ABSTRACT
Promoting learning through play has been problematic particularly in the education of children with autism. Many practitioners have been led to question the relevance of teaching through a play-based curriculum and how interactive styles of teaching can be incorporated into the more structured approach to the curriculum that is widely used in schools. This perspective has historically been allied to the view that deficits in the play skills development of children with autism are considered to undermine the benefits that learning through play affords. Even in the light of recent curriculum developments to promote play and creativity in children’s learning, there still exists a discrepancy between learning and the value and relevance of play in schools. Theories and ideologies have tended to focus on early development and ignored developmentally appropriate and even cultural perspectives of play. Throughout, this book has emphasized the commonalities rather than the differences in response to the play experience, and affirms that individual potential will be determined by the adult’s mode of intervention.
