Symbolic Play
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Symbolic Play
Table of Contents Introduction................................................................................................................................................1 Prerequisites..........................................................................................................................................1 License and disclaimer..........................................................................................................................1 What is symbolic play................................................................................................................................2 Play and autism..........................................................................................................................................3 Symbolic play basics..................................................................................................................................4 Play sequences.......................................................................................................................................4 The importance of play symbols...........................................................................................................4 Components of play symbols................................................................................................................4 Kinds of symbols...................................................................................................................................5 The importance of likeness....................................................................................................................5 Difference between between play symbols and likeness................................................................................ .....6 Degree of obviousness...........................................................................................................................7 Teaching symbolic play.............................................................................................................................8 Teaching likeness..................................................................................................................................9 Training likeness...............................................................................................................................9 Probing likeness................................................................................................................................9 Teaching symbols................................................................................................................................10 Choosing symbolic prototypes to teach..........................................................................................10 Choosing symbolic forms to teach.................................................................................................10 Choosing symbolic likeness...........................................................................................................10 A teaching protocol.........................................................................................................................11 How-To guidelines.........................................................................................................................12 Teaching symbolization......................................................................................................................13 Probing the existence of symbolization..........................................................................................13 Teaching play sequences.....................................................................................................................14 Creating symbolic play scenarios...................................................................................................14 Enhancing non-symbolic play scenarios........................................................................................15 Demonstrating how to play.............................................................................................................16 Using scripts and script fading...................................................................................................16 Fading adult presence.....................................................................................................................17 Choosing what to play....................................................................................................................17 Teaching imaginative play..................................................................................................................18 Probing the existence of imaginative play......................................................................................18 Development of symbolic play................................................................................................................19 Stage I: 9-10 months............................................................................................................................23 Game 1: where did mama go?........................................................................................................23 Game 2: stretch for that..................................................................................................................23 Stage II: 13-17 months........................................................................................................................24 Game 1: plastic boxes.....................................................................................................................24 Game 2: the pool.............................................................................................................................24 Game 3: imitations..........................................................................................................................24 Game 4: wall drawing and painting................................................................................................24 Game 5: lost toy..............................................................................................................................25 Game 6: candy in prison.................................................................................................................25 Game 7: what's the match?.............................................................................................................25
Game 8: the tour of the house.........................................................................................................25 Game 9: the tunnel..........................................................................................................................25 Game 10: self portrait.....................................................................................................................25 Game 11: obstacle race...................................................................................................................25 Game 12: puzzle.............................................................................................................................26 Game 13: sorting.............................................................................................................................26 Game 14: the professional taster.....................................................................................................26 Game 15: the balance......................................................................................................................26 Game 16: trainman.........................................................................................................................26 Game 17: opening and closing items..............................................................................................26 Stage III: 17-19 months.......................................................................................................................27 Game 1: reachin' without stretchin'................................................................................................27 Game 2: going fishing....................................................................................................................27 Game 3: box with wonders.............................................................................................................27 Game 4: burning boat.....................................................................................................................27 Game 5: run to color.......................................................................................................................28 Game 6: go after sound...................................................................................................................28 Game 7: the robot...........................................................................................................................28 Game 8: weave the paper................................................................................................................28 Stage IV: 19-22 months.......................................................................................................................29 Game 1: follow the color................................................................................................................29 Game 2: monsters in the dark.........................................................................................................29 Game 3: treasure hunt.....................................................................................................................29 Game 4: mystery object..................................................................................................................29 Game 5: hard and soft.....................................................................................................................30 Game 6: smooth and rough.............................................................................................................30 Stage V: 24 months.............................................................................................................................31 Game 1: repeating patterns.............................................................................................................31 Game 2: imaginary finger drawing.................................................................................................31 Game 3: mystery drawing...............................................................................................................31 Game 4: mystery sound..................................................................................................................31 Game 5: set the table.......................................................................................................................32 Stage VI: 2 ½ years.............................................................................................................................33 Game 1: find the emotion...............................................................................................................33 Game 2: the prompter.....................................................................................................................33 Quality of symbolic play..........................................................................................................................34 Symbolic play observation sheet.........................................................................................................34 Symbolic play observation summarizer..............................................................................................36 Interpreting results...............................................................................................................................37 Building a symbolic play repertoire.........................................................................................................39 Building a repertoire of symbols.........................................................................................................39 Building a repertoire of play scripts....................................................................................................40 Planning symbolic play training..............................................................................................................41 Preliminary stage.................................................................................................................................41 Stage I..................................................................................................................................................41 Stage II................................................................................................................................................41 Stage III...............................................................................................................................................42 Stage IV...............................................................................................................................................42 Stage V................................................................................................................................................42
Stage VI...............................................................................................................................................43 Stage VII..............................................................................................................................................43 Stage VIII............................................................................................................................................43 Stage IX...............................................................................................................................................44 Stage X................................................................................................................................................44 Summary..................................................................................................................................................45
Symbolic Play
Introduction Play in general and symbolic play in special have an important role child development. development. It is theorized there is a strong liaison between play and socialization (see [Raising The Child (ro)]), symbolic play and language (see [Behavioral Intervention]), play and learning by imitation (see [Lovaas 2003]), as well as between sensory abilities (which best develop through play) and speech (see [Verbal Behavior Analysis]). Children with autism and related disorders have difficulty with playing and with finding joy in play. When they do play though, they favor repetitive play within a narrow niche, up to the point that their play seems inappropriate (see [Lovaas 2003], chapter Early Play Skills ). This document aims to address the issue of teaching children with autism how to play, with a focus on symbolic play.
Prerequisites It is highly recommended to have access to the following books (see Bibliography at the end) : [Autism and Play], [Behavioral Intervention], [Caring For Your Young Child], [Teach Me Do It], [Raising The Child (ro)], [VB-MAPP] and [ABLLS-R]. This document occasionally employs terms from the Verbal Behavior theory of language. Having some knowledge on Verbal Behavior is recommended. An accessible resource to learn about verbal behavior is [The VB Approach]. The liaison between between senses senses and speech is mentione mentioned d by [Verbal [Verbal Behavior Analysis]. Analysis]. The guidelin guidelines es for adult supervision fading have been extracted from [Portage Guide (ro)]. This document has been designed with a focus on children with autism or related disorders. The latest incarnation of the seminal work of Dr. Lovaas on intensive intervention for young children with autism is [Lovaas 2003]. Having this resource at hand is highly recommended. We suggest scripting and script fading as a possible method to teach symbolic play since it has been successfully used to teach conversation. Hence, having access to [Teaching Conversation] is recommended. The structural assessment of the quality of play has been partially inspired from our multi-dimensional model of LRFFC training which is detailed in LRFFC.pdf . For information on how to obtain this document, see the bottom of the page. The intent of this document is to get integrated into a verbal behavior therapy. A way to design such a therapy is to download and read our VBA package1. It is strongly recommended recommended not to use the present document in isolation.
License and disclaimer You are free to read, use, store and copy for personal use this document at no cost. You may not distribute the docume document nt or parts parts of it to anyone anyone withou withoutt explic explicit it permi permissi ssion on from from the author author.. You may freel freely y dissem dissemina inate te information on how to obtain a copy of this document. The information in this document has not been reviewed by any specialist in Verbal Behavior, language pathology, behaviorism or psychology. You may use the information herein AS IS, with no warranty expressed or implied. The author of this document makes no claim of suitability of this information for any purpose and no damage or loss resulted from the usage of this information may be imputed to him. Any collision of name, terms, titles or meaning with trademarked elements or works protected by copyright is purely incidental and may not be interpreted as trademark or copyright infringement in any way. 1 One can can find the links links to the the package package and other other files files by checking checking the the blog at at http://mariusfilip.blogspot.com http://mariusfilip.blogspot.com,, section FILES.
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Symbolic Play
What is symbolic play According to the WordWeb electronic electronic dictionary2, a symbol is “something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible”. The same source defines symbolism as “a system of symbols and symbolic representations”. We define symbolic play as that kind of play which carries a certain amount of symbolism with it. This implies that the child engages in certain behaviors whose meaning to him is different from their common, generally accepted meaning. The words amount of symbolism in this definition bear importance because we believe that play symbolism is measurable. For example, let us assume that a lone child throws pebbles in the direction of a larger rock which lays a few yards away. While it is easy to assume this simple activity as purposeless, this kind of play may have various meanings: 1. If the pebbles pebbles fall fall aimles aimlessly sly around around the rock, rock, this activi activity ty is probab probably ly no play play at all but rather rather a selfstimulatory behavior so characteristic to children with autism. 2.
