Social skills assessment of children with autism in free-play situations.

Anderson et al. (2004) watched autistic children during everyday recess.

The kids attended regular public schools.

The team wrote down every social move the children made while they played freely.

The autistic children played in ways that clearly stood out from their classmates.

They showed different patterns of social contact and toy use.

These gaps were easy to see without any test or checklist.

Meuret et al. (2001) had already shown that autistic kids’ play looks simpler, even when they play as much as peers.

Angelika’s team moved that finding from the lab to the school yard.

Fullana et al. (2007) later gave one answer: they ran short video-modeling lessons and the children’s prosocial behaviors jumped.

O'Connor et al. (2011) doubled down with a six-month play program and saw the same boost.

The picture is clear: first map the free-play gap, then teach into it.

You can spot social goals right on the playground.

Use Angelika’s list of differences to pick targets like “joins a game without prompting” or “shares toys for two minutes.”

Then borrow the teaching tools that came later—short video clips or scripted play sessions—to close those gaps where they really happen.