<p>Prediction Of Playfulness By Pretend Play, Severity Of Autism Behaviors, And Verbal Comprehension In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder</p>

Abstract

Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit deficits in pretend play and have less playfulness. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between pretend play and playfulness in children with autism spectrum disorder, while controlling for severity of autism behaviors, verbal comprehension, and age. Methods: A sample of 72 children with ASD aged between 3 and 12 years were assessed with the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment, Test of Playfulness, and Childhood Autism Rating Scale, respectively, for their pretend play, playfulness, and severity of autism behaviors. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted. Results: The results of Pearson correlation coefficients revealed that the pretend play variables had mild to moderate associations with the playfulness variables (r = −0.25 to 0.68). The multiple regression analyses showed that, overall, the internal locus of control was the significant predictor of the pretend play variables (accounting for 5-47% of the variance, p < 0.001). The six pretend play variables were all important predictors of all playfulness variables (explaining 41-76% of the variance, p < 0.001-0.047). Particularly, the elaborate pretend play action was a significant predictor of all four playfulness variables. Our findings indicated that the more children with ASD engaged in pretend play, the more they experienced playfulness. Conclusion: Clinicians could help children with ASD improve their feeling of being in charge of their play in order to develop better performance in pretend play. Assisting children with ASD to engage in pretend play is important to promote their internal experience of playfulness.

Influence of Ideational Praxis on the Development of Play and Adaptive Behavior of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Comparative Analysis

“…Play provokes changes at structural and behavioral levels, influences cognitive and prosocial learning and adaptation processes [ 56 , 57 ], as well as development of praxis and imitation skills [ 58 ]. Therefore, in the present study, relationships between ideational praxis, play skills development and adaptive leisure and social behavior were examined.…”

Playing to Pretend or “Pretending” to Play: Play in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Severity of ASD symptoms is most associated with reduced playfulness, particularly with reduced internal control and reduced framing abilities (giving and reading social cues in play). Higher levels of elaborated pretend play with object substitutions in children with ASD are positively associated with all playfulness dimensions, 42 and particularly framing. 44 Even when children with ASD exhibit complexity in symbolic pretend play that appears similar to that of language-matched children with DDs, they exhibit less playfulness.…”

“…Evaluation of their play performance typically has involved number of and complexity of the children's novel functional or pretend play behaviors with the toys, number of substituted objects in the play (e.g., a bowl for a hat), and the number of play behaviors a child imitates after an adult model, The Skard and Bundy 15 playfulness framework has been used to assess the children's playfulness. 41 42 43 44 45 Although theory of mind (ToM) skills of children with ASD are predictive of their symbolic play, they do not predict their playfulness. 41 The more children with ASD imitate the actions of an adult in play, the less able they are to suspend reality.…”

“…44 Number of imitated actions is also associated with lower locus of control. 42 If children are to have a sense of locus of control, they must be able to self-generate play ideas. Severity of ASD symptoms is most associated with reduced playfulness, particularly with reduced internal control and reduced framing abilities (giving and reading social cues in play).…”

The knowledge of the nursing team about autistic disorders in children in the light of the human caring theory

“…Some important interventions for children with ASD include the floortime approach, sensory integration, and the act of playing. The implementation of playfulness in the TEA is necessary for the development of the collective imagination and allows the professional and family to enter the child's world, making it interact with the real world 22 .…”