If most pebbles pebbles fall fall close to the the rock and many many of them actuall actually y do hit the rock, rock, perhaps perhaps the child tries tries to target the rock on purpose. This is very akin to the actions that typical children do repetitively in order to hone a motor skill (like climbing and going down the stairs over and over again). We may assume the activity is play, albeit non imaginative.
3.
If the child child says something something like like “I hit you”, perhaps perhaps he “talks” “talks” to the rock. rock. Most likely likely the rock rock becomes becomes in his mind some character that deserves to be hit. We can talk about a small amount of symbolism in this kind of play (rock = character).
4.
If the child says says “I hit you” and and shouts “kaboom! “kaboom!”, ”, probably probably he imagines imagines himself himself throwing throwing grenades grenades towards towards the rock. This kind of play carries more symbolism (rock = character to hit, pebble = grenade).
5.
If the child says says “I won't let you pass through!” through!” and shouts shouts “kaboom! “kaboom!”” then probably probably he imagines imagines himself himself to be a grenadier in battle. This kind of play carries more symbolism (rock = enemy, pebble = grenade, self = grenadier).
6. If, after after some some “fight “fight”, ”, the child child starts starts to run toward towardss the rock rock yelli yelling ng “Aaaaa “Aaaaa!” !” while throwi throwing ng pebbles pebbles intensely, then perhaps he's just launched a counter-attack counter-attack against the “enemy”. In this case the playground is endowed with symbolic meaning as well and his play is even richer in symbolism (rock = enemy, pebble = grenade, self = grenadier, playground = battlefield). The example above illustrates that the amount of symbolism of a play session can be measured, at least by counting the number of symbols used.
2 One can can download download a free free copy of WordWeb WordWeb elect electronic ronic dictio dictionary nary from from http://wordweb.info/free/ http://wordweb.info/free/..
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Symbolic Play
Play and autism As shown in [Lovaas 2003], children with autism lack three characteristics that typical children have and make them spontaneously engage in play: •
Appropriate Appropriate usage of surrounding objects. Children with autism do not seem to readily understand that the wheels of a truck exist to roll over ground.
On the contrary, they might turn the truck upside down and spin the wheel over and over, absorbed in the movement without trying to explore other usages of the toy. •
Symbolism attached to objects and actions. While very young children limit themselves to exploring physically the surroundings, children beyond a certain age start to assign some symbolism even to simplest forms of play.
For example, a 3 year old girl who brushes the hair of a doll does not do it merely to see what happens to the hair when brushed. Most likely, she's playing “mama” while the doll is “the child”. Yet, when a child with autism plays with the hair of a doll, it's very unlikely that the desire is more than sensory in nature. •
Joy of play. It seems that autistic children have difficulty to find joy in play, especially when loaded with symbolism, even if symbolism is in the smallest amount. This seems to happen even when the movements of a play activity and the symbolic meanings of those movements have been given explicitly to them.
It is no wonder: due to the pervasive impairments induced by autism, past interactions and experiences experiences are not formative in this respect. Just as the autistic child child does not learn from the environment how to talk, he does not learn how to find joy in play. Fortunately enough, the three characteristics from above can be learned through systematic intervention: intervention: •
Children with autism can learn the appropriate usage of objects and toys when the information is given in a way appropriate to their learning style. In fact, many programs of ABA (from Block Imitation to Arts and Crafts) can be seen as ways to teach the child how to make appropriate usage of objects.
•
Children with autism are capable of attaching symbols to elements they can observe. If a child with autism can learn abstractions like classes and associations, he can learn that a pebble can be a grenade and a large rock can be an enemy tank.
•
Children with autism are capable of joy in play. The deep motivations of autistic children are, in their essence, no different from the ones of typical children. In fact, the b ehavioral intervention intervention for autism relies on the fact that autistic children love rewards just as their typically developed peers do.
Concerning the joy to play, Ivaar O. Lovaas gives a suggestive illustration. A man may resist to learning how to play tennis for reasons like hating to perform physical effort. Yet, the same man may find joy in tennis once he learns how to play it. Either the dislike of physical effort goes away or tennis becomes more rewarding than the physical discomfort. Either case, one can reasonably assume that the initial resistance to tennis came from ignorance rather than from an innate incapacity to enjoy tennis. Experience suggests that children with autism aren't essentially different: they can find enjoyment in things characteristic to typical children, including play, once they are taught how to experience those things and the teaching is conducted in an appropriate way. We believe that addressing the problem of symbolic play in children with autism requires addressing the three issues from above. We also believe that children with autism can make tremendous advances in their development by the mere of resolution of the above mentioned deficiencies.
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Symbolic Play
Symbolic play basics This chapter describes what symbolic play is made of. Based on the components of symbolic play, the next chapter suggests methods to teach it.
Play sequences As mentioned in the Westby Scale of Symbolic Play (see [Behavioral Intervention]), Intervention]), at some point in the development of a child, play grows in complexity and evolves from isolated actions to longer and more complex sequences of actions. Moreover, the symbolic content and the complexity of the symbolic sequences grow with age. Children with autism or related disorders do not manifest this growth, hence it must be taught explicitly. explicitly. A symbolic play sequence may employ non-symbolic elements. But it must include at least one symbol in order to be symbolic.
The importance of play symbols As mentioned in section “What “What is symbolic play” play” (page 2), a symbol is “something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible”. In other words, that visible represents something else that is different yet similar in some way. A play with no symbols whatsoever, i.e. whose meaning is entirely apparent from its very constituents may be useful, healthy and beneficial to the child but is not symbolic. There is no symbolic play without symbols. Being at the crux of symbolic play, the ability to create and maneuver symbols is of paramount importance. Such ability most likely does not emerge simply by engaging the student in play. Symbols need to be addressed specifically and in isolation before thinking about symbolic play. Therefore, the key ingredient to teaching symbolic play is to ensure that the student is able to handle symbols in the first place.
Components of play symbols A play symbol has three components: 1.
The symbolic form is what an external observer can see. It consists in the objects or actions used by the child in play. When a child is “fighting” with a “sword” represented by a wooden stick, the wooden stick is the symbolic form.
2.
The symbolic prototype is what the child has in mind when playing. It consists in objects, actions or characters that the child represents through play. When a child is “fighting” with a “sword” represented by a wooden stick, the sword is the symbolic form.
3.
The symbolic likeness is the relationship between the symbolic form and the symbolic prototype. The symbolic likeness resides upon a real likeness between the symbolic form and the prototype.
Such real likeness is a commonality of properties between the two (see “The “ The importance of likeness” likeness” below). below). Besides those common properties, there are others that are part of the symbolic likeness but not of the real likeness (see “Difference “Difference between play symbols and likeness” likeness” at page 6).
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Symbolic Play
Kinds of symbols A symbol may be static or dynamic, depending on the name of the item represented. Dynamic symbols may be intrinsic or extrinsic. Static symbols refer to objects. When a child fights with a stick saying it is a sword, the stick is a static symbol. Dynamic symbols refer to actions. When a child “drives” a car then his “driving” is a dynamic symbol. Extrinsic dynamic symbols refer to those symbolic actions whose symbolism reside in the symbolism of the objects employed. When a little girl combs the hair of a doll pretending to comb the hair of “her child”, she is doing extrinsic dynamic symbolism: combing combing is real, but “the child” is not. Intrinsic dynamic symbols refer to those symbolic actions whose symbolism is independent of the symbolism of the objects employed. When a little boy sits on the driver's sit and “drives” the family car in the garage, he is doing intrinsic dynamic symbolism: symbolism: the car is real, but the “driving” is not. These distinctions are important because we believe they bear different levels of difficulty: •
•
•
Static symbols are the easiest to grasp because their symbolism relies on the object likeness between the symbol and the prototype (see “Components “Components of play symbols” symbols” at page 4). Extrinsic dynamic symbols are easier than the intrinsic ones because the symbol is virtually identical to the prototype and only the used object differs from its prototype. Intrinsic dynamic symbols are the hardest because actions, by their dynamic nature, are concepts harder to grasp than objects.
