The Effect of Training Play Therapy to the Mothers of Autistic Children to Improve the Verbal and Nonverbal Skills of their Children

Abstract

Background: The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of play therapy training to mothers of autistic children on verbal and non-verbal improvement of their children.Materials and Methods: 30 autistic children with intermediate degree of autism were selected based on availability sampling procedure and were divided into experimental and control groups. Having collected the intended data and analyzed them with SPSS software.Results: The study finally revealed that the play therapy training significantly improved the social skills of autistic children.Conclusion: These results suggested that applying play therapy with families and teach it to the mothers that have autistic children.

Keywords

• play therapy, autism, verbal and non-verbal skills of children, mother's role