Facilitating play, peer engagement and social functioning in a peer group of young autistic children: Comparing highly structured and more flexible behavioral approaches

• Play-based intervention in a group setting with autistic peers.
• Comparison of structured adult-directed and flexible child-oriented conditions.
• Child-orientation results in more play behaviors, peer proximity, social functioning.
• Study of skill generalization to settings with typically developing peers is demanded.

This study examined the differential effect of a highly structured adult-directed behavioral treatment condition and a more flexible child-oriented blending of behavioral and developmental treatment strategies in a clinical group setting with autistic children. The children with autism following the more flexible child-oriented treatment condition engaged significantly more in higher-order play activities allowing for peer proximity and demonstrated better social functioning during activities with other autistic peers. A relation of child-oriented teaching utilizing less intrusive prompting to more developmentally appropriate play as well as social functioning was found. The findings suggest that child-oriented play and social skill interventions in the clinical context, although being applied in a group of autistic children, may facilitate social functioning and engagement.