Engagement with Toys in Two-Year-Old Children with Autism: Teacher Selection versus Child Choice

Abstract

This article compared two conditions (teacher selection of toys and child choice of toys) on the amount of time children were engaged appropriately with toys. An alternating treatment design was used, and three 2-year-old boys with autism participated. In the teacher-selected condition, the teacher gave the child a toy; and in the child-choice condition, the teacher gave the child a choice between two toys. The toys were selected from a pool of toys based on each child's frequency of contact with the toys from measures taken before the study started. A 5-second momentary time sampling procedure was used during daily 10-min sessions to measure the child's engagement with toys, nonengagement, and problematic behaviors. The teacher's behaviors (physical prompt, modeling, talking, silent observation, and other) also were measured. The data suggest the child-choice condition resulted in more engaged time for each participant and fewer problematic behaviors for two of the three boys. The results are discussed in terms of clinical applications and future research.