Parental scaffolding in play: A comparison of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and autism spectrum disorder.
FASD parents play above their child, ASD parents stay level—adjust your parent coaching to balance the gap.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Zwiya et al. (2023) watched parents and kids play together.
Some kids had fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Others had autism.
The team scored how complex each person's play was, second by second.
What they found
Parents of FASD kids played one step above their child.
Parents of ASD kids stayed at the same level.
Both groups looked similar on overall play scores.
How this fits with other research
Freeman et al. (2013) saw ASD parents lead with more commands. T et al. now show these parents still match play level, not push higher.
Stagnone et al. (2025) found both groups share executive-function trouble. The new play data hint FASD parents may compensate by lifting play, while ASD parents do not.
Ilchena et al. (2023) report high stress in FASD caregivers. The extra scaffolding seen here could be one more hidden load for those parents.
Why it matters
When you coach FASD families, teach parents to step back and follow the child's lead. When you coach ASD families, teach parents to add new play ideas so the level rises. One small shift keeps play shared and cuts stress.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Parental support of child play varies based on child needs; however, how parental play level differs from child play level remains an understudied area of research, especially in relation to specific developmental disabilities. AIMS: To preliminarily explore differences in child and parent play levels in age- and IQ-matched children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS: and Procedures: Parent-child dyads were recorded during free-play sessions. Parent/child play levels were coded for highest level achieved during each minute of play. Mean play level and dPlay (difference in parent versus child play level) were calculated across play sessions for each dyad. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: On average, parents of children with FASD demonstrated higher levels of play than other parents. Children with FASD demonstrated higher levels of play than their own parents. In contrast, the play level of parents of children with ASD did not differ from their child's. There were no between-group differences in dPlay. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This preliminary exploratory study suggests that parents of children with developmental disabilities may differentially 'match' their child's play level. Further research on developmental play levels during parent-child play is warranted.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2023 · doi:10.1542/peds.2018-2058