Imaginative play can help children with autism and other disabilities understand concepts and relate information into meaningful contexts.
Role play and playing with puppets can facilitate creativity and spontaneity in kids on the autism spectrum. By enabling students to take part in scenarios that help them understand how the world works, imaginative and symbolic play can help students who think in concrete terms understand abstract concepts and relationships.
Because children with autism often have a difficult time learning concepts and ideas, it is believed that acting out situations using puppets, toys, and other three-dimensional objects can lead to greater spontaneity, less scripting, and ultimately a more meaningful social experience. It is believed that reciprocal social interactions and the use of spontaneous, meaningful language can also be enhanced through the use of imaginative and symbolic play.
Equipment and props in the playroom can be set up to promote social skills and include realistic puppets and stuffed animals, toys, costumes, plastic food, telephones, and cash registers.
During play dates, parents, therapists, teachers, or caretakers can encourage role play scenarios such as having children use puppets, stuffed animals, or role play to participate in pretend scenarios such as:
- Field trips
- School classes
- Trips to the dentist
- Birthday parties
- Sports
- Eating at restaurants, and
- Buying from stores
Facilitators can also encourage mini-scenarios such as having the puppets act out feelings, giving the puppets timeouts for bad behavior, and telling jokes.
Students can be encouraged to invite others to play by asking, “Will you play with me?” and “Let’s do this.”
When combined with some of the more traditional, structured cognitive therapies, imaginative and symbolic play therapies can help children with autism better understand ideas and relate what they have learned to the real world.
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