Development of Play Therapy Module for Children with Autism

From Froebel (1782- 1852) to Canning (2011), the term 'play' has been used as a fundamental process for every interaction and connection the children make, a platform for exploration and experimentation with emotions, social interactions, new ideas, imagination and fantasy, where children juggle with reality by pretending that certain events actually happen. Play is creative, and through this medium the child expresses one's unique way and becomes more aware of oneself through interaction with the world around.Autism, a pervasive developmental disorder, depicted as withdrawal and self absorbed nature, is characterized by the following traits:1. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, which includes failure to use multiple non-verbal behaviors such as eye to eye gaze and facial expressions.2. Qualitative impairment in communication including marked impairment in the encodingdecoding process which results in less ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others, lack of spontaneous make-believe play, or social imitative play etc.3. Restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behaviors, interests, and activities.This lack of social and emotional reciprocity in the children with autism forms a hurdle in their way of play, particularly in the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) (Canning, 2011) which underpins practice with children from birth to five years through play. Their play with toys and other materials may become characterized by the following traits-less diverse and more ritualistic, lack of spontaneity and imagination, lacks expressing interest in materials and people, lacks social interactions through play, are often found to get attached with a particular part of an object or toy, and sometimes may have unusual interest in objects such as thread, thermocol, stick etc. without its apparent usual social use.In general, the therapeutic value of play lies in the fact that it assists the assessment process, that include diagnostic, behavioral, developmental, and continuous assessment. The use of play as a therapeutic medium to help emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children is the primary objective of this research.Wolfberg (1999), in her IPG (Integrated Play Group) model opined, on the basis of Vygotskian theory, that children with autism can also maximize their developmental potential with social partners through guided participation in culturally- valued activity. According to Sherrat (2002), some core difficulties of persons with autism can be addressed by symbolic pretend play. Avariety of options can be demonstrated through play for developing communication, establishing relationship, and at the same time enhancing child's recognition and expression of emotions.On this backdrop, an attempt was made to structure the "play" of autism with the aim to facilitate their total development. To fulfill this endeavour, the early years of play were separated into four categories as suggested by Beyer and Gammeltoft (2000) and then the play module was developed. The materials and instructions for interactions were so formulated that it would be mostly culture-free and would not in any way create problem forthe children brought up in Indian culture.MethodThe Development of the Module:Sensori-motor play: This stage normally develops during 6 to 8 months of age. This stage develops early interaction and joint attention which has also been termed as explorative play. According to Piaget's theory, in the sensori-motor stage, the infant develops some motor skills as they gain voluntary control over their actions. They engage in goal directed behaviors and the concept of object permanence also develops during this stage.But this process is not that same for children with autism. These children show innumerable behavioral problems, which make them more unapproachable and hinder their development in all spheres. According to Ayers (1966), these problems have their origin in sensory integrative dysfunction. …