Play Intervention Study

Investigators: Anjana Bhat, PT, PhD

This study will involve a total of 36 sessions delivered over a period of 10 weeks. You and your child will visit our lab or we will visit you at your home or daycare or school (during/after school hours) to deliver play-based activities. Each session lasts approximately 30-45 minutes.

• Two testing sessions will be done in the first week, followed by eight weeks of training at 2 sessions per week. Two more testing sessions will be done in the last week following training. You will be provided supplies at home or school and will be asked to implement two sessions per week.

• One additional assessment will be done at our lab or the UD Psychology Clinic to test his/her IQ and severity of autism and you will need to provide a letter confirming your child’s diagnosis. You will need to provide additional training sessions at home.

• During the testing sessions we examine your child’s motor skills during various movement games based on joint action and rhythmic movement synchronization using musical, yoga, or dance-based activities. We also examine your child’s social skills during play-oriented activities. Some children may be evaluated for changes in breathing, heart rate, and obesity using non- invasive methods.

• During certain tests, your child will have reflective markers placed on his arms and legs as he/she participates in movement games.

• During training, your child will work with an adult trainer and engage in play-based motor and social activities using musical, yoga, or dance activities.

• You will fill out several questionnaires to obtain motor and social measures of your child’s development. The visits will be videotaped so that we may score your child’s responses later.

• Participating families receive $50 upon completion of all testing and the majority of training sessions. You can help by volunteering for our study. If interested, please call us at 1-302-831-7608 or email at abhat@udel.edu