Literature Review

Method

Participant

The surveys give out when the parents come and pick up their child after school; they will answer the questions on the paper and return it the next few days or the next day. The purpose of this survey is to ask permission to come to their house to observe when only Mom or Dad plays with their Autism child. The children are from ages three to five. The purpose of the samples is to select a family with a Mom and Dad. The two samples were assigned to two independent groups: a) child interacts with Mom, and b) child interacts with Dad. The number of families participating in these samples will be 20 families.

Toys and Materials

The playtime for each parent with their child is 15 minutes. The participants are playing with the toys that the study provided. The toys included blocks, legos, stuffed animals, books, puppets. There are no electronics around because the children might not want to play with the toys if there are TVs or iPad around. The toys are set up on the carpet on the floor; the parents and children also sit on the rug.

Attachment Observation Protocol

The camera will secretly be setting up to record the play to avoid other people impacted in the play. The camera will set up and record the interaction and behavior of the autistic child with the parent. The record is divided into two parts; the first part is the Mom playing with her child; the second part of the video is the Dad playing with his child. The observer will watch all the videos and write down how many times children talk in a sentence, give parents toys, play with new toys, and stop playing. The observer wants to see who has more attachment to their child, a Mom, or a Dad. Observers also write down the child's age because the development and behavior are different for each age group. Take note of inappropriate behavior such as crying, kicking, hitting, and yelling. The observer wants to know how parents play with their autistic child.

Procedure

The observer comes to the house at the weekend to make sure both Mom and Dad are at home. The surveys also ask what time is the playtime routine in the house because the child might not want to play in the bed or eating time. The results are not right; if recording the children at play and eat time, they might feel sleepy and low energy. The child and parents were asked to sit on the floor or carpet with the toys in front of them. The other Mom or Dad will be in another room of the house and wait for their turn to come in and play. After fifteen minutes, the other parent came in and repeated all the steps. The observer has to be outside or sit patiently in another room and wait for the timer to reach thirty minutes, and then come in to pause the camera. When the observer has the video, he/she can watch it and write down what they need on the paper to compare later.

Discussion

In this study, the autistic child might have no interest in any toys in front of them. When this happens, the observer can see what the parents will do if they sit there and have no reactions. There will be the time the child will interact with the parents; however, the child might want to play alone and get mad if anyone touches the toys. The child interaction is also based on the age they join the early intervention. The video will fail if the child does not want to cooperate and stay in the room; an autistic child will drag the adult hand to the door when they want to get out of the room.

The observer chooses the families with the Mom and Dad because that is the family member most families have. If the Mom or Dad stays at home more than the other, the child will feel more comfortable playing around that person. The internal validity is what the observer sees in the video; however, there might be a mistake if there is a problem with the camera. This study's external validity is the child playing with toys and the parents around; this is what they usually do every day; nothing sets up except the camera. The toys are from the observer, so it is new to the child, it will grab their attention more than old toys.

The parents can ask for the video to use as the tools to see their children's progress before or after joining the ABA program. The parent's joint engagement is important because their children need to practice these skills in real life, not just in the class with professionals. If parents are less likely to play with their child less than fifteen minutes a day, this is an excellent opportunity for them to spend more time with their child. The limit in this study is the playtime because the observer needs to use the video for the same amount of time. While playing, the parents can observe the child and understand them more; they might show signs when needed.

The future direction researcher can set up the family activities who do not have a Mom or Dad; however, the primary caregiver will substitute the Dad or Mom in turn to play with the child. The caregiver can also see a close friend because they might be around the child to take care of and play with that child every day. The next researcher can see which toys are the best to set up to see as much as interaction they can see. They can also learn about the inappropriate behavior of the autistic child. The researchers who read this study will get some idea of setting up the activities with the family and what toys they should use.