Abstract
Little is known about the play skills of children with FXS and the relationship of play and language acquisition in this population. There are no published studies examining play skills in young males with FXS, even though play skills have been shown to be directly related to the development of receptive and expressive language. Research that attempts to identify more efficient and naturalistic language intervention approaches for children with FXS is needed. This study aimed to provide a descriptive characterization of play for 11 boys with FXS between the ages of 27 and 51 months. This study was designed to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the concurrent correlations between play skills, receptive and expressive language, and cognitive abilities of young males affected by fragile X syndrome? (2) How can the play of young males affected by fragile X syndrome be described and characterized? A series of one-tailed Spearman rank-order correlation (rho) was performed to provide quantitative data to answer the research questions. A significant correlation was found between the Mullen Visual Reception raw scores and frequency of Discriminative Play Actions (r = .667, p = .025, one-tailed) and a marginally significant correlation was found between the Mullen Visual Reception raw scores and frequency of Total Play Actions (r= .588, p= .057). The correlations with the Mullen Receptive Language raw scores were hovering for Object Interest (r= .529, p= .094), frequency of Discriminative Play Actions (r= .557, p= .075), and frequency of Total Play Actions (r= .538, p= .088). There was also a hovering negative correlation between the ADOS Autism Severity Score and Diversity of Play (r= -.559, p= .093). It should also be noted that no correlations were found between duration of the play sample and any of the play variables. Using item analysis of the PLS-5 and level of mastery results from the DPA, a language and play development chart (see Table 4-1) was created to describe and characterize the play of young boys with FXS ages 1-5. The information from this study will provide clinicians with information specific to the developmental trajectory of young boys with FXS, which may also provide insight into both assessment and therapy standards. This should improve the overall service delivery to these clients.