I Would Like To Play Case Study

“I would like to play but I don’t know how; a single case study”

Genene S. Reynolds

Specialization in Child and Adolescent Development

Child Psychology

PSY7220

3231 Shannon Rd. Apt. 32-D

Durham, NC 27707

Telephone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Instructor: Dr. Mark Cooper

In order to complete this assignment the learner was given the task of using a case study as it relates to early and middle childhood development. The article “I would like to play but I don’t know how: a case study of pretend play in autism”, by Lucille Hess was chosen. Pretend play of children diagnosed with autism lacks the ability to substitute objects for real props (for instance being able to use a block as a
Children diagnosed with autism do not know about other’s minds of the need to share another experience it is possible for them to ignore the reciprocity or coordination of a combined experience with an adult. Hence, the diagnosed child does not look to share experiences symbol use becomes compromised and cannot be applied to pretend activity (Hess, 2006). In comparison to children who are not autistic, play behavior of diagnosed children are categorized as shorter in length, using fewer play sequences as well as the seldom use of symbolic playing containing dolls or peers. Austic individuals who may be more verbal tend to avoid interactions with peers, or may contribute little to play development. Some individuals have the desire to participate in play, such as sports, however these individuals may do so in an awkward manner ( may otherwise be categorized as socially awkward). This awkwardness may cause children to become more isolated from peers, which may increase development of rigid play routines that may become resistant to change (Hess, 2006). The inability of participating in pretend play may also be a contributing factor to the child’s inability to infer and predict other’s intentions (Hess, 2006). Not being able to understand that others may have different views can be correlated with social impairments
The ability to act out everyday experiences is the first type of pretend that most children participate in. In each therapy session the child would listen to a story including everyday events, each book contained a blank page that allowed the adult to write the child’s version of the story when asked to retell the story. While the adult was telling the story they would be descriptive of the feelings of the people involved in the story as their feelings related to the picture, the adult would encourage the child to give their opinion of what may happen next or how the character in the story felt in the picture. After the store was complete the child and the adult participant would engage in acting out the story’s events as well as the interactions between characters (Hess, 2006). The example that is given is after reading a story about a snowman, the role play was to encourage the child to act out, if they were going to ask a peer to help make the snowman. The child participated in therapy for six weeks twice a week for a total of twelve stories. Each story and recall of the story took 10 minutes, and the role play activity accounted for another 10 minutes. Before each story the child was encouraged to practice concepts for five minutes, in efforts to increase the child’s working vocabulary (Hess,