Jasper

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Glossary of Terms

Attention: Reason for Behavior Seeking attention from you or other people. The attention can be positive (e.g., praise, talking with the child) or negative (e.g., being told no).
Automatic/Sensory: Reason for behavior Doing the action is rewarding. For example, the child gets a feeling in their mouth by chewing on an object.
Base of the routine The first step or steps that start your routine. This is your home base for the routine.
Child as Agent Play The child acts on a toy person or animal (the agent). The child does not pretend that the toy person or animal is alive. For example, the child puts the toy cat in the bed or the toy person in the bus. Presymbolic level play.
Combination Play The child puts together, stacks or builds with objects.
Communication level The number of words the child puts together to use spontaneously to request or share. For example, a child may use sounds, single words, two words together, phrases or sentences.
Complexity Playing at a higher level
Consequence What happens right after the behavior. For example, the child points to the ball to ask for it and the adult gives the child the ball. Or the child cries to say they are all done with the ball and the adult takes the ball away.
Conventional Combination play The child puts two things together in the same way the things would go together in the real world. For example, the child puts a toy chair at the toy table, uses a spoon to stir the food in a bowl). Presymbolic level play.
Coordinated Joint Engagement The child is the one who is leading the interaction. The child may look at the adult, tell the adult what to do or share toys to help the adult participate.
Developmentally Appropriate The activity, action or skill matches the child's current level of learning. The skill is not too hard and not too easy.
Discriminant Play a single, often "cause and effect" action (e.g., put a car down a ramp, push a button). Simple level play.
Diversity: Play Different play actions within the same level of play (e.g., diversity at general combination can different ways to build and stack such as stacking boxes, building up a structure of megablocks, adding rings one by one on top of the stack of boxes, placing the rings into the boxes).
Doll as Agent Play The child pretends the toy person or animal is alive. The toy person or animal can jump, sleep, eat, talk, etc., all the actions a live person could do. The child acts out the toy person or animal doing the action. Symbolic level play.
Dysregulation/dysregulated Describes a state when it is harder to learn. The child may be upset or show behaviors that interfere with learning (e.g., crying, throwing toys, hitting, running off)
Echolalia/Echoing Repeating exactly what you said immediately after you say it or at another time.
Environment The physical space and position of the materials and the people in that space
Equal and active partner The adult and child have balanced roles. Both the adult and child have time to talk and play, to initiate to share ideas and respond to the other person.
Escape/Avoid: Reason for behavior Actions to stop or avoid something (e.g., requesting new toys to avoid expanding, running off to avoid play time)
Expand play New and different steps that are systematically added on to your base.
Expand communication Add or rephrase the child's communication
Face to Face Moving yourself to be in front of the child and at the child's eye level.
Fade a Prompt Checking to see if you can use a lower level of support or if the child can do the skill on their own without help. For example, if you are helping the child point to request by saying "point", next time, try holding the item out of reach and waiting for the child to point. If the child points then you don't need help by saying "point".
Flexibility Play actions and communication that can be used in different ways across routines.
Function of behavior The reason or purpose that the behavior sends (see attention, escape/avoid, get access, automatic/sensory)
General Combination Building and stacking objects in any order, mix or sequence. Combination level play.
Gesture A motion with your arm and/or hand to communicate to share or request. See joint attention gestures and requesting gestures.
Get Access: Reason for behavior Actions to try to get something that the child wants (e.g., asking many times to try to get the tablet, crying to try to get a favorite snack)
Horizontal Expansion A new step in the play that is at the same level as the base.
Imitation/Imitate Repeat the child's words and gestures or play actions.
Indiscriminant play The child does the same action to all toys such as mouthing, banging or dropping the toys to explore them. Simple level play.
Initiation Spontaneous actions and communication that have a clear purpose and are not instructed by the adult
Intensity (of interfering behavior) How much the behavior is getting in the way of the child's ability to engage with you or stay regulated
Interaction Communication and/or actions between two or more people
Interfering behavior Actions and communication that interrupts engagement
Interventionist A teacher who is an expert in young children's learning and who understands the JASPER program. This teacher can help you use the strategies with your child.
Joint Attention Gaze, gesture and words used to sociall connect and share with others.
Joint Attention Gestures The child shows, points or gives to share something. See Joint Attention Show, Point and Give.
Joint Attention Look The child looks at something, looks to someone to share it, and then looks back at the thing or event.
Joint Attention Show The child extends their arm to hold up an object in their hand to share it with someone else.
Joint Attention Point The child extends their index finger to share something with someone else.
Joint Attention Give The child hands something to someone else to share it with them.
Joint Engagement The child noticed both a person and the objects they are using together.
Mastered play level The child's current level of play
Materials The objects you are using in your routines. Materials can include toys or other household items like cups to stack, books to share together or clothes and a laundry basket.
Model play Show the child a way to play with a toy
Model gestures and language Show the child a gesture and/or word to communicate
Momentum Comfortable turns back and forth that help relax into and engage in the shared play
Multischeme Sequence Play The child starts to make a story where toy people and animals are alive. For example, the child pretends to walk the puppy to the bakery, the puppy orders a doughnut, and the puppy eat the doughnut. This is a sequence of doll as agent actions. Symbolic level play.
