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Chapter 1

Why is Playing So Important?

Think about your childhood – your earliest memories of how you filled your time. You probably think you weren’t doing anything in particular, just messing about with toys and friends, but what you were doing in fact was developing and preparing for adulthood in a most miraculous way. Play and social development go hand in hand – one is a vehicle for the other. Underpinning play is interaction – from the instinctive imitative gestures and early interactions between babies and their care givers, to the complex fantasy play of school children. As the child develops through this interactive play, he is forming a sense of who he is – his own identity – and his social awareness grows as he begins to understand that perspectives other than his own exist. He learns social skills such as co-operation, empathy and respect.

Social development is just one consequence of being able to play. Playing is also a useful way to:

 develop ‘symbolic understanding’ – to understand that toy objects can represent real ones. Being able to use symbols in this way enables children to learn about the real world and how to interact with their environment, and puts in place the structures necessary for language

 test how material objects work and how actions can change outcomes, for example ‘If I lift this ramp up, the toy car slides down’ or ‘What happens if I pour water from this beaker into this little cup?’

 try out frightening ideas safely, for example ‘The bad wolf is hiding and he’s going to get me if I make a noise…’

 work out the relations between people and how to behave and what to expect in certain situations, for example playing doctors, families, teachers

 express imagination and creativity through music, dancing, drawing, play dough, etc., giving the child a sense of esteem and pride in his achievements

 re-enact everyday situations using toys and apply different storylines and consequences, for example ‘Mummy and little girl are out walking, oh no little girl has fallen…let’s get a plaster’ or ‘…call an ambulance’or ‘…kiss it better’.

This list of why play is important is not definitive and obviously the child is completely unaware as to why he is playing – he just wants to. Instinctively he is motivated to initiate interaction with people and with his environment, and the nice feeling he gets from doing it stimulates him to keep doing it.

Why is play so difficult for children with autism?

First look at the problems common (in varying degrees) to all children on the autism spectrum:

 language problems both in expressing and understanding the content of speech

 problems with social interaction – an unwillingness to allow others to share experiences, a lack of understanding of the thoughts and feelings and intentions of others and a general problem with the interpretation of nonverbal cues: facial expressions, tone of voice, etc.

 problems of imagination – difficulty in grasping the meaning of imaginary situations, often leading to repetitive, obsessive actions that only mean something to the child himself.

Given that each of the above is an essential ingredient that allows children to play, it’s no wonder the child with autism feels lost and confused and resorts to activities that are meaningful and comforting only to him, even if they are repetitive and inappropriate.

So what do we actually mean by play?

The first thing that springs to mind when we mention play is the use of toys. This can be misleading – abandon a non-autistic three-year-old in a room filled with unfamiliar toys and he will flit from one to the other, not really knowing what to do with them; he needs interaction with an adult – to be shown and helped so that later he can share the experience with another child. Often the interaction is more rewarding to the child than the toy itself; he delights in the adult’s delight at an object. In fact the adult’s reactions teach him how to react, which he can then generalize to a new type of a familiar toy.

The key to playing is therefore interaction. ‘But this is so difficult with my youngster’, I hear you say. It certainly is, especially if your child simply doesn’t understand that communication ‘means’ anything. The extent and quality of your interactions will differ according to your individual child’s level of disability but the effort (and you will need lots of it!) will be rewarding both to you and your child as you begin to build structures for learning and communicating in the future. Toys are tools or props to aid interaction through play, often the minimum or even no props are needed; a box, a cushion, a ball or you may adapt a game/toy that you already have.

Putting these ideas together should illustrate the fact that although teaching your child how to behave and respond in certain situations is useful, developing in him a real sense of enjoyment in interaction will further motivate him to seek out interaction (probably against the better judgement of his autistic brain) and allow him to develop socially to the best of his potential.

Using this book

Try to read Chapters 2, 3 and 5 to start off with. These chapters look at the general principles of using indirect non-confrontational play approaches with short bursts of structured directed play. They give you ideas of how to set about finding different pathways to access your child’s attention and how to create opportunities for him to interact and communicate, as well as tackling the practicalities of using and organizing the play equipment you already have. The rest of the chapters look at specific areas of play and are filled with practical ideas for how to approach them and maximize interaction opportunities and learning potential. Not all the play ideas will be appropriate for your child. Some are pitched at ‘difficult to reach’ children who may have additional learning difficulties; others are suitable for verbal, able children needing ongoing activities. Choose those suited to your child and the areas that you feel need to be worked on.