THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PLAY THERAPY IN DEVELOPING SOCIAL SKILLS AMONG HIGH FUNCTIONAL AUTISTIC CHILDREN
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Date
2022-09-15
Authors
Sally Abdalhai
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
Background: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Disorder (DSM-5), the essential features of the autism spectrum disorder are impairment in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts at the present time or in the child's history, and the inability to develop, acquire, understand and maintain social relationships. This is in addition to restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interest or activities.
Previous studies have showed that play therapy has positive effects on autistic children’s social skills. Accordingly, this study sought to examine the role of play therapy in developing the social skills of high functioning autistic children.
Method: The study participants were seven autistic children aged 6-10 years old. All of them were Palestinian Arabs living in Occupied Palestine and from Palestinian Institute for Childhood. The institute chose the autistic children according to the severity of their autism, and it also chose the high functioning autistic children.
In this study, the researcher used the Autism Social Skills Profile was used to measure if there was an improvement in the autistic children’s social skills. The parents and the teacher answered the paper based-scale in 30-45 minutes.
Results: The overall social functioning of children with autism improved after applying the play-based program in comparison with the period before the intervention. The differences were statistically significant. In contrast, the participants significantly improved their social skills in both subscales- social reciprocity and participation\avoidance. It can be concluded that children with Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD showed significant improvements after the intervention on the total measure of social functioning.
Conclusion: This quasi-experimental study can be used on autistic children by training teachers and guiding parents to set up a play therapy intervention plan to develop the high functioning autistic children’s social skills.
Key words: Autism Spectrum Disorder, autistic children, social communication, social interaction, play therapy, social skills.