Re: Play/cognitive language intervention--a useful guide

[Guest guest]

This was great. Thanks for posting it. Is the rest of the book as

worthwhile?

Mitch

> Here is a crude summary of the Westby play scale (Carol Westby

Language,

> Speech and Hearing Services in Schools Vol XI, 154-168. July 1980)

which I

> found to be VERY helpful in targeting play skills and language use

play

> (which is a child's natural environment, in my estimation). I use

the

> Westby because I like how she organized her information. I like

that the

> whole scale is two pages long. I like the emphasis on play and

language in

> play reflecting cognitive consciousness (awareness of other's state

of

> minds, etc). It seemed to lend itself to teaching theory of mind

(TOM)

> stuff at very early ages. I DON'T want to be explaining TOM stuff

to the

> boys when they are suffering in middle school. I want to lay the

> foundations now through play--when all other kids " get it. "

>

> Edited for relevance and somewhat interpreted, here it is:

>

> Stage I: 9 to 12 months

> PLAY: Travel to get what want, stop mouthing everything. Finds toy

hidden

> under scarf.

> LANGUAGE: Some appropriate toy use with performance words (woo-

woo, sound

> effects, etc). Communication: MANDS--Request AND command (implies

child

> directing others--already some control over their environment)

>

> Stage II: 13-17 months:

> PLAY: Purposeful exploration of toys--discovers how they operate

via trial

> and error. Variety of motor schema with toys. HANDS TOY TO ADULT

IF UNABLE

> TO OPERATE (this, in my opinion, represents an early TOM awareness

that

> others may possess skills they lack--good target to teach).

> LANGUAGE: Context dependent single words (says car when riding in

car, but

> doesn't label car when asked). Words come and go in vocabulary

(this is

> NORMAL children). Uses language in the following ways: Request,

command,

> call attention to self, establish interaction, greet, protest and

label. At

> this stage (note the age), a child begins to ask for help, even if

by

> gesture. According to Westby, this indicates that a child

understands that

> adults are agents who can act on objects. Again, I think that

cognitive

> awareness is directly related to TOM.

>

> Stage III: 17-19 months:

> PLAY: autosymbolic play--child pretends to fall asleep, or pretends

to drink

> from a cup, or eat with a spoon. Playfulness/awareness of

pretending emerge

> in relation to self. Uses tool to reach toy (e.g. Stick). Uses

most

> common objects and toys appropriately. Finds toys invisibly hidden

( put

> object in box, and dump out under a scarf).

> LANGUAGE: Functional and semantic development in language with the

> following uses demonstrated: 1. Recurrence 2. Existence 3.

Nonexistence 4.

> Rejection 5. Denial 6. Agent and object 7. Action or state 8.

Location 9.

> Object or person associated with object or location. (Oh I wish

Carol

> Westby would go through the ABLLS and decode these terms for me! I

can only

> guess what they refer to. ) Rapid growth in number of words USED.

Will

> NOT refer to ABSENT situations (correlate this with request for

things

> absent?)

>

> Stage IV: 19- 22 months:

> PLAY: symbolic play extends beyond self. E.g. Play with dolls--

brushes

> doll's hair, feeds toy, puts doll to bed. Combines TWO toys in

pretend

> play--e.g. Puts spoon in pan, pours from pitcher to cup.

> LANGUAGE: Begins to use possessives, (my , mine). NO word

endings. Makes

> reference to objects and people NOT present (which acc. To Westby

indicates

> consolidated sensorimotor concepts and internalized action schemas--

a

> reflection of cognitive acheivement).

>

> Stage V: 24 months:

> PLAY: pretends at activities of others--re-presents his daily

experiences

> (play house, play acts as mommy, daddy, baby). Uses objects that

are

> realistic and close to life size (won't use miniature action

figures yet,

> apparently). Short events--no true sequences, except perhaps short,

> self-limiting ones such as puts food in pan, stirs and eats. BLOCK

> PLAY--consists of stacking and knocking down. Sand and water play

consists

> of filling, pouring and dumping (now THAT takes some pressure

off!). Child

> does NOT build representational structures. Blocks are not

integrated into

> pretend play.

> LANGUAGE: All the same pragmatic language functions now extend to

phrases

> and short sentences. Word endings: ING appears on words, plurals

and

> possessives. Language functions extend to PRETEND, sharing

information and

> questioning (NOTE--not answering questions--ACTIVELY questioning).

