About JASPER

JASPER Official Site

Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation (JASPER) is a treatment method created by Dr. Connie Kasari at UCLA.

It combines developmental and behavioral strategies to focus on social communication.

JASPER aims to improve joint attention, engagement, and play through natural tactics that enhance social communication skills.

JASPER Key Areas

Joint Attention: This involves focusing attention on objects and people together to share experiences.

Research shows that children with ASD improve their joint attention skills when they are modeled and directly taught.
Symbolic Play: The approach promotes appropriate play, encourages joint attention during play, and supports varied play activities to boost flexibility and enjoyment in play.
Engagement: Enhancing engagement is vital for increasing social communication and learning chances.

The aim is to help children achieve better joint engagement with others.
Regulation: JASPER emphasizes emotion and behavior regulation, offering strategies to manage engagement, and addressing restrictive behaviors and regulation difficulties.

A child stacking block as part of JASPER ABA Therapy

Efficacy

JASPER has been tested with many children aged 12 months to 8 years and can be used by various caregivers and professionals.

It fits well with other therapies and can be integrated easily into daily activities.

Over 20 years, studies involving nearly 700 children have shown that JASPER leads to better social communication, joint engagement, and emotional regulation, with lasting language improvements.