Notice children's communication The adult pays close attention to watch and listen for the child's gaze, gestures, sounds and words they use to communicate.
Object Engaged The child is paying attention to an object. The child does not notice another person even if that person is trying to join in.
Onlooking The child is watching someone else but does not join in the activity
Pace The rhythm or timing of your actions and talk. A high pace means things are moving very fast, a low pace means things are moving very slowly.
Person Engagement The child is focused on another person but there is no object in the activity. Tickle games, songs, and chase games are all examples of person engagement.
Physical Combination play The child makes "something" out of blocks or other materials. For example, the child builds a train shoe boxes or makes a castle with blocks. Presymbolic level play.
Physical Structure the support the child can feel that is provided by the arrangement of furniture in the play space
Prebuilding Setting up the materials so the child can understand the first step of the routine just by looking at the materials. For example, put three pegs together to show how to start a tower or place a toy table with two chairs inside a toy house to show how to start adding the furniture to the house)
Presentation Combination The objects are put together or put in specific spots where they fit (e.g., puzzles, shape sorters, coins in a piggy bank). Combination level play.
Pre-symbolic play The third group of play levels when children show connections between people, dolls, and objects that they see in their lives, acted out in their play (e.g., putting a spoon to the doll's mouth, a brush to their own hair, or a toy blanket on a toy bed). Children are on the edge of beginning to pretend (symbolic play).
Pretend Self play The child does an action to his or her self (e.g., brush to their hair, phone to their ear, cup to their mouth). Presymbolic level play.
Productive play act Developmentally appropriate, flexible and allows the child to stay engaged with you in routines
Programming Intentional planning to create opportunities for children to use a target joint attention or requesting skill.
Regulation/regulate/regulated Describes when a child is calm, attentive and ready to learn.
Requesting The child uses eye gaze, gestures and/or words to ask for something.
Requesting Gestures The child reaches, points or gives to ask for something. See Requesting Reach, Point, and Give.
Requesting Look The child uses their eye gaze to ask for something. The child looks at the thing and then looks at you.
Requesting Reach The child extends their arm and open hand to ask for something.
Requesting Point The child extends their arm and their index finger to ask for something.
Requesting Give The child hands you something, often to ask for help to use or open that thing.
Responding to Joint Attention The child follow an adult's point with their eye gaze. For example, the adult points to a puppy across the room and the child turns their head to see what the adult is pointing to.
Restart One of three core parts of a routine. A restart happens when during a routine you come back to the base or an earlier step in the routine and repeat that step to build up the routine again.
Rigidity Inflexibility, sticking to patterns or ways of doing things or saying things. For example, the child insists that the block tower is made up of two blue, two yellow and three red blocks or the child always wants to be same character in the play.
Routine Are stories made with materials at the child's play level, two active players, repeated practice and a mix of familiar and new/ different steps.
Scripted language Words/phrases or songs that have been memorized and can be repeated out loud. The script may or may not make sense in the moment when it is said.
Simple play The first levels of play where child explore objects (e.g., mouth, bang), test cause and effect, and take materials apart.
Single Scheme Sequence Play The child does the same action to two or more toy people or animals. This is a child as agent action done more than once. For example, the child puts one doll in a chair and then puts a second doll in a chair. Presymbolic level play.
Social Communication Eye gaze, gesture, and words used to request and to share.
Sociodramatic Play The child plays a familiar role. For example, the child dresses up and pretends to be a firefighter. Symbolic level play.
Space to Communicate A planned amount of time when the adult stays quiet so that the child can show us their ideas by playing and/or communicating.
Substitution with Object play The child pretends that an object is something that it is not (e.g., pretends a banana is a phone). Symbolic level play.
Substitution without Object play The child pretends that something is there that is not (e.g., pretends to drink juice from a cup, but there is no liquid in the cup). Symbolic level play.
Supported Joint Engagement The child shows you they are noticing another person and the activity you are doing together, but the child needs the adult's help to stay engaged. The child might imitate the adult's actions or language or wait for the adult to take their turn.
Symbolic play The highest group of play levels where children are pretending with objects and dolls as well as pretending to be characters
Take apart play The child separates items that were put together. For example, pulls pieces apart, dumps out toys or crashes a block structure. Simple level play.
Target The child's goal skill.
Target Play Level The next level of play the child will learn (the goal)
Thematic Play The child plays a character that is not real. For example, the child acts out being a superhero. Symbolic level play.
Unengaged The child is not interacting with anyone or anything. For example, the child is wandering around the room or laying on the couch looking at their fingers.
Vertical Expansion A new step in the routine that is at a higher level of play than the base.
Visual Structure Supports the child can see that help the child understand what to do, where to be and what is expected. Visual structure is made up of the way the materials are set up and can include pictures that help explain instructions

Jasper

Unengaged

Onlooking

Person Engagement

Object Engagement

Support Joint Engagement

Coordinated Joint Engagement

Routine

Base

Expansion

Restart

Equal and active partners

Imitation

Environment

Submission Successful

Required fields missing

Submission Failed