>

> Stage VI: 2 1/2 years:

> PLAY: Represents events less frequently experienced or observed,

> particularly impressive or traumatic events--1. Doctor-nurse-sick

child 2.

> Teacher-child 3. Store-shopping. Events are still short and

isolated.

> Realistic props still required. Roles shift quickly. Parallel play

> predominates.

> LANGUAGE: Responds appropriately to the following WH questions in

context:

> What, who, whose, where, what...do, ASKS WH questions, Responds

to WHY

> questions inappropriately, except for well known routines. , ASKS

why, but

> often inappropriately and does not attend to answer. TOM: child

can use

> language to selectively analyze perception as seen by ASKING and

ANSWERING

> WH- questions. Before age three, use of size occurs with respect

to

> selves versus comparative.

>

> STAGE VII: 3 years old:

> PLAY: relates pretend schemas in a sequence. (EG. Mix cake, bake

it, serve

> it, wash dishes.) Sequence evolves unplanned (we'd of course need

to teach

> this, requiring some planning.) This demonstrates a cognitive

basis for

> using past tense and future aspect (TIME). Still dependent on

realistic

> props. Associative play increases. Reenact old play scenarios

with new

> outcomes (spontaneous improvisation) that reflect what child would

have

> LIKED to have happen in scenario (eg. Doll hides at doctor's office,

> refusing to be examined).

> LANGUAGE: Past tense (I ate, I walked) describing past events.

> Future aspect: I'm gonna, etc.

>

> Stage VIII: 3 to 3 1/2:

> PLAY: s out play of earlier stages with doll house and fisher-

price

> style toys ( less realistic props--reflects child's ability to take

another

> person's perspective --TOM). Blocks are used to make enclosures.

One

> object is used to represent another (row of chairs is bus) aka

play is not

> stimulus bound. Uses doll or puppet as participant in play--doll

is a

> friend now and has own personality (TOM).

> LANGUAGE: Marked increase in descriptive attributes--reflects

emerging

> understanding of perception (TOM). Concepts emerge in speech:

shapes,

> size, colors, texture, spatial relationships (DO WE EMPHASIZE THESE

TOO

> EARLY?). Gives dialogue to puppets and dolls. Metalinguistic

language:

> " HE SAID... " , Uses indirect requests " Mommy lets me have cookies

for

> breakfast. " , Changes speech dependent on listener (definite TOM).

>

> Stage IX: 3 1/2 to 4 years:

> PLAY: (age 4) begins to problem solve events not experienced

(e.g. Child

> builds enclosure for circus animals and needs a roof. Looking at

several

> objects, rejects some without trying by reasoning too big, small,

heavy,

> etc. Plans ahead. Hypothesizes " what would happen IF... " . Uses

Dolls and

> puppets to act out scenes. Builds 3 dimensional structures with

blocks that

> represent actual objects seen.

> LANGUAGE: Conceptualizes " this should " , " this would " , " This

won't " " If I do

> this, then.. " " This is big enough, but it's too heavy " . Verbalizes

> intentions by using " can, may , might, could , would, will " and

> conjunctions: " and, but, if, so, because. " These are emerging

skills, not

> competent skills (that takes until age 10-12 in typical children).

Begins

> to respond appropriately to why and how questions that require

reasoning

> about perception.

>

> Stage X: 5 years:

> PLAY: Plans a sequence of pretend events and organizes needs in

> advance--both objects and children. Can coordinate simultaneous

events.

> E.g. Plan his role in a play situation and decide what others will

be doing

> as well. No longer dependent on realistic props, can rely fully on

> imagination to set scenes. Full cooperative play seen.

> LANGUAGE: Planning coordinated events reflects the cognitive

attainment of

> relative and subordinate clauses that relate two or more

prepositions to

> each other. Uses relational terms such as " then, when, first,

next, last,

> while, before and after " , but doesn't develop full competence with

usage

> until 10-12 years of age (typical children).

>

> I must quote the article fuller here:

>

> " A cognitively based orientation to language acquisition implies

that

> language training can never do more than assist the child in

expressing what

> he/she already understands " My note: I think that behaviorally, we

are

> teaching cognitive comprehension if we teach operants in

developmental

> sequence in CONTEXT of cognitively relevant events (e.g. In the

environment,

> or as part of activities).

