Autistic Children and Screens

Appreciating Imaginative Play In All Its Forms

Many years ago, I studied autism at university.  We learnt that autistic children did not play imaginatively. At the time, it was a diagnostic feature of autism that young autistic children did not play imaginatively in the way that non-autistic children did. No pretend play where they made shoes into telephones or bananas into microphones. No super hero role plays or Mummys and Daddys.  That’s what we were taught.  It’s true in my experience that many autistic children don’t play imaginatively in that way in their early years (although they do play in other ways).

Years later, I found myself surrounded by autistic children and young people – and I realised something strange.  Many of these children who hadn’t played imaginatively when they were small - who hadn’t done role plays or pretend tea parties - were playing elaborate imaginative games as eight or nine year olds.  In video games.   They built worlds in Minecraft and told elaborate stories of exploration.  They went to the local park and played Real Life Minecraft, which meant pretending to cut down trees and build houses, or go mining. 

But our culture does not value play in video games. In fact, we tend to denigrate it.   Parents who had tried to support their young children’s imaginations with ‘Invitations to Play’ and elaborate small world set ups (which many of their children had ignored), saw this Minecraft-inspired imaginative play in a totally different way.   Derivative, they sometimes said, or a waste of time.

That’s part of what I’m talking about in my webinar on Thursday, Dec 7th.  How do we relate to screens – and how can we help our autistic children develop a healthy relationship with technology?

Yes it’s recorded. Please share if you know parents who could benefit.