When teaching symbols, is important to keep in mind the above order and to plan the teaching steps accordingly (see “Teaching symbols”, symbols”, “How-To “How-To guidelines” guidelines” at page 12). 12).
The importance of likeness By definition, a symbol is “something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible” (see page 2). Assuming that conventions do not apply to young children 3, it results that a symbol in children's play is “something visible that by association represents something else that is invisible”. We call this association symbolic likeness because it does reside on likeness of some sort. To illustrate this, let us revisit our little grenadier from page 2 and think a little about his symbolic play: • • • •
The pebbles turned into grenades because pebbles are small like the grenades. He pretended to be a grenadier because he threw “grenades” by hand, like real grenadiers do. He shouted “kaboom!” that sounds like exploding grenades. His playground was wide and flat like the battlefields he probably saw in movies.
3 Symbolic sign sign conventions are too difficult difficult concepts concepts for young young children to understand. They may learn the signs, but but they cannot fully grasp the prototypes behind them.
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Symbolic Play If our little friend have had pieces of aluminum foil instead of pebbles, an artificial tree instead of a big rock and a room corner indoors instead of an open playground then most likely he would have tried to “decorate” a “Christmas tree” instead of fighting heavily with the enemy. Why? Because aluminum foil is like Christmas tree decorations and not like grenades, the artificial tree may be like a Christmas tree and not like a tank and the corner of the room may be like a part of his living room at home and not like a battlefield. Therefore, in order to ensure that the student has symbolic likeness we must ensure that he is able to detect likeness in the first place.
Difference between play symbols and likeness Although play symbols rely on likeness, there are significant differences differences between the two: •
likeness is a closeness between two entities along a few characteristics. For example, a duck is like a goose because they have many similarities in shape: body, neck, legs, etc.
•
a play symbol is a correlation in which one participant (the symbolic form) takes some of the characteristics of the other participant (the symbolic prototype) that fall outside their visible likeness. For example, a pebble is small like a grenade, this is their likeness. Because they are alike, a child can throw pebbles pretending he throws grenades. Yet, when he plays this way, he shouts “kaboom!” pretending that the pebble “explodes”. This ability of the pebble to “explode” exists in the child's mind only and does not belong to the physical likeness between a pebble and a grenade.
In other words, when constructing a symbol during play, a child does more than identifying a likeness; he endows the symbolic form with attributes of the prototype that the form does not have at all. Thus the child creates during symbolic play a “virtual reality” of his own with many made-up attributes. Despite its “virtuality”, “virtuality”, this “reality” “reality” is rooted in the objective reality via the likeness between its elements and their prototypes. This essential difference between play symbols and likeness is so important that the ability to create “virtual realities” of play symbols has to be trained explicitly (see “Teaching “Teaching likeness” likeness ” at page 9). It is this ability of children to construct made-up worlds that adorns their play with unparalleled originality and beauty.
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Symbolic Play
Degree of obviousness The same symbolic prototype may be represented by more than one symbolic form. A child, for instance, may use a stick, a rod or a toy sword when pretending to fight by sword. Some of the symbolic forms represent more more obviously the prototype than others. For example, let us consider a girl who does pretend play representing the action “I comb the hair of my child”: •
• • • • • •
If she combs the hair of her younger sister, the symbolism is most obvious. The symbolic form differs from the prototype only in terms of “my child”. If she uses a doll, doll, the symbolism is less obvious. If she uses a toy comb in the stead of a real comb, the symbolism is less obvious. If she uses a rectangular piece of wood for a comb, the symbolism is less obvious. If she replaces the doll with a rolled towel, the symbolism is less obvious. If she uses no comb whatsoever but pretends to have a comb in her hand, the symbolism is less obvious. If she has bare hands and no “child” in her arms but pretends to comb an invisible child with an invisible comb simply by going through the motions, the symbolism has a very low level of obviousness.
So, we can speak of a degree of obviousness from the most obvious to the very unobvious. While it is nearly impossible to measure obviousness rigorously, it is useful to assign a value in one of the two forms: • •
A numeric value from 0 to 10 where 0 is “least obvious” and 10 is “most obvious” (nearly identical). One of the following values: weak obviousness, intermediate obviousness and strong obviousness.
Choosing one form over another depends on the degree of granularity you want to assign to obviousness monitoring. Needless to say, more obvious symbols are easier for the child than the less obvious ones. Yet, it is important to teach the child symbols as less obvious as possible. The less obvious the symbols he can grasp are, the more imaginative the play his play may be.
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Symbolic Play
Teaching symbolic play This section is concerned with how to teach symbolic play. Teaching how to play in general has been addressed by many works: [Lovaas 2003], [Caring For Your Young Child], [Behavioral [Behavioral Intervention] or [Portage Guide Guide (ro)], to name a few. However, we believe that symbolic play deserves special treatment due to its specifics. The specificity comes from symbols playing a central role. Teaching symbolic play goes through specific phases: 1.
Teaching likeness
The student must be able to detect likeness between objects apart from symbolization.
2.
Teaching symbols
The student must have a predefined repertoire of symbols that he can use in pla play y. As show shown n in “Developmen Developmentt of symbolic symbolic play” play” (page (page 19) 19) and “Building a symbolic play repertoire” repertoire” (page 39), 39), this comes in stages.
3.
Teaching symbolizati sy mbolization on
The student must be able to construct his own symbols corresponding to his level of development. Since symbols come in stages, so does the teaching of symbolization. symbolization.
4.
Teaching play sequences
The student must have a predefined repertoire of play scripts that he can use in play. As shown in “Development “Development of symbolic play” play ” (page 19), 19), the scripts consist in isolated actions first but they gradually evolve in more complex scenarios.
5.
Teaching imaginative play
The student must be able to construct his own sequences by altering or combining the ones in his portfolio or by inventing new ones.
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Symbolic Play
Teaching likeness Teaching likeness comes in two phases: training and probing. Training consists in the teaching itself. Probing is verifying that the ability is really acquired.
Training likeness The good thing about likeness is that there are plenty of ABA programs to teach it. The way to go is by showing a large number of pairs of pictures to the student and the goal is to make him able to decide upon: • • •
• • •
Identity Likeness More likeness
Less likeness Difference What's wrong?
when two images are truly identical. when two images resemble with each other but are not identical. when an image resembles a prototype more than another image. For example, a rabbit with gray fur resembles a rabbit with dark fur more than a rabbit with white fur. is the opposite of More likeness. when two images differ more or less. when there is an inconsistency within a picture (a rabbit with three ears). This may not seem like a likeness exercise, yet it is one in some way: the student has to mentally visualize the correct picture or the absence of the defect and compare the real real image image with with that that menta mentall protot prototyp ypee in some some fashio fashion. n. This This resem resemble bless both both Difference and Likeness from above.
We believe it is important to verbalize likeness with the student so that the concept of likeness g ets a name. Therefore, using using expres expressio sions ns like like “alike “alike”, ”, “much “much like” like”,, “resem “resembli bling” ng”,, “simi “similar lar”” as often often as possib possible le during during traini training ng is recommended. Such verbal expressions will become vehicles to teach play symbols later on (see “Teaching “ Teaching symbols” symbols” below). below).
Probing likeness likeness The studen studentt has master mastered ed liken likeness ess when when he exhibi exhibits ts unhind unhindere ered d abilit ability y to detec detectt likeness and more likeness spontaneously in natural settings: a stick is like a rod, a bicycle wheel is like a circle, a book is like a brick, a donkey is like a horse, a duck is like a goose and a goose is more like a duck than like a swan. A threshold of 5 instances per hour assuming favorable circumstances is enough.
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Symbolic Play
Teaching symbols This section is concerned with with teaching play symbols in isolation. isolation. Teaching a symbol requires choosing choosing a symbolic prototype, a symbolic form and a symbolic likeness between the two.
Choosing symbolic prototypes to teach The teacher should choose symbolic prototypes to teach based on the following criteria: •
•
The symbolic prototypes must conform to the level of child's development (see “ Development of symbolic play” play” at page 19). 19). The symbolic prototypes must be well known to the child. A good source of prototypes is the student's repertoire of tacts. A way to probe how well the student knows the tacts is to put them through LRFFC trials.