>

> " remediation should provide experiences to facilitate development

of the

> cognitive sensorimotor or preoperational symbolic abilities rather

than

> emphasizing language skills " My note: for me, this is a subjective

> conclusion without basis--you want both, teach both--using context

to

> facilitate comprehension.

>

> " Directive adult-led teaching has been shown actually to retard,

rather than

> facilitate progress " My note: Ok, so child directed activities are

> important, over-prompting squashes acquisition, but let's not draw

too

> strong a conclusion.

>

> " In no evaluation has a child's meaningful use of language been

above

> his/her cognitive play level " THIS IS THE REAL MEAT AND MERIT OF

THIS

> ARTICLE--TEACH THE PLAY/SYMBOLIC COGNITION TO FACILITATE THE

LANGUAGE USE.

> This is a REALLY cool pearl. I LOVE this idea.

>

> And LAST quote:

> " Unless the child possesses the cognitive prerequisites for the

linguistic

> structures she/he is learning, she/he will not use them in actual

> interpersonal situations. " COOL. THIS COULD BE A MISSING PIECE

for many

> programs. This information may help facilitate language USE.

>

> I like this framework for cognitive play. It provides information

to target

> interventions. I hope you found it useful.

[Guest guest]

A complete copy of Westby's Symbolic Play Scale appears as an Appendix

in Maurice, Green, and Luce's (1996) book called Behavioral

Intervention

for Young Children with Autism in the chapter by Robin

( " Incorporating Speech-Language Therapy into an ABA Program " ). This

play scale appeared originally in a journal called Language, Speech,

and

Hearing Services in Schools, Vol. 11 (1980) pages 154-168. You may be

able to find the journal and simply copy the article if you live near

a

university library.

If you are interested in reading more about the relationship between

play and language, consider chapter 7 (by Carol Westby) in the

following

book:

In W. O. Haynes & B. B. Shulman (1998) (Eds.) Communication

Development:

Foundations, Processes, and Clinical Applications. Baltimore:

and Wilkins.

This book would also be available at university libraries. Westby's

chapter ( " The Development of Play " ) contains a chart that is an

extension of the Symbolic Play Scale. It illustrates correlated

developments in the following areas for ages 18 months to 6 years:

- Props used in symbolic play

- Themes expressed in symbolic play

- Organization of pretend episodes

- Roles that are assumed by children as they mature

- The kind of language that is used during successive levels of play

Mareile

> > Here is a crude summary of the Westby play scale (Carol Westby

> Language,

> > Speech and Hearing Services in Schools Vol XI, 154-168. July

1980)

> which I

> > found to be VERY helpful in targeting play skills and language

use

> play

> > (which is a child's natural environment, in my estimation). I

use

> the

> > Westby because I like how she organized her information. I like

> that the

> > whole scale is two pages long. I like the emphasis on play and

> language in

> > play reflecting cognitive consciousness (awareness of other's

state

> of

> > minds, etc). It seemed to lend itself to teaching theory of mind

> (TOM)

> > stuff at very early ages. I DON'T want to be explaining TOM

stuff

> to the

> > boys when they are suffering in middle school. I want to lay the

> > foundations now through play--when all other kids " get it. "

> >

> > Edited for relevance and somewhat interpreted, here it is:

> >

> > Stage I: 9 to 12 months

> > PLAY: Travel to get what want, stop mouthing everything. Finds

toy

> hidden

> > under scarf.

> > LANGUAGE: Some appropriate toy use with performance words (woo-

> woo, sound

> > effects, etc). Communication: MANDS--Request AND command

(implies

> child

> > directing others--already some control over their environment)

> >

> > Stage II: 13-17 months:

> > PLAY: Purposeful exploration of toys--discovers how they operate

> via trial

> > and error. Variety of motor schema with toys. HANDS TOY TO

ADULT

> IF UNABLE

> > TO OPERATE (this, in my opinion, represents an early TOM

awareness

> that

> > others may possess skills they lack--good target to teach).

> > LANGUAGE: Context dependent single words (says car when riding in

> car, but

> > doesn't label car when asked). Words come and go in vocabulary

> (this is

> > NORMAL children). Uses language in the following ways: Request,

> command,

> > call attention to self, establish interaction, greet, protest and

> label. At

> > this stage (note the age), a child begins to ask for help, even

if

> by

> > gesture. According to Westby, this indicates that a child

> understands that

> > adults are agents who can act on objects. Again, I think that

> cognitive

> > awareness is directly related to TOM.

