Abstract:

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are known to have problems in social communication and engage in repetitive, stereotypical behaviors. There are studies investigating the developmental differences in children with ASD in activities that require imagination and creativity. It is especially important to study differences in symbolic play in children with ASD compared to typically developing children or to children with other developmental delays in order to understand the development of symbolic play in this group as well as understanding cognitive development in general. In this review, studies investigating comprehension of and engagement in symbolic play in children with ASD are reviewed and different perspectives that attempt to explain the limitations observed in this group are discussed. Based on the reviewed studies, it can be concluded that children with ASD differ from the control groups in spontaneous pretend play (e.g., spending less time in this type of play, engaging in less sophisticated play behaviors) and that these differences can be attributed to both competence and performance problems.

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