognition-Share.com
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https://mission-cognition-share.com/2018/03/20/get-to-work-on-play/
https://mission-cognition-share.com/2020/10/30/usopac-usopac-usopac-chant-it-with-me/

What are social skills and why does establishing a working definition matter? Have you ever said, "they're not ready for social skills" or have had someone say that to you? Maybe there is just a miscommunication about exactly what you're talking about when you use the general term social skills. Social Skills are comprised of a multitude of complex skills, but we start interacting & engaging our first day in the world! Tune in to establish your own  conceptualization of social skills.

www.MissionCognition.com
www.Mission-Cognition-Share.com
www.MCOnlineLearning.com

Assessing and teaching play & social skills in natural ways with an emphasis on generalization is tough! Listen in to get in on the ground floor and become part of this learning journey. The mission is to do better when it comes to assessing skills and selecting and implementing interventions to develop pure play & natural, fluid social interactions. What is pure play, really and what on earth is the difference between a social skills repertoire and being "skilled socially"?