> >

> > Stage III: 17-19 months:

> > PLAY: autosymbolic play--child pretends to fall asleep, or

pretends

> to drink

> > from a cup, or eat with a spoon. Playfulness/awareness of

> pretending emerge

> > in relation to self. Uses tool to reach toy (e.g. Stick). Uses

> most

> > common objects and toys appropriately. Finds toys invisibly

hidden

> ( put

> > object in box, and dump out under a scarf).

> > LANGUAGE: Functional and semantic development in language with

the

> > following uses demonstrated: 1. Recurrence 2. Existence 3.

> Nonexistence 4.

> > Rejection 5. Denial 6. Agent and object 7. Action or state 8.

> Location 9.

> > Object or person associated with object or location. (Oh I wish

> Carol

> > Westby would go through the ABLLS and decode these terms for me!

I

> can only

> > guess what they refer to. ) Rapid growth in number of words

USED.

> Will

> > NOT refer to ABSENT situations (correlate this with request for

> things

> > absent?)

> >

> > Stage IV: 19- 22 months:

> > PLAY: symbolic play extends beyond self. E.g. Play with dolls--

> brushes

> > doll's hair, feeds toy, puts doll to bed. Combines TWO toys in

> pretend

> > play--e.g. Puts spoon in pan, pours from pitcher to cup.

> > LANGUAGE: Begins to use possessives, (my , mine). NO word

> endings. Makes

> > reference to objects and people NOT present (which acc. To Westby

> indicates

> > consolidated sensorimotor concepts and internalized action

schemas--

> a

> > reflection of cognitive acheivement).

> >

> > Stage V: 24 months:

> > PLAY: pretends at activities of others--re-presents his daily

> experiences

> > (play house, play acts as mommy, daddy, baby). Uses objects that

> are

> > realistic and close to life size (won't use miniature action

> figures yet,

> > apparently). Short events--no true sequences, except perhaps

short,

> > self-limiting ones such as puts food in pan, stirs and eats.

BLOCK

> > PLAY--consists of stacking and knocking down. Sand and water

play

> consists

> > of filling, pouring and dumping (now THAT takes some pressure

> off!). Child

> > does NOT build representational structures. Blocks are not

> integrated into

> > pretend play.

> > LANGUAGE: All the same pragmatic language functions now extend

to

> phrases

> > and short sentences. Word endings: ING appears on words,

plurals

> and

> > possessives. Language functions extend to PRETEND, sharing

> information and

> > questioning (NOTE--not answering questions--ACTIVELY questioning).

> >

> > Stage VI: 2 1/2 years:

> > PLAY: Represents events less frequently experienced or observed,

> > particularly impressive or traumatic events--1. Doctor-nurse-

sick

> child 2.

> > Teacher-child 3. Store-shopping. Events are still short and

> isolated.

> > Realistic props still required. Roles shift quickly. Parallel

play

> > predominates.

> > LANGUAGE: Responds appropriately to the following WH questions

in

> context:

> > What, who, whose, where, what...do, ASKS WH questions, Responds

> to WHY

> > questions inappropriately, except for well known routines. ,

ASKS

> why, but

> > often inappropriately and does not attend to answer. TOM: child

> can use

> > language to selectively analyze perception as seen by ASKING and

> ANSWERING

> > WH- questions. Before age three, use of size occurs with

respect

> to

> > selves versus comparative.

> >

> > STAGE VII: 3 years old:

> > PLAY: relates pretend schemas in a sequence. (EG. Mix cake, bake

> it, serve

> > it, wash dishes.) Sequence evolves unplanned (we'd of course

need

> to teach

> > this, requiring some planning.) This demonstrates a cognitive

> basis for

> > using past tense and future aspect (TIME). Still dependent on

> realistic

> > props. Associative play increases. Reenact old play scenarios

> with new

> > outcomes (spontaneous improvisation) that reflect what child

would

> have

> > LIKED to have happen in scenario (eg. Doll hides at doctor's

office,

> > refusing to be examined).

> > LANGUAGE: Past tense (I ate, I walked) describing past events.

> > Future aspect: I'm gonna, etc.

