ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the development of play in children with autism and describes a number of ways in which children can be facilitated to join in more effectively with others. Support for the development of play is viewed as needing to be based on the actual games that children create and on their real-life play experiences, such as Laurie's experience of families. Children with autism are described in this chapter as having particular preferences in play, carrying out play with stronger than usual sensory, perceptual and motor features that are, nevertheless, within the knowledge and understanding of other children who do not have autism. Play is a defining feature of autism, children with autism typically producing less play, showing less sophistication in play and playing at a slower rate than other children. Sociocultural explanations for the differences that exist in the play of children with autism would focus on the social basis of play itself.
