Abstract
Examines the ability of young people with autism to generate ideas for play. Young people with autism, children with learning difficulties, and younger normal children were asked to generate 12 different actions and follow 12 instructions with a car and a doll. The young people with autism were impaired, relative to the controls, at generating original actions with the car, but were as able as the controls to follow the instructions. However, the young people with autism were not impaired at generating original actions with the doll. All three groups produced similar amounts of symbolic play. Possible explanations for the difference in results for the two toys are discussed.
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We thank the Mental Health Foundation for financial support for this study and all the children and young people who took part. We are grateful to Rosemary Woolfitt who meticulously transcribed and collated all of the data. Finally, we thank Glyn Collis, at the Department of Psychology at Warwick University, who has given us statistical advice.
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Lewis, V., Boucher, J. Generativity in the play of young people with autism. J Autism Dev Disord 25, 105–121 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02178499
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02178499