The role of high level play as a predictor social functioning in autism.

The team watched kids play. They compared two groups: children with high-functioning autism and children with developmental language delay.

Each child played freely for 20 minutes. Staff coded every play act as high-level (pretend, role-play) or low-level (lining up toys).

At the same time they rated social acts like sharing, eye contact, and chat. They wanted to know if fancy play predicts social skill.

Early on, kids with autism showed fewer high-level play moves and lower social scores than the language-delay group.

By the end of the same session the social gap closed. Play level, however, stayed lower for the autism group.

Across both groups, children who used more high-level play also showed stronger social skills. Play was the signal, no matter the diagnosis.

Dominguez et al. (2006) saw the same play gap in an earlier lab study, so the finding is steady.

Minne et al. (2012) took the idea further. They ran small sociodramatic play groups and kids’ social skills rose, turning the link into an intervention.

Shire et al. (2018) gave teachers a five-minute play checklist that picks out the same skills, proving the signal works in busy classrooms too.

You can read social skill in real time by watching free play. If a child never moves past stacking or spinning, that is your red flag. Set up play stations with dress-up, kitchen, or mini-figures and track how often the child invents roles or shares items. Use those moments to prompt language and joint attention. The play itself is both your probe and your teaching space.