Choosing symbolic forms to teach The teacher should choose symbolic forms to teach based on the following criteria: •
•
The level of obviousness should decrease gradually, from very obvious to the least obvious (see “Degree “ Degree of obviousness” obviousness” at page 7). The goal of teaching symbolic forms is to use them later in play. Symbolic forms that do not make good toys or play actions should be avoided.
Choosing symbolic likeness Symbolic likeness resides on attributes that the form and the prototype have in common as well as in attributes that the form does not have except in the child's interpretation during play. Both kinds of attributes have to be chosen carefully. When the teacher expresses the likeness to the student, it is better to simply state that the form “is like” the prototype without much detail. If necessary, one or two characteristics suffice. For example, a wooden stick is “long and stiff” like a sword. Expressing likeness is not enough. The teacher must also express the attributes of the prototype that the student may endow the form with. It is better to start with one such attribute first. For example, when trying to present a wooden stick as a sword the teacher may say that it “pierces”. Later on, he may add that the wooden stick also can “cut heads” like a real word does. Obviously, expressing non-likeness attributes must take place in a playful, pretending mood, otherwise the student may learn that a wooden stick really pierces and one can really cut heads with such an inoffensive object.
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Symbolic Play
A teaching protocol The therapist may use the following protocol to teach symbols. It is not the only way to do it and teachers should feel free to change it as they see fit. This protocol has several steps for the teacher to carry out: 1. Decide Decide which which prot prototy otypes pes to teac teach. h. 2.
Present Present the student student with the prototypes prototypes.. Use pictures, 3D objects, objects, objects objects in their natural natural placement placement,, in-vivo demonstrations, whatever is necessary to ensure that the student has them fresh in memory.
3.
Present a symbolic form form to the the student and ask him him which of the prototypes prototypes is best resembling resembling the form. form. If the student has intraverbal skills, the teacher may ask “This resembles a ...” and wait for the student to complete the sentence. If the student has no intraverbal skills, then “Show the one that resembles this” is enough. Either case, if the student masters likeness (see “Probing “Probing likeness” likeness” at page 9) the answer should not be a problem.
4. Sugges Suggestt to the student student that that the the form form may be endowe endowed d with with proper properti ties es that it doesn't doesn't have by expressi expressing ng attributes of the prototype as naturally belonging to the form. For example: “This wooden stick looks like a sword. We can pierce the enemy with it!”. Indirect expressions must be avoided. For example, we don't say: “This wooden stick looks like a sword. It can also have the property to pierce an enemy!”. We say “We can pierce the enemy with it!”. In other words, the teacher should not say that the form may have a property of the prototype, it must say that the form can be the prototype. 5. Rotate Rotate the trials trials by repeat repeatin ing g each each form/ form/pro protot totyp ypee couple couple several several times, times, each each time time menti mentioni oning ng slight slightly ly different properties that the form may get from the prototype. Examples for “This wooden stick looks like a sword”: “We can pierce the enemy with it!” (1st trial), “We can cut the head off with it!” (2 nd trial), “It cuts flesh and bones in battle!” (3 rd trial), “We carry it at the hip” (4 th trial). Using sessions of 20 trials consisting in five symbols repeated four times is in line with the standard teaching practice of Verbal Behavior Analysis (see [Verbal Behavior Analysis]). The goal of each teaching session is to make the child utter without prompt the symbol in terms of form, prototype and one variant of symbolic likeness. The mastery criteria are: •
A 18/20 rate of spontaneous utterances utterances per session obtained without prompt.
•
At least two variants of the symbolic likeness per form/prototype form/prototype couple.
The second mastery criterion means that no symbol should take the frozen form of rote memorization. memorization.
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Symbolic Play
How-To guidelines When teaching play symbols in isolation, it's recommended to follow several guidelines: •
•
•
Static symbols are the easiest, intrinsic dynamic symbols are the hardest (see page “Kinds “Kinds of symbols” symbols” at page 5). The teacher should start teaching with static symbols. The same symbolic prototype may have more than one symbolic form . Teaching as many forms for the same prototype empowers the student with more choices during play. The most obvious symbolic forms are the easiest, the least obvious ones are the hardest (see “Degree “Degree of obviousness” obviousness” at page 7). Teaching multiple forms for the same prototype should start with the most obvious ones.
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Symbolic Play
Teaching symbolization Symboliz Symbolization ation is the ability to construct construct symbols. symbols. While While acquiring acquiring many symbols symbols is importan important, t, being being able to symbolize is essential for symbolic play. Without this ability, the child has to restrict his play to a predefined set of symbols without being able to exploit fully the potential of his environment. Moreover, there may be a danger that he will not understand the symbols of his playmates, thus reducing his ability to engage in group play. Just as we cannot teach speech in itself and we have to resort to teaching verbal operants, verbal capabilities (higher order operants, see [Verbal Behavior Analysis]) and to practicing phrase expansion over and over, we cannot teach symbolization symbolization in itself. The only tool at our disposal is to teach as many symbols as possible until spontaneous symbolization eventually emerges. Whether this ability does emerges and how fast depends heavily on the individual. We cannot offer clear thresholds in the matter: just teach many symbols and check periodically whether the student exhibits symbolization. The next sub-section shows how to check for the existence of symbolization.
Probing the existence of symbolization The teacher can probe the existence of symbolization by checking that the student is able to construct novel symbols in 90% of the occasions where such an event is prone to occur. A 18/20 rate is common practice in ABA and VBA, and there is no reason to change it (see [Lovaas 2003] and [Verbal Behavior Analysis]). The teacher should do the following: 1.
2. 3.
4.
Select five objects or actions that the student knows very well (they have been probed through tacting and autoclitic training, LRFFC training and/or intraverbal training) and that have never been used in symbol teaching. These five elements will be symbolic prototypes. Choose four symbolic forms for each prototype of various degrees of obviousness (the forms should not be less obvious than the level of obviousness he's been trained for). Present the symbolic forms to the student one by one in random order and see whether the student is able to construct a symbol based on it: 1. If the student student spontaneousl spontaneously y finds a symbol with a correct correct form/proto form/prototype/ type/symb symbolic olic likeness likeness triad, triad, give him 1 point. 2. If the student student spontaneous spontaneously ly finds a symbol symbol with a correct correct form/prot form/prototype otype couple couple but with with a symbolic symbolic likeness lacking prototype attributes, give him 0.5 points. 3. If the the studen studentt needs needs a hint hint to to find find a symbol, symbol, then: then: 1. If the student student associ associates ates a prototy prototype pe different different from from the one you you intended, intended, give give him 1 point. point. 2. If the student student associates associates the same same prototype prototype as the one one you thought thought of initially initially,, give him 0.5 points. points. Add all the points obtained by the student. A score of 18 or greater shows that the student has the capacity to symbolize.
The student may not know what to do with the symbolic form shown to him. The teacher may hint the student by saying “Let's play a little with this”. Another method is to say “I'd like play with this ...” followed by the name of a prototype that is very different different from the actual prototype. For example, if it's something that resembles a plane, say “I'd like to play with this cow”. If the student says “It's not a cow, it's a plane” then tell him “Why don't you play with that”. Most likely symbolization occurs gradually. This means that while the student still fails to gather all the necessary 18 points, his score may still grow from one probing to another. When this happens, it is a sign that training must continue.
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Symbolic Play
Teaching play sequences Having a rich repertoire of play symbols is not enough. The student must be able to play by himself or with others freely and naturally. Unfortunately, symbolic play does not follow in the footsteps of symbols just as speech does not rise spontaneously from learning separate words. Both speech and play have to be taught explicitly. explicitly. A play sequence is formed of several actions, some of them symbolic, some of them not. Although the child may know the actions in isolation, he may be unable to put the pieces together to produce symbolic play. He needs training. The teacher may use one of the following methods to teach the student how to play symbolically: • •
By creating play scenarios containing a certain kind of symbolism right from their inception. By enhancing existing non-symbolic play scenarios with a certain amount of symbolism.
Creating symbolic play scenarios Creating scenarios has the advantage that symbolism is not forged into something already existing. Thus the final outcome has better chances to be fluent and natural. Creating a scenario is easy: •
•
Chain a sequence of real events that are well know to the student. The events must make use of known objects only. Replace some elements with their symbolic forms.
