Research: Symbolic Play in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Authored by Stanley, GC, and Konstantareas MM in J Autism Dev Disord, Volume 37, Issue 7, p. 1215-1223, (2007).

Article summary (posted Jan 25, 2008):

Play therapy may help children with autism have higher IQs and learn to speak better.

Previous studies have shown that children with autism have trouble with symbolic play (play where something simple like a box can serve as a boat or a house) even if their verbal skills and IQ are ok. This study was designed to see which features of children with autism are linked to the ability to do symbolic play. The authors used data collected from 101 children between 1982 and 1992. This study found that children with lower IQs do have more trouble with symbolic play. The study also found that expressive (spoken) but not receptive (understanding) language was related to the ability to do symbolic play.

Links:

You can access the original abstract and the complete paper is sometimes available for free via Google Scholar (look for entries that say "PDF" or "HTML" on the right side of the page).
autism, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), play therapy, symbolic play, therapy, verbal
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