Cultural aspects of play. Implications for the psychological evaluation and therapy of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Children`s play has an essential role in their cognitive, social and emotional development. From simple object manipulation and functional exploration, to symbolic and role play, these play activities have been observed across all societies and can be considered a universal feature of human psychology, with a specific cultural imprint. Beyond cultural variations, the characteristics of play provide insights about the development level and about the mechanisms of symbolic thinking. Play tasks are included in diagnostic and development assessment tools, especially in the evaluation of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Also, play is an important part of the therapeutic intervention for children and their families. This paper aims to explore changes in play after intervention for two children, diagnosed with ASD, included in the Early Intervention Project, developed by CCSM. The method used was observational analysis of play sequences, selected from the Symbolic Play Test (Lowe & Costello, 1976). Results show a significant improvement in play functionality, complexity, expressing and sharing of emotions and verbalization. However, some ASD specific difficulties such as repetitive behaviors, echolalic speech, social interaction deficits persist. Integrating play as part of therapeutic interventions can lead to additional benefits for children with ASD, at both cognitive and socio – emotional level.

Keywords

• play
• autism spectrum disorder (asd)
• evaluation and therapy