Obviously, the same chain of events may have more than one resulting play scenario. It is better to have as many as possible: this way the student does not learn mechanically a sequence of events, but learns that the same chain of actions may be represented in many ways during play. For example, let us consider writing a symbolic play scenario for “wake up in the morning”. The chain of real events as they happen to the student is the following (showering, use of toilet not included): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Sleeps. The The alar alarm m clo clock ck ring rings. s. Yawn Yawnin ing g and and stre stretc tchi hing ng.. Gett Gettin ing g out out of bed. bed. Putt Puttin ing g slee sleepe pers rs on. on. Goin Going g to to the the lava lavato tory ry.. Turn Turnin ing g the the wate waterr on. on. Wash Washin ing g han hands ds and and fac face. e. Drying han hands. Going to to the drawer drawer and and dressing. dressing.
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Symbolic Play The teacher may choose from the following symbolic forms when altering the above list in order to produce symbolic play sequences: • •
Sleeping Alarm clock
•
Alarm clock ringing Bed
•
Sleepers
•
The lavatory
•
The sink The faucet Water Washing Drying hands Drawer
•
• • • • •
pretending to sleep silently, pretending to snore. real alarm clock, toy alarm clock, an ad-hoc object in place of an alarm clock, no physical form. real ringing, another person imitating the sound. real bed, a couch, a lounger, a lounge chair, a sun bed, a towel on the floor, the floor itself. real sleepers, sleepers, other kind of footwear, footwear, nothing nothing (just pretending pretending to put invisibl invisiblee sleepers on). real lavatory, the corner of the room, a balcony, the outside of the house, a part of the playground. real sink, a bucket, nothing (just pretending to stand in front of an invisible sink). real faucet, a bottle of water held by a peer, nothing. real water, nothing. real washing, pretending by going through the motions. real tower, none. real drawer, imaginary drawer.
While it is tempting to replace all the elements used in this scenario with their symbolic forms, this is rather bad practice. In order to learn how to employ symbolization when playing, the child has to experience the presence of symbols gradually. This requires that the teacher should begin with the scenarios that resemble reality to the fullest, then slowly replace some of the elements with their corresponding symbolic forms. When selecting a form from a collection of forms for the same prototype, the most obvious forms should be considered first (see “Degree “Degree of obviousness” obviousness” at page 7).
Enhancing non-symbolic play scenarios Gathering already existing play scenarios from various sources (like books, magazines, the Internet) is an effective way to build a portfolio of play activities for a child. Many such games and play ideas do not have symbolism yet they may be transformed to acquire symbolic qualities. One way to do that is by following the method at page 14, i.e. by replacing some elements of the play sequence with a symbolic form when possible. For example, if the play sequence consists in combing and dressing a play doll, combing may be replaced with a fake combing (like combing with a fake comb). Another way is to leave the play session untouched but to attach symbolic interpretations to it. For example, if the play consists in stringing beads on a wire, then we can teach the student that the beads are pieces of diamonds, rubies and sapphires. We may also tell the student that's a necklace for Cinderella to wear when she meets her prince. This way the beads mutate into glamorous jewelry that may stir the student's imagination. Obviously, the second method requires better verbal abilities from the student's part.
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Symbolic Play
Demonstrating how to play No matter how well we craft the play scenarios, the student must become proficient in applying them. It is necessary that the teacher demonstrates how to play first, then he withdraws to let the student play by himself. Demonstrating the scenario to the student requires to play either by showing the session from start to finish or by engaging as a partner. Either way, the teacher has to fade his presence, eventually leaving the student to play alone or with a peer.
Using scripts and script fading The method of scripting and script fading has been used successfully in teaching conversational skills that are hard to teach via regular establishing operations operations because motivation is weak in casual talk (see [Teaching Conversation]). The main advantage of this method consists in the physical support that reminds the student what is to do. Another advantage is that the student controls his own activity schedule which encourages responsibility and discipline. We believe that scripting and script fading can be used successfully for play as well. The idea is to replace the conversation scripts with play scripts. If the student is empty of play ideas or if he's got idle time, he can open up his activity schedule and follow the script that lays out a play scenario. There are disadvantages to this method, though: •
It requires the student, in its advanced incarnation, to read quite fluently. It is hard to expect that from a child who is so delayed that he doesn't know how to play well.
•
It requires magnetic cards and a special audio device in its less advanced incarnation. The student is supposed to run the cards through the device in order to learn what the script is about.
•
It relies partially on images. Images are weak at representing symbols.
For the reasons above it is highly recommended recommended to use scripts s cripts and script fading as a last resort only.
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Symbolic Play
Fading adult presence The [VB-MAPP] [VB-MAPP] test has several several mileston milestones es related related to play. play. Some milestones milestones refer to independe independent nt play, play, others others to playing with peers. When speaking about play with peers, spontaneous play with no adult guidance is assumed. It is wonderful that a child with autism can learn how to play, but this is not enough. If the student learns from a teacher how to play it doesn't mean he'll know how to play independently and without guidance. Such an ability may require training as well. A simple method to fade adult supervision and presence in the case of play exists in [Portage Guide (ro)] and consists of the following steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
The teache teacherr ensures ensures that that the studen studentt is able to to play well well in his his presence. presence. The teacher teacher reduces reduces his involvement involvement in play: instructions, instructions, guiding guiding the decision making, suggesting variants. variants. The teacher teacher simpl simply y watches watches how the the studen studentt plays. plays. The teache teacherr gradually gradually grows grows the the distance distance betwee between n him and and the play play area. area. The teacher teacher sits sits remotely remotely,, half-way half-way turned turned from the student student who who is playing. playing. The teacher teacher sits sits with his back back turned turned to the student student,, pretending pretending of being being busy with with something. something. The teacher teacher exists exists tempor temporarily arily the the room for for periods periods that grow grow gradually gradually in in duration. duration. The teacher teacher leaves leaves the root root at the begin beginning ning of the the play session session and comes comes back back at the end. end.
The teacher cannot parse all these steps over one session. The student requires time to get accustomed to playing by himself. Yet, it is training that has to be done, otherwise the student may remain be unable to play without the teacher's presence.
Choosing what to play In typically developing children, the ability to play symbolically develops gradually (see “ Development of symbolic play” play” below). below). No child acquires the ability to play suddenly, no matter how simple that play might be. By the same token, when the adult intends to play with his typically developing child, he has to choose toys and games that are age appropriate. Children with autism and related disorders may be considered as either dysfunctional or developmentally delayed in terms of play behavior. Based on tests that evaluate a child's play behavior, one can compute a psychological age relative to play. This “play age” is behind the chronological age. The goal of the therapy is to eliminate that delay by developing functionality where missing. During the therapy, it is important to keep in mind the “play age” of the student. The symbols, the play sessions and the teaching in general has to be in line with the current development of the child. Section “Development “Development of symbolic play” play” at page 19 helps with determining the “play age” of a student and what kind of play to choose at any point of the therapy. Section “Planning “ Planning symbolic play training” training ” at page 41 shows how to plan symbolic play training while respecting the “play age”.
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Symbolic Play
Teaching imaginative play A child's play becomes imaginative when the child begins to imagine play sequences he hasn't seen or wasn't taught before. Play imagination does not come out of nothing. The child learns to become imaginative by acquiring first many play patterns from his parents and peers. Children with autism and related disorders have an overall problem with creativity and imagination. This problem reflects in play as well. However, we believe that children with autism can become creative when they are given systematically a larger number of elements and instances of composition laws that they cannot acquire otherwise by natural means. One such example is the teaching of symbolization (see page 13), 13), i.e. the teaching of an essentially creative endeavor. Just as with teaching symbolization, there is no silver bullet to teaching imaginative play. The solution is to teach as many play sequences as possible with as many variants as possible each. Eventually, the student starts to create new sequences by the following means: •
•
•
Combining Combining existing existing sequences sequences into new ones. Two variants variants of basicall basically y the same sequence are good candidates for such combination. Altering sequences to produce new variants. Transf Transferr erring ing steps steps from from one sequen sequence ce to a differ different ent,, unrela unrelate ted d sequen sequence ce that that suppor supports ts the the steps steps in a completely different setting.
Probing the existence of imaginative play Assuming that a play session is a period of time during which the student engages in uninterrupted play, imaginative play has the following mastery criteria: •
Any play session exhibits novel play sequences that the student has never learned or seen. One play sequence is enough and generating variants of previous sequences is accepted.
