Pretence in Children with High-Functioning Autism: How 'playful' Is Their Play?

Background: Recent investigations into the symbolic play abilities of young children with and without autism have failed to show differences in their production of play (Dissanayake & Kelly, 2007; Dissanayake & Prescott, 2005; Hobson, Lee & Hobson, 2007). However, whilst the ‘mechanics’ of play are similar, Hobson et al. reported differences in children’s level of playfulness, with the autism group showing less ‘playful pretence’ than the control children.

Objectives: The overall objective in this study was to replicate the findings of Hobson et al. (2007) in a sample of high-functioning children with autism, and to explore the associations between ‘playful pretend’ and the ability to engage in pretence, as assessed using the Test of Pretend Play (ToPP; Lewis & Boucher, 1997).   

Based on the above findings, it was predicted that children with high-functioning autism (HFA) would show specific deficits in ‘playful pretend,’ despite their ability to engage in the mechanics of pretence.     

Methods: The study utilised videotape footage of play sessions from a previous study of pretence (Dissanayake & Kelly, 2007). The sample comprised 20 children with HFA (16 male, 4 female) and 19 typically developing (TD) children (14 male, 5 female) aged between 4 years 0 months (48 months) and 7 years 5 months (89 months). The groups were matched on chronological age, verbal and overall mental age, performance IQ and full-scale IQ.  A four-level rating scheme, adapted from Hobson et al. (2007) was used to code the level of ‘playfulness’ during administration of the ToPP, and during a 20-minute free play session. The aspects of playfulness rated were: investment in the symbolic meanings, self-awareness of the child as creating meaning, creativity, and fun.

Results: The 2 (Group) x 2 (Condition) ANOVA showed no effect of Group, F(1,36) = .68, p > .05, or Condition, F(1,36)  = .23, p > .05, on the ‘playful pretend’ scores. After controlling for VIQ, ‘playful pretend’ was correlated with performance on the ToPP for both groups under the structured condition, but not during free play.

Conclusions: The children with HFA were just as playful and invested in play than the TD children under structured and free play conditions. These results fail to support the previous findings of Hobson et al. (2007). Children’s ability to engage in pretence is more strongly associated with their degree of playfulness during structured play, as opposed to free-play, when the play partner is non-directive.