Developmental Play Assessment for Practitioners (DPA-P) Guidebook and Training Website

Developmental Play Assessment for Practitioners (DPA-P): Project Play is a comprehensive, evidence-based assessment system designed to evaluate young children’s developmental progress through naturally occurring play. Used across educational and therapeutic settings, the DPA-P enables practitioners to identify developmental strengths and needs early, supporting timely, play-based interventions across cognition, language, motor, social-emotional, and self-help domains. The guidebook and companion training website provide clear, practical instruction for assessing infants, toddlers, and young children with disabilities or at risk for disabilities, emphasizing culturally responsive and flexible application in natural environments.

Key Features:

• Comprehensive play-based assessment completed in approximately 30 minutes in natural settings.
• Detailed guidance on administering, coding, scoring, and summarizing the DPA-P assessment.
• Clear definitions and categories of play, grounded in developmental and play theory.
• Step-by-step support for translating assessment results into individualized play-based intervention plans.
• Guidance for evaluating play at absence, basic, emergence, and mastery levels.
• Practical recommendations for assembling toy sets using materials from homes and early childhood settings.
• Procedures for facilitating and teaching play skills to children with developmental delays.
• Includes adaptations to enhance cultural appropriateness, flexibility in administration, and intervention planning.
• Supported by a comprehensive training website for practitioners and families.
• Valuable for early interventionists, speech-language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, psychologists, educators, and trainees in early childhood and allied health fields.