Playing with Peers at Recess: Are Children with Autism Playing Their Favorite Games?

Background:   The activities children engage in during recess at school vary by school, age, and individual child preference.  Research has identified preferred games for children who are typically developing, but little attention has been paid to the preferences that children with ASD have.  However, this information is important since the games children play should be considered in developing targeted social skills interventions that take place at school.

Objectives:   The goal of this study was to determine if children from the same schools (typical classmates and children with ASD) would report the same favorite games they liked to play at recess.  Secondly, we determined the extent to which children actually played the games during recess that they had identified as favorites.

Methods:   As part of a broader study through the Autism Intervention Research Network on Behavioral Health (AIRB), we surveyed 1,652 elementary school students in 4 major metropolitan areas within the U.S.  126 (23 female) of the children had ASD (determined by independent research evaluations with the ADOS) and were included in the general education population for a minimum of 50% of the school day.  Children with ASD along with 1,526 (767 girls) of their classmates were given a friendship survey asking them to list their favorite games they played at school. Recess behaviors were then examined for a matched sample of typical children and children with ASD in the same schools using the Playground Observation of Peer Engagement (POPE) by blinded observers. 

Results:  In the larger sample, children listed as many as 29 different categories of games.  However, the most popular consistent game listed by all girls and boys with and without ASD combined was Tag (13%) followed by Pretend Play (11%), Soccer (10%) and Board Games (6%).  The popularity of these games changed across ages.  Tag and pretend play were top games for the 6-9 year old children whereas soccer and organized games became more popular for the older children. Board games stayed fairly consistently listed across ages.  Some differences were noted between boys and girls, with boys more likely to choose soccer and girls more likely to choose talk/hang out.  However, the children with and without ASD generally chose similar games.

Observations of a matched sample of 104 children with ASD and 126 typical participants who were observed at recess noted that only 14% of the children with ASD were seen playing their favorite game with a peer(s) compared to 26% of typical children.  These differences were significant for ASD versus Typical, X² (1, N=230)=4.479, p<.04. 

Conclusions:  Children with and without ASD reported very similar favorite games at school.  However, the majority of children were not observed playing these games at school.  It may be that these games were not offered regularly enough for children, that school rules prevented some favorite games (e.g, Tag or computer games) or the observations were too infrequent. Targeting favorite games at school maybe useful for interventionists aiming to improve peer engagement for children with ASD.