Use of a Creative Dance Intervention Package to Increase Social Engagement and Play Complexity of Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Nelson, Catherine; Paul, Kristen; Johnston, Susan S.; Kidder, Jaimee E. (2017). Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, v52 n2 p170-185. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1150733
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examining3Students, gradePK
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: April 2026
- Practice Guide (findings for Creative dance intervention - Nelson et al. (2017))
- Single Case Design
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it is a SCD design where the independent variable is manipulated by the researcher, each eligible outcome is measured systematically over time by multiple assessors with a sufficient number of assessment points and inter-assessor agreement, and there are a sufficient number of phases and assessments per phase to demonstrate an intervention effect.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
To view more detailed information about the study findings from this review, please download findings data here.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 33%
Male: 67% -
Urban
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Race Black 33% White 67% -
Ethnicity Other or unknown 100% -
Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch Other or unknown 100%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in three inclusive public preschool classrooms located within an early childhood program. The study does not state the exact location, but the program was in a metropolitan school district.
Study sample
The study included three preschool students aged 3- to 4-years old. All three students had IEPs and had been diagnosed with ASD. Two students also had developmental delays. Two of the students were White, and one student was Black. Two students were male, and one was female.
Intervention Group
This study assessed the effects of an intervention that included antecedent creative dance activities, preferred play materials, and priming of complex play with preferred play materials within dance activities on play behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Intervention sessions began with a creative dance activity for the whole classroom during typical large group circle time. The exact dance movements varied each day but included an opening hello song, warm-up movement activity, dancing throughout the classroom, and closure activity to transition out of the activity. The dancing portion of the session lasted 10 minutes. Following the dance activity, the second component involved use of students' preferred objects at the classroom's play centers. The preferred objects for each student were identified prior to baseline, based on feedback from the student, their parents, and their teacher. During the intervention sessions, the interventionist used least to most prompting hierarchy to move the student's attention to the object. The hierarchy included the following steps: no prompt, establishment of joint attention, repeat of model, indirect prompt using gestures or words, direct prompt using words, and partial physical prompt in which the interventionist would offer her hand to the student to lead them to the play center. The interventionist paused 5-seconds between each prompt. After the first five days of intervention sessions, the interventionist added the third component: priming. During the intervention sessions with priming, the interventionist would incorporate the students' preferred objects into the full-class dance activity with modeling of how to use the object. The intervention sessions occurred three to four days a week.
Comparison Group
There is no comparison group in single-case designs. During the baseline phase, the students had business as usual classroom activities in their play center time. The play center time lasted 45 minutes and was preceded by a large group circle time activity. Students' preferred objects were not available during baseline sessions. Data collection in baseline took place over 20 minutes each day.
Support for implementation
The interventionist was an early childhood special education teacher and researcher on the study. She had a graduate degree in early childhood special education and also had experience as a dance instructor. The classroom teacher was present during all sessions but they did not prompt students to enter or play at the play centers during the intervention phases.
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For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
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A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, statistical significance, and sample size of the findings within a domain, the WWC assigns effectiveness ratings as one of the following: Tier 1 (strong evidence), Tier 2 (moderate evidence), Tier 3 (promising evidence), uncertain effects, and negative effects. For more detail, please see the WWC Handbook.
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Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).