Part 1: Why child-centered play therapists should care about play-based social interventions for youth with ASD.

Abstract

The field of child-centered play therapy has long recognized the value of play for children's growth and development, however other fields of inquiry have come to realize the value of play as well, such as play-based social interventions for youth with autism spectrum disorder. Despite the differences between the theoretical and pragmatic applications of child-centered play therapy and play-based social interventions, the purpose of this work is to orient a play-based social intervention study with child-centered play therapy approach. In particular, this work will discuss the theoretical and pragmatic approaches of the two fields with emphasis on 2 factors of play: (a) play materials and (b) permissiveness. Additionally, the play experiences of 1 boy, Enoch, are reviewed through the typical stages of child-centered play therapy, to demonstrate how permissive play with technology-based play materials functions in play-based social interventions.