Parent-child interactions in autism: characteristics of play.
Parents of autistic preschoolers flood play with commands and big new ideas—coach them to imitate first and direct second.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Freeman et al. (2013) watched parents and preschoolers play together in a lab. Half the kids had autism, half were typical. The team counted who started play ideas, how often parents gave commands, and how they responded to the child’s moves.
They wanted to see if parents of autistic children guide play differently than parents of typical children.
What they found
Parents of autistic preschoolers started more play themes and used more directives such as ‘Put the car here.’ They also answered with bigger, richer play ideas instead of copying the child’s last action.
When parents did copy the child, play lasted longer.
How this fits with other research
Ku et al. (2019) saw the same pattern in motor play: parents of autistic kids gave fewer cheers and more intrusive commands. The two studies line up—parents direct more and encourage less.
Ruiz (1998) found mothers of autistic preschoolers already talked off-topic more often. Freeman et al. (2013) now show this talk comes as bigger, non-matching play moves.
Mahoney et al. (2016) turned the finding into action. Their PLAY Project trained parents to cut directives and copy the child. Kids then showed better social scores on the ADOS.
Why it matters
If you coach parents, teach them to imitate first and direct second. Copying the child keeps the play chain going and gives the child more control. Save new play ideas for later in the sequence. This small swap can stretch play time and boost social turns without extra toys or hours.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although the literature on parent-child interactions in young children with autism has examined dyadic style, synchrony, and sustained engagement, the examination of parental skill in sustaining and developing play skills themselves has not been targeted. This study examined the extent to which parents of young children with autism match and scaffold their child's play. Sixteen dyads of parents and their children with autism participated in this study along with 16 matched dyads of typically developing children. Both groups were administered a structured play assessment and were observed during a 10-min free play situation. Strategies of play were examined and results revealed that parents of children with autism initiated more play schemes and suggested and commanded play acts more than parents of typical children. They also responded to their child's play acts more often with a higher level play act, while parents of typical children matched/expanded their responses to their child. Parent imitation was also related to longer sequences of play. The findings can guide further research and play intervention for parents.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2013 · doi:10.1177/1362361312469269