Spontaneous play in children with autism: a reappraisal.
Toddlers with autism already show glimmers of pretend play, but the form is odd—catch these bits and build on them with structured teaching.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team watched toddlers with autism play on their own. They also watched kids with Down syndrome and typical kids.
All the children had about the same verbal mental age—around two years. No toys were given. The kids simply played.
What they found
Even these very young children with autism showed some pretend play. Yet the whole pattern looked different from the other groups.
The play was there, but it was atypical. It did not match the style seen in Down syndrome or typical peers.
How this fits with other research
Gilbert (2003) later pulled many studies together. That review says pretend play in autism is scarce unless you add structure. Our 1998 paper seems to disagree, but the gap is about method. Free play shows tiny amounts; structured tasks show more.
Hobson et al. (2009) looked deeper. They found autistic preschoolers could do the motions yet missed the fun, creativity, and self-awareness. That finding extends our toddler result: presence is only step one; quality also needs help.
Watson et al. (2007) and Gutierrez et al. (2016) proved you can teach better play. Video modeling and video prompting both raised play levels. Their work builds on our picture of atypical play by showing it can be shaped.
Why it matters
Do not assume a non-verbal toddler with autism cannot pretend. Watch first; you may see brief, odd symbolic acts. Use those moments as starting points. Then add structure or video models to grow fuller, richer play scripts.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Much controversy remains regarding the ability of children with autism to engage in spontaneous play. In this study children with autism, Down syndrome and typical development with verbal mental ages of approximately 2 years were assessed for play abilities at three data points. Even in this group of children with autism, who had relatively low verbal mental ages, symbolic play skills were not totally absent. However, it was possible to distinguish their pattern of play behaviors from the other two groups. Consequentially, it is argued that there are unusual features in early spontaneous play in children with autism and these atypical patterns are not restricted to their difficulties in the production of symbolic play. Such differences in early spontaneous play raise interesting questions about the etiology of autism, the direction of future research, and the theoretical models that can account for the condition.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1998 · doi:10.1023/a:1026095910558