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Over the
years, we have had the distinct pleasure of collaborating with many
professionals and families in developing
Integrated Play
Groups (IPG) for children on the autism spectrum. In recent years, we
have concentrated our
efforts on conducting training and field supervision to develop quality individualized programs within school, therapy,
home and community settings.
We are
immensely grateful to the many children, families and
practitioners whose participation has allowed us to engage in
research and refine our practice. We wish to acknowledge those who have
devoted time and energy to promoting
IPG
on
behalf of the children they serve.
Below is a select list of model IPG demonstration and
research sites.
California
San Francisco Schools-After School Programs
more details
to come...
Napa Valley Schools-After School Programs
more details to come...
Moondance-MAPS
more details to come...
Developmental
Pathways for Kids
Redwood City, California
Directors:
Rebecca Berry, MS,PT and Glenda Fuge, MS,H.Ed,OTR
www.developmentalpathways.com
 Glenda Fuge (occupational therapist)
and Rebecca Berry (physical therapist), co-founders of Developmental Pathways
for Kids, have developed a cutting-edge approach that combines
Integrated
Play Groups and Sensory Integration Therapy. The
program supports children identified as having both social and sensory issues
(novice players) in small groups with typical peers from a neighboring school
(expert players). Currently, there are over 45 play groups scheduled five days a
week in the clinic. Fuge and Berry are co-authors of
Pathways to Play: Combining
Sensory Integration and Integrated Play Groups
as
a companion manual to Wolfberg’s (2003) recent book,
Peer Play and the Autism Spectrum: The Art of Guiding
Children’s Peer Socialization and Imagination.
Glenda and Rebecca have also presented widely
to local groups as well as at the national level. They are currently conducting
research focused on their combined model in collaboration with Professor Pamela
Richardson of San Jose State University. To learn more about this remarkable program, visit the
Developmental Pathways for Kids
Web site.
San Jose State
University Pediatric Occupational Therapy Clinic
San Jose, California
Pamela Richardson, Ph.D, OTR -
Associate Professor/Clinic
Coordinator
http://www2.sjsu.edu/ot/clinics.html
This clinic is run by the
occupational therapy department at San Jose State University as a student
training and practicum site, and is coordinated by Pamela Richardson, Ph.D, OTR/L.
The clinic serves approximately 10-12 children ages 3-8 during each
semester-long session. Children attend twice weekly for one hour.
Integrated
Play Groups
are run each session by OT graduate students under Dr. Richardson's supervision.
The novice players are children with autism spectrum disorders, and the expert
players are siblings of children that attend the clinic. Novice players receive
25 minutes of individual sensory integration intervention followed by a 30
minute integrated playgroup. Data collection is ongoing;
several case studies have been completed to date
(Antipolo & Dichoso, 2003; Mahnken, Baiardo, Naess,
Pechter, & Richardson, 2004; Schaefer & Atwood, 2003)
National - International
Willow
Elementary School
Hudson, Wisconsin
Tara Tuchel
M.S.
CCC-SLP - Autism Specialist
E-mail:
tucheltc@hudson.k12.wi.us
 Tara Tuchel is a
speech and
language pathologist and autism specialist teaching in a public elementary
school in Hudson, Wisconsin. In addition, she is an instructor at the University
of Wisconsin, River Falls, where she teaches an introductory course on autism.
After attending an initial
Integrated
Play Groups
seminar, Tara became inspired to develop a model
IPG
program at her school site. She single-handedly applied for grants that provided
her with funds to receive additional training and supervision as well as play
materials. She has successfully carried out
Integrated
Play Groups
with numerous
children (novice and expert players) over the past five
years. Her many accomplishments are featured in Wolfberg’s (2003) new
book,
Peer Play and the Autism Spectrum: The Art of Guiding
Children’s Peer Socialization and Imagination.
Tara has also presented her work at state and national conferences.
She
recently authored the book,
My Best Friend Will, with a fifth grade
student, Jamie Lowell, which
features the friendship between a novice and expert player
that blossomed through participating in
Integrated
Play Groups.
Friend 2
Friend Social Learning Society
Vancouver, B.C., British Columbia
Executive Director: Heather McCracken
www.friend2friendsociety.org
 Friend
2 Friend Social Learning Society and the Autism Institute on Peer Relations
and Play (www.autisminstitute.com)
are pleased to announce the formation of a very special partnership. Heather
McCracken (creator of the Friend 2 Friend model) and Pamela Wolfberg (creator of
the Integrated Play Groups model) are working closely together to offer quality
training and support. Friend 2 Friend is the first official IPG Satellite
program in Canada. Details of our F2F and IPG training seminars, programs and publications
are posted throughout this site.
University of Rostock, Germany
more details to come...
National Tapei
Teachers College
Tapei, Taiwan,
R.O.C.
Tsung-ren Yang, Ph.D.
- Associate Professor of Special Education
e-mail:
try@tea.ntptc.edu.tw
Professor Tsung-ren Yang has been working in collaboration with Pamela Wolfberg
to develop
Integrated
Play Groups
for Chinese children in Taiwan and Malaysia. Dr. Yang first learned about
the
IPG
model while
enrolled in the Joint Doctoral Special Education Program at the University of
California, Berkeley with San Francisco State University. He is now a leading
expert in the education and treatment of children with autism
spectrum disorders in Taiwan. He has translated many of Wolfberg’s training
materials into Chinese while hosting
IPG
seminars in Taipei. Working with graduate students, Dr. Yang has been conducting
research focused on supporting children in
Integrated
Play Groups
at home and school. A recent study by Yang, Wolfberg, Wu and Whu appears in a
special issue on
play in Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice
(December 2003). Yang, Wolfberg, Chang, Hueylin and Ro
presented a second study at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR)
in 2004.
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IPG Fact Sheet
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