AUTISM ESSENTIALS – Pretend Play and Floortime Therapy

You may have seen your child playing with a doll, talking to it, treating it like a human being, celebrating its birthdays, etc. These actions – mostly initiated by children – are termed as Pretend Play or Imaginative Play. In Pretend Play, a child uses its imagination to put life in non-living objects. A major component of Pretend Play is the innocent assumption that every toy is a new object with unique attributes. Typical developing children mostly start Pretend Play from the age of 11 months when it begins understanding things and is able to imagine new play stories and situations.

Autistic children are known to find Pretend Play difficult. This is probably because they show less interest in such activities due to their inability to bond socially and emotionally. In 1980, Greenspan developed Floortime Therapy to help arouse social and emotional feelings in individuals with autism. This therapy is entirely child-centric in that parents, therapists and other close associates need to be in the shoes of the child by entering their world and thinking like them. The primary task for caregivers is to play with the child and let them lead the play and imitate what they do and accomplish what they want you to do. Parents’ involvement encourages children to get involved in activities that they find fun and exciting.

Pretend Play encircles the emotional growth of a child. It also boosts observation skills that are so very necessary to develop a socially congenial personality.

For a methodical approach, it is important to assess the child’s skills and behaviors, its overall activities and interests, gestures, moods, and responses to different situations. The assessment is a long and repetitive process that mandates professional consultation. To begin with though, you can try assessment apps designed for home-based environment.