•
The student repeats no novel play sequence identically over the next two subsequent play sessions. Repeating identically the play sequence over one of the next two sessions is permitted, but not over both.
Just like symbolization, imaginative play does not extend from one development stage to another (for development stages, see “Development “Development of symbolic play” play ” at page 19). 19). This means that it must be checked for each stage of symbolic play development (see “Planning “ Planning symbolic play training” training ” at page 41 and further).
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Symbolic Play
Development of symbolic play According to the Westby Symbolic Play Scale List (see [Behavioral Intervention] page 303), symbolic play develops in 10 stages from the age of 9 months to 5 years. Each stage exhibits a certain amount of symbolism as well as a certain level of language development. Age
1.
9-12 mo
Play
Awareness that objects exist when not seen; finds toy hidden under the scarf. Means-end behavior – crawls or walks to get what he wants; pulls string toys. Does not mouth or bang all toys – some used appropriately. appropriately.
2.
13-17 mo
Purposeful exploration of toys; discovers operation of toy through trial and error; uses a variety of motoric schemas. Hands toy to adult if unable to operate.
Language
No true language; may have performative words (associated with actions or the total situation). Exhibits following communicative communicative functions: request (instrumental) and command (regulatory). Context-dependent Context-dependent single words; for example, child may use word “car” when riding in a car, but not when he sees a car; words tend to come and go in child's vocabulary. Exhibits following communicative communicative functions: request command interactional personal protesting label responsive greeting. • • • • • • • •
3.
17-19 mo
Autosymbolic play; for example, child Beginning of true verbal communication. pretends to go to sleep or pretends to drink Words have following functional and from cup or eat from spoon. semantic relations: recurrence Uses most common objects and toys existence, appropriately. nonexistence rejection Tool use (uses stick to reach toy). denial agent Finds toy invisibly hidden (when placed in object box and box emptied under scarf). action or state location object or person associated with object or location. • • • • • • • • • •
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Symbolic Play Age
4.
19-22 mo
Play
Language
Symbolic play extends beyond child's self: Refers to objects and persons not present. Plays with dolls: brushes doll's Beginning of word combinations with hair, feeds doll a bottle or covers following semantic relations: doll with a blanket. Agent-action Child performs pretend activities on more than one person or object: Action-object for example feed self, a doll, Agent-object mother and another child. Attribute Combines two toys in pretend Action-locative play: for example puts spoon in Object-locative pan or pours from pot into cup. Possessive Dative •
•
•
• • •
•
• • • •
5.
24 mo
Represents daily experiences: plays house – is the mommy, daddy or baby; objects used are realistic and close to life-size.
Uses earlier pragmatic functions and semantic relations in phrases and short sentences.
Events short and isolated; no true sequences; some self-limiting sequences – puts food in pan, stirs and eats.
The following morphological markers appear: Present progressive (ing) on verbs. Plurals. Possessives.
Block play consists of stacking and knocking down.
•
• •
Sand and water play consists of filling, pouring and dumping. 6.
2 ½ years
Represents events less frequently experienced experienced or observed, particularly impressive or traumatic events. Doctor-nurse-sick child. Teacher-child. Store-shopping.
Responds appropriately to the following wh- questions in context: What? Who? Whose? Where? What ... do ... ? Events Events still still short and isolated. isolated. Realistic Realistic Asks wh- questions – generally props still required. Roles shift quickly. puts wh-word at the beginning of sentence. Resp Respon onse sess to why questions inappropr inappropriate iately ly except except for wellwellknown routines, such as: “Why is the doctor here?” or “Baby sick”. Asks but often why, inap inappr propr opria iate tely ly and and does does not not attend to answer. •
•
•
•
•
•
• • •
•
•
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Symbolic Play Age
7.
3 years
Play
Continues to pretend activities of Stage V and VI, but now the play has a sequence. Events are not isolated: for example child mixes cake, bakes it, serves it, washes the dishes; or doctor checks patient, calls ambulance, takes patient to hospital and operates. Sequence evolves, not planned.
Language
Uses past tense, such as “I ate the cake” or “I walked”. Uses future aspect (particularly “gonna”) forms, such as “I'm gonna wash dishes”.
Compensatory toy; reenactment of experienced experienced events with new outcomes. Associative play. 8.
3 - 3 ½ years
Carries out play activities of previous stages with a doll and Fisher-Price toys (barn, garage, airport, village).
Descriptive vocabulary expands as child becomes more aware of perceptual attributes. Uses terms for the following concepts (not always correctly): Uses blocks and sandbox for imaginative shapes play. Blocks used primarily as enclosures sizes (fences and houses) for animals and dolls. colors texture Play not totally stimulus-bound. Child uses spatial relationship relationship one object to represent another. gives dialogue to puppet and dolls Uses doll or puppet as participant in play. metalinguistic metalinguistic language use such as “Mommy said ...” uses indirect requests, such as “mommy lets me have cookies for breakfast” changes speech depending on listener • • • • • •
•
•
•
9.
3 ½ – 4 years
Begins to problem-solve events not experienced. experienced. Plans ahead. Hypothesizes “what would happen if ...” Uses dolls and puppets to act out scenes. Builds three-dimensional structures with blocks, which are attempts at reproducing specific structures child has seen.
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Verbalizes intentions and possible future events: Uses modals (can, may, might, will, would, could). Uses conjunctions (and, but, if, • so, because). Note: full competence of these modals and conjunctions does not develop until 10-12 years of age. Begins to respond appropriately • to why and how questions that require reasoning about perception. •
Symbolic Play Age
10.
5 years
Play
Plans a sequence of pretend events. Organizes what he needs – both objects and other children.
Language
Uses relational terms (then, when, first, next, last, while, before, after). Note: full competence does not develop until 10-12 years of age.
Coordinates more than one event occurring at a time. Highly imaginative. Sets the scene without realistic props. Full cooperative play. The following sub-sections contain play suggestions for the first six stages. The examples have been drawn from [Teach Me Do It] and [Raising The Child (ro)]. While the proposed games are not necessarily symbolic in nature, they develop skills that favor symbolization later on.
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Symbolic Play
Stage I: 9-10 months Symbolic play: Awareness that objects exist when not seen; finds toy hidden under the scarf. Means-end behavior – crawls or walks to get what he wants; pulls string toys. Does not mouth or bang all toys – some used appropriately. appropriately.
• • •
Speech: • •
No true language; may have performative words (associated with actions or the total situation). Exhibits following communicative functions: request (instrumental) and command (regulatory).
Game 1: where did mama go? Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
hide hide behind behind a door or or a curtain curtain.. Ask “where “where did did mama mama go?”. go?”. When When appea appearin ring, g, make make a joyful joyful sound sound (like in the peek-a-boo game).
Game 2: stretch for that Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
take a desirab desirable le object object put it it close close to the child, child, but not not in his reach. reach. He He must move, move, stretch stretch or or crawl crawl to get it.
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Symbolic Play
Stage II: 13-17 months Symbolic play: •
•
Purposeful exploration of toys; discovers operation of toy through trial and error; uses a variety of motoric schemas. Hands toy to adult if unable to operate.
Speech: •
•
Context-dependent single words; for example, child may use word “car” when riding in a car, but not when he sees a car; words tend to come and go in child's vocabulary. Exhibits following communicative functions: request command interactional personal protesting label responsive greeting. ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦
Game 1: plastic boxes Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
while while busy busy in the the kitche kitchen, n, hand hand plasti plasticc boxes boxes to the chil child d and encou encourag ragee him to put put them them one into into another to discover shape, or stack them to discover size. Hand him small objects (a pile of cereals) that he can fill the boxes with and empty the boxes.
Game 2: the pool Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
in the the bathroom bathroom or in the the back back yard, yard, give give to the child child a large large bowl of water water and and some some several several objec objects ts (sponge, bathroom toys, etc).
Game 3: imitations Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
ask the the child child to imita imitate te you while while you you touch touch your your body body parts. parts. Ask Ask the child child to imita imitate te you you when you you use various objects (kitchen utensils, pieces of clothing, telephone, silverware, etc). Commend him when he tries to wear your cloths and imitate you.
Game 4: wall drawing and painting Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
fix a piece piece of white white paper paper on the the wall wall and encourag encouragee the child child to write write,, draw draw and paint on it. it. Instruct Instruct the child that the piece of paper is the only area allowed.
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Symbolic Play
Game 5: lost toy Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
show show a toy to to the chil child d and then then cove coverr it with with a towe towel. l. Let Let the chi child ld find find the the toy. toy.
Game 6: candy in prison Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
take take the piece piece of cand candy y and put put it into into a bottle. bottle. Let the the child child get get the candy candy.. You can make make the game game more complex by putting a cap or a cork – the child is supposed to ask for help. More complex game: choose the non-transparent non-transparent bottle.
Game 7: what's the match? Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
put a red red sock sock onto one one chil child's d's foot foot and hand hand him him two two other other sock. sock. Ask him him which which one he he has to put put on. You can imagine similar variants with anything that goes in pairs: gloves, shoes, etc.
Game 8: the tour of the house Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Desc Descri ript ptio ion: n:
make make daily daily tours tours with with the the chil child d in each each room room withi within n the the house. house. Talk Talk abou aboutt the items items he sees. sees. Encourage him to touch them and explore them. Encourage him to open doors, turn lights on, etc. so that he develops fine motor skills.
Game 9: the tunnel Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
get a cylinder cylinder made made of plastic plastic or or cardboar cardboard. d. Put an small small object object inside inside the tube and and then then push it with with a long stick or spoon until it appears at the other end. Encourage the child to do the same.
Game 10: self portrait Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
take take a big sheet sheet of paper paper or make one one by gluing gluing sever several al small smaller er sheets sheets toget together her.. Make Make the child child lay lay down over the sheet. Draw his contour on the paper with a crayon. Put the sheet on a wall and encourage the child to color the interior of the contour with the colors corresponding to his clothing, skin and hair (see also Game 4: wall drawing and painting at page 24). 24).
Game 11: obstacle race Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
put many many obstac obstacles les within within the child's child's room room (chairs (chairs,, a pillow pillow,, a box, box, a large large toy) and engag engagee him into a “race” that has to make him go over all the obstacles. OBS: great care so that the child doesn't hurt himself.
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Symbolic Play
Game 12: puzzle Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
take take a picture picture and and cut it in 3 pieces pieces.. Ask the child child to resto restore re the the picture picture.. When he gets gets used used to that, that, change the picture. When he's proficient with 3 pieces, move to 4 pieces or more.
Game 13: sorting Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
mix mix many small small objec objects ts of two diffe differen rentt kinds kinds (matche (matchess and coins, coins, seeds seeds of two kinds kinds,, seeds seeds and beads, etc) and ask the child to separate the two kinds. OBS: make sure the child doesn't swallow anything. Another variant: mix two kinds of silverware. Another variant: mix Lego pieces. Another variant: more than two kinds of objects.
Game 14: the professional taster Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
make the child child close his eyes eyes or cover cover the child's child's eyes eyes and and give give him him various various foods and drinks drinks to taste taste (mashed foods are especially suitable). Another variant: make the child taste and smell the food.
Game 15: the balance Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
make pairs pairs of object objectss of similar similar size but but of different different weigh weight. t. Have Have the child child compare compare the the weights weights and and tell which one is heavier. Another variant: make the child sort the objects based on weight.
Game 16: trainman Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
establ establish ish a start starting ing point point,, an end point point and and a path path betwee between n the two. two. The chil child d will be the the train. train. You You ask “the train” to run from start to end and back with various speeds. You can command: “faster”, “slower”, “even more faster”, “the fastest”, etc.
Game 17: opening and closing items Source:
[Teach Me Do It].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
array array in front front of the child child severa severall bottles bottles and and jars of differ different ent dimen dimensio sions ns with with their their lids. lids. Ask the child to match the lids to bottles or jars, close them and open them. Another variant: use screws and bolts. Another variant: use boxes and lids. Another variants: use padlocks and keys.
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Symbolic Play
Stage III: 17-19 months Symbolic play: •
• • •
Autosymbolic play; for example, child pretends to go to sleep or pretends to drink from cup or eat from spoon. Uses most common objects and toys appropriately. Tool use (uses stick to reach toy). Finds toy invisibly hidden (when placed in box and box emptied under scarf).
Speech: beginning of true verbal communication. communication. Words have following functional and semantic relations: • • • • • • • • • •
recurrence existence nonexistence rejection denial agent object action or state location object or person associated with object or location.
Game 1: reachin' without stretchin' Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
take take a desira desirable ble objec objectt (toy, (toy, covered covered candy candy)) and put it into into a place place that that the child child canno cannott retriev retrievee it except by using a tool. Give the tool to the child (a stick, a long spoon) and let him grab the desired object.
Game 2: going fishing Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
take take a small small pillow pillow and and atta attach ch a wire wire to it. Show Show to the the chil child d that by by pulling pulling the the wire wire he can can get the the pillow. Repeat several times by putting desirable object on the pillow.
Game 3: box with wonders Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
show show a toy to the the child child and and put it in in a box. Let Let the chil child d find the the toy. toy. Anoth Another er varian variant: t: put put the box box with the toy into another larger box. Another variant: the the toy out of the box and put it under a towel nearby. The child must look under the towel and not in the box.
Game 4: burning boat Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
put a towel onto the floor, floor, that will be the the “boat”. “boat”. The child child has to sit sit onto onto the towel. towel. When When you shout “burning boat!”, the child has to jump into the “sea” (outside the towel).
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Symbolic Play
Game 5: run to color Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
name a color color and start start to count. count. The The child child has has to find find an objec objectt of the the same same color color and run to to it as fast as possible. Reward better performances.
Game 6: go after sound Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
cover cover the child's child's eye eye or make make him him close close his his eyes. eyes. Place Place yourself yourself in some some part part of the the room room and and make make a sound (bell, alarm clock, etc). The child has to find you by following the sound's direction. Start with small small distances distances then grow the distance distance gradually. gradually. Another variant: variant: move slowly while you are making the sound.
Game 7: the robot Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
lay on on the floor floor and and pretend pretend you you are a robot robot.. The child child must must “turn “turn you you on” and then then comm command and you you until you stand up. You may change roles.
Game 8: weave the paper Source:
[Teach Me Do It].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
have have the child child to cut narrow narrow rectan rectangle gless in a sheet sheet of paper. paper. Weave Weave the resulte resulted d strips strips transve transversa rsally lly through the paper holes to obtain a small rug. Another variant: color the rectangles before cutting them out.
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Symbolic Play
Stage IV: 19-22 months Symbolic play extends beyond child's self: • •
•
Plays with dolls: brushes doll's hair, feeds do ll a bottle or covers doll with a blanket. Child performs pretend activities activities on more than one person or object: for example feed self, a doll, mother and another child. Combines two toys in pretend play: for example puts spoon in pan or pours from pot into cup.
Speech: refers to objects and persons not present. Beginning of word combinations with following semantic relations: • • • • • • • •
Agent-action Action-object Agent-object Attribute Action-locative Object-locative Possessive Dative
Game 1: follow the color Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Desc Descri ript ptio ion: n:
when when you are are on a trip trip,, esta establ blis ish h a color color with with the the child. child. Durin During g the the trip name name obje object ctss from from the environment that have that color. It's forbidden to repeat the objects (like “tree, tree, tree, tree ...” for color green).
Game 2: monsters in the dark Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
turn turn the light light off off in the room room or cover cover the the child' child'ss eyes. eyes. Put an objec objectt in the chil child's d's hand hand and ask ask him what it is.
Game 3: treasure hunt Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
when outside outside in a park park or a forest forest,, ask the child child to bring bring to to you four four object objects: s: one round, round, one yellow, yellow, one thorny and one that can float. Another variant: start with one object. Another variant: ask the child to think about bringing objects with two attributes into the same time.
Game 4: mystery object Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
take take an object object and and hide hide it unde underr a towel. towel. Ask the the child child to to guess guess what what it is just just by look looking ing the the the the object covered by the towel. If he cannot guess, allow him to touch the object under the towel.
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Symbolic Play
Game 5: hard and soft Source:
[Teach Me Do It].
Descripti Description: on:
take a soft object object and and a hard hard object. object. Cover the child child's 's eyes. eyes. Make Make him him touch touch the the objects objects and and say “this “this is hard” hard” and “this “this is soft”. soft”. Anoth Another er varia variant: nt: use three three object objects, s, the the hardes hardest, t, the the softes softestt and intermediate. Another variant: use four objects, make the child say which object is the hardest and which one the softest. Another variant: go to up to eight objects.
