Abstract
Playing with toys as a means of environmental engagement has long been considered important in early child development (D. J. Messer, D. Rachford, M. E. McCarthy, & L. J. Yarrow, 1987; M. Wolery, M. G. Werts, & M. Holcombe, 1994). However, children with highly significant disabilities often engage in toy play less frequently than their peers without disabilities (P. M. Blasco, D. B. Bailey, & M. A. Burchinal, 1993; C. F. DiCarlo, D. H. Reid, & S. B. Stricklin, 2003; M. B. Langley, 1985) and frequently need specialized support to promote toy play (J. J. Ivory & J. A. McCollum, 1999; M. B. Langley, 1985; S. Sandall, 2003). In this study, preference assessment technology was used to identify preferred sensory attributes of very young children. Once identified, those attributes were embedded into a toy previously identified as nonpreferred. The initial paired-item presentation consisted of a rotation of 4 toys from the natural environment using a child-directed approach, which consisted of choice, prompting, and praise for completion of functional toy play. An additional condition added the child's preferred sensory attribute to a nonpreferred toy using the above-mentioned procedures. Results indicated that the addition of a preferred sensory attribute increased selection of that toy with 2 of 3 children and resulted in increased independent functional toy play for all 3 children.