Reflections on play: recollections from a mother and her son with Asperger syndrome.

Donnelly et al. (2003) is a short memoir. A mother and her son with Asperger syndrome look back on how he played as a child.

They describe his unusual games in his own words. The paper is a single case story, not an experiment.

The son’s play looked odd to outsiders. He lined up toys, repeated movie scenes, and talked to himself.

These very routines helped him feel safe and build a sense of self. The authors argue that atypical play can still be meaningful and identity-forming.

Earlier work saw deficits. Taylor et al. (1993) and Meuret et al. (2001) report that autistic children show poorer, less varied symbolic and functional play than peers.

Later lab studies agree. Boudreau et al. (2015) find fewer shared-meaning play shifts, and Anderson et al. (2004) show clear free-play differences at school.

The memoir does not contradict these facts. It simply shifts the lens: the same behaviors that look “impoverished” in a lab can feel rich and self-defining to the child.

You do not have to choose between teaching play skills and valuing the child’s own style. Use the memoir as a reminder to start where the child is. Join the lining-up game, echo the movie line, or imitate the sensory loop. Once the child feels seen, you can gently expand the play toward more flexible, social forms. Honoring the idiosyncratic first can speed up trust and later learning.