Game 6: smooth and rough Source:
[Teach Me Do It].
Description:
the same as in Game 5, but with rough and smooth objects.
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Symbolic Play
Stage V: 24 months Symbolic play: •
• • •
Represents daily experiences: plays house – is the mommy, daddy or baby; objects used are realistic and close to life-size. Events short and isolated; no true sequences; some self-limiting sequences – puts food in pan, stirs and eats. Block play consists of stacking and knocking down. Sand and water play consists of filling, pouring and dumping.
Speech: • •
Uses earlier pragmatic functions and semantic relations in phrases and short sentences. The following morphological markers appear: Present progressive (ing) on verbs. Plurals. Possessives.
◦ ◦ ◦
Game 1: repeating patterns Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descripti Description: on:
use various various pieces pieces of two two colors colors (like (like Lego Lego pieces) pieces) and and form form chains chains of repea repeating ting patte patterns: rns: red, red, yellow yellow,, red, yellow, red ... Ask the child to continue the chain by keeping the pattern. Another variant: grow the number of colors. Another variant: switch from color pattern to shape pattern: square, rectangle, square, rectangle, ... Another variant: switch from color pattern to object pattern: apple, pear, apple, pear, ...
Game 2: imaginary finger drawing Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
draw draw an imagin imaginary ary shape shape on on the table table with with your your finger finger and let let the chil child d guess guess what it is. is. Another Another variant: draw on his belly (assuming he doesn't tickle). Another variant: draw simple objects (apple, pear, hat,).
Game 3: mystery drawing Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
draw draw an image image on a large large sheet sheet of paper paper.. Cover Cover the image image with with small smaller er piece piecess of paper, paper, but not not entirely. Ask the child to guess what object is by looking at the uncovered portion of the drawing. If he cannot guess, take one small piece of paper out, so that the child can see more.
Game 4: mystery sound Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
ask the the child child to stay with with his his back turn turned ed to you. you. Make Make sounds sounds with with various various objec objects ts (open (open and close close scissors, rip paper off, open and close a book loudly, etc) and ask the child to guess what's h appening without looking.
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Symbolic Play
Game 5: set the table Source:
[Teach Me Do It].
Descripti Description: on:
take a big sheet sheet of paper paper and draw draw with with a pencil pencil the contours contours of of a plate, plate, fork, fork, knife knife,, glass, glass, spoon spoon and and desert spoon. Then ask the child to set the table by matching the objects to their contours. After several trials make the child set the table without the help of contours.
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Symbolic Play
Stage VI: 2 ½ years Symbolic play: •
Represents events less frequently experienced or observed, particularly impressive or traumatic events. Doctor-nurse-sick Doctor-nurse-sick child. Teacher-child. Store-shopping. Events still short and isolated. Realistic props still required. Roles shift quickly. ◦ ◦ ◦
•
Speech: responds appropriately to the following wh- questions in context: • • • • • • •
•
What? Who? Whose? Where? What ... do ... ? Asks wh- questions – generally puts wh-word at the beginning of sentence. Responses to why questions inappropriately except for well-known routines, such as: “Why is the doctor here?” or “Baby sick”. Asks why, but often inappropriately and does not attend to answer.
Game 1: find the emotion Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Desc Descri ript ptio ion: n:
name name an emot emotio ion n and and hand hand a maga magazi zine ne,, a book or a pile of pict pictur ures es to the chil child. d. The chil child d has has identify a person or an animal showing that emotion. Discuss the reasons to choose one picture over another with the child.
Game 2: the prompter Source:
[Raising The Child (ro)].
Descri Descripti ption: on:
do an activi activity ty that that you usuall usually y do accomp accompani anied ed by the the child. child. Pretend Pretend to forge forgett the next next step step of what you need. Ask the child to assist you and follow his commands.
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Symbolic Play
Quality of symbolic play It is hard to talk about the quality of an activity so complex and personal as play. Yet, quality seems to exist considering that parents and educators admonish sometimes the children for not playing “nice” or commend them when they play in an imaginative and intelligent way. This section is concerned solely with the quality of symbolic play and not with play in general. For a questionnaire of play observation, see [Autism and Play].
Symbolic play observation sheet The teacher may use the sheet on the next page in order to record the symbolic content of a play session of the student. The elements in the sheet have the following meanings: •
Nr. Type
•
Play session
•
Symbolic play sub-session
•
Start End Symbols
•
• •
Is the ordinal number of the symbolic sub-session. Is the type of the session recorded. It may be either the whole play session or a sub-session with symbolic content. Is a period of time during which the student plays without significant interruption. Is a period of time during a play session in which the student performs symbolic play without significant s ignificant interruption. Is the start moment of the play s ession or of a symbolic sub-session. Is the end moment of the play session or of a symbolic sub-session. Is a symbolic form - symbolic prototype couple representing a symbolic liaison during play.
With the observation sheet in his hand, the teacher must record the data about the student's play. He must strike out afterwards the repeated symbolic forms, the repeated symbolic prototypes and the indexes of the repeated symbols (repeated form = prototype couples). After eliminating duplicates, he must transfer the data into the summarizing sheet present at page 36. 36.
- 34 -
Symbolic Play Nr.
Type
Start End (hh:mm) (hh:mm)
Content
n/a
Play session
Enter the start and the end of the play session.
1.
Symb Symbol olic ic play play subsub-se sessi ssion on ____ ____ : ____ ____ ____ ____ : ____ ____ Symb Symbol ols: s: 1. ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ = ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ 2. _____________ = _____________ 3. _____________ = _____________ 4. _____________ = _____________ 5. _____________ = _____________
2.
Symb Symbol olic ic play play subsub-se sessi ssion on ____ ____ : ____ ____ ____ ____ : ____ ____ Symb Symbol ols: s: 1. ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ = ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ 2. _____________ = _____________ 3. _____________ = _____________ 4. _____________ = _____________ 5. _____________ = _____________
3.
Symb Symbol olic ic play play subsub-se sessi ssion on ____ ____ : ____ ____ ____ ____ : ____ ____ Symb Symbol ols: s: 1. ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ = ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ 2. _____________ = _____________ 3. _____________ = _____________ 4. _____________ = _____________ 5. _____________ = _____________
4.
Symb Symbol olic ic play play subsub-se sessi ssion on ____ ____ : ____ ____ ____ ____ : ____ ____ Symb Symbol ols: s: 1. ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ = ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ 2. _____________ = _____________ 3. _____________ = _____________ 4. _____________ = _____________ 5. _____________ = _____________
5.
Symb Symbol olic ic play play subsub-se sessi ssion on ____ ____ : ____ ____ ____ ____ : ____ ____ Symb Symbol ols: s: 1. ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ = ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ 2. _____________ = _____________ 3. _____________ = _____________ 4. _____________ = _____________ 5. _____________ = _____________
6.
Symb Symbol olic ic play play subsub-se sessi ssion on ____ ____ : ____ ____ ____ ____ : ____ ____ Symb Symbol ols: s: 1. ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ = ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ 2. _____________ = _____________ 3. _____________ = _____________ 4. _____________ = _____________ 5. _____________ = _____________
7.
Symb Symbol olic ic play play subsub-se sessi ssion on ____ ____ : ____ ____ ____ ____ : ____ ____ Symb Symbol ols: s: 1. ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ = ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ 2. _____________ = _____________ 3. _____________ = _____________ 4. _____________ = _____________ 5. _____________ = _____________
8.
Symb Symbol olic ic play play subsub-se sessi ssion on ____ ____ : ____ ____ ____ ____ : ____ ____ Symb Symbol ols: s: 1. ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ = ____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ _ 2. _____________ = _____________ 3. _____________ = _____________ 4. _____________ = _____________ 5. _____________ = _____________
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Symbolic Play
Symbolic play observation summarizer The teacher must summarize the results obtained with the sheet at page 35 into the following sheet:
Student name: ________________
Symbolic Play Observation Summarizer
Observer's name: ________________ Date: ________________
Nr.
Name
I
II
III
IV
Description
1)
Duration of the play session (min)
It is the total duration of a play session.
2)
Duration of symbolic play (min)
It is the sum of the length of all symbolic play subsessions.
3)
Proportion of symbolic play (%)
It is the ratio of 2) to 1).
4)
Number of symbolic play sub-sessions
It is the