> >

> > Stage VIII: 3 to 3 1/2:

> > PLAY: s out play of earlier stages with doll house and

fisher-

> price

> > style toys ( less realistic props--reflects child's ability to

take

> another

> > person's perspective --TOM). Blocks are used to make

enclosures.

> One

> > object is used to represent another (row of chairs is bus) aka

> play is not

> > stimulus bound. Uses doll or puppet as participant in play--doll

> is a

> > friend now and has own personality (TOM).

> > LANGUAGE: Marked increase in descriptive attributes--reflects

> emerging

> > understanding of perception (TOM). Concepts emerge in speech:

> shapes,

> > size, colors, texture, spatial relationships (DO WE EMPHASIZE

THESE

> TOO

> > EARLY?). Gives dialogue to puppets and dolls. Metalinguistic

> language:

> > " HE SAID... " , Uses indirect requests " Mommy lets me have cookies

> for

> > breakfast. " , Changes speech dependent on listener (definite TOM).

> >

> > Stage IX: 3 1/2 to 4 years:

> > PLAY: (age 4) begins to problem solve events not experienced

> (e.g. Child

> > builds enclosure for circus animals and needs a roof. Looking at

> several

> > objects, rejects some without trying by reasoning too big, small,

> heavy,

> > etc. Plans ahead. Hypothesizes " what would happen IF... " . Uses

> Dolls and

> > puppets to act out scenes. Builds 3 dimensional structures with

> blocks that

> > represent actual objects seen.

> > LANGUAGE: Conceptualizes " this should " , " this would " , " This

> won't " " If I do

> > this, then.. " " This is big enough, but it's too heavy " .

Verbalizes

> > intentions by using " can, may , might, could , would, will " and

> > conjunctions: " and, but, if, so, because. " These are emerging

> skills, not

> > competent skills (that takes until age 10-12 in typical

children).

> Begins

> > to respond appropriately to why and how questions that require

> reasoning

> > about perception.

> >

> > Stage X: 5 years:

> > PLAY: Plans a sequence of pretend events and organizes needs in

> > advance--both objects and children. Can coordinate simultaneous

> events.

> > E.g. Plan his role in a play situation and decide what others

will

> be doing

> > as well. No longer dependent on realistic props, can rely fully

on

> > imagination to set scenes. Full cooperative play seen.

> > LANGUAGE: Planning coordinated events reflects the cognitive

> attainment of

> > relative and subordinate clauses that relate two or more

> prepositions to

> > each other. Uses relational terms such as " then, when, first,

> next, last,

> > while, before and after " , but doesn't develop full competence

with

> usage

> > until 10-12 years of age (typical children).

> >

> > I must quote the article fuller here:

> >

> > " A cognitively based orientation to language acquisition implies

> that

> > language training can never do more than assist the child in

> expressing what

> > he/she already understands " My note: I think that behaviorally,

we

> are

> > teaching cognitive comprehension if we teach operants in

> developmental

> > sequence in CONTEXT of cognitively relevant events (e.g. In the

> environment,

> > or as part of activities).

> >

> > " remediation should provide experiences to facilitate development

> of the

> > cognitive sensorimotor or preoperational symbolic abilities

rather

> than

> > emphasizing language skills " My note: for me, this is a

subjective

> > conclusion without basis--you want both, teach both--using

context

> to

> > facilitate comprehension.

> >

> > " Directive adult-led teaching has been shown actually to retard,

> rather than

> > facilitate progress " My note: Ok, so child directed activities

are

> > important, over-prompting squashes acquisition, but let's not

draw

> too

> > strong a conclusion.

> >

> > " In no evaluation has a child's meaningful use of language been

> above

> > his/her cognitive play level " THIS IS THE REAL MEAT AND MERIT OF

> THIS

> > ARTICLE--TEACH THE PLAY/SYMBOLIC COGNITION TO FACILITATE THE

> LANGUAGE USE.

> > This is a REALLY cool pearl. I LOVE this idea.

> >

> > And LAST quote:

> > " Unless the child possesses the cognitive prerequisites for the

> linguistic

> > structures she/he is learning, she/he will not use them in actual

> > interpersonal situations. " COOL. THIS COULD BE A MISSING PIECE

> for many

> > programs. This information may help facilitate language USE.

> >

> > I like this framework for cognitive play. It provides

information

> to target

> > interventions. I hope you found it useful.