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Some thoughts, and an example.
There are many theories of how play develops and affects the social, emotional, and cognitive lives of children. By definition, children with autism are constricted in their play. Most often, they play repetitively with objects, resist efforts to expand or change their play, and remain dedicated to their routines and rituals with toys and other objects. For example, it is almost impossible for a child on the spectrum to pretend that a paper towel tube is a sword or a light-saber; to them, it is a cardboard tube.
But there is evidence that kids on the spectrum do not wish to avoid their peers; they lack the social skills to interact with them, and they do not necessarily enjoy or experience pleasure while playing the same games as their peers. Instead, they focus on their objects and routines and try to entice a peer to play with them in the same, repetitive manner.
Children with autism are less likely to play spontaneously with toys in a functional manner or to play simple pretend. However, several studies have shown that children on the spectrum can indeed produce more advanced forms of play in adult-directed versus child-directed situations. The development of object play to pretend play in typical children has been carefully researched and documented in the work of Piaget and Vygotsky, among others. But children on the spectrum do not follow this natural play development.
What does this mean for developing play with children on the spectrum?
Being careful to acknowledge that each child is different, care should be taken to avoid adult-directed, behaviorally-scripted play experiences. While video modeling and repeated practice with playing a board game with an adult and a peer can teach the behaviors of playing, they cannot teach the enjoyment that a child gains from such play.
Play needs to develop in enjoyable activities for the child, in partnership with a warmly related and attentive adult. There is evidence from the literature on attachment (Ainsworth, 1982) that young children will more rapidly explore their surroundings and engage in play when securely attached to one or more caregivers. Children with autism need more support and scaffolding than simply this, however; they need careful and repeated opportunities to play, to construct a new development, to create a new idea.
As an example, I will tell about a child with whom I am working who loves to line up cars. In our play, I recently lined up 8 stuffed animals next to him, and counted them. He looked, he smiled, and said, “Nine”. I answered, “But we need another animal”. He pointed across the room and said, “Penguin”…I retrieved the stuffed penguin, added it to the line, and counted again, this time to 9. He then said, “10”. I repeated, “Then we need more animals”. He then pointed across the room to a small pile of stuffed animals, and said, “More animals”. With joy and enthusiasm, I retrieved several more animals and added them to the line-up. He smiled, counted with me again, and ran to play with another toy.
In this example, I think he showed joint attention with me, cognitive processing of information and numbers, engagement with the activity of lining up animals (a new activity for him); he also allowed expansion of his routine of ‘lining up cars’ for the first time by allowing me to line up animals and join with me in that activity. I also interpreted his speech as meaningful, assumed that he meant more animals, and I engaged in purposeful interaction based on what he said to me. Together, for a few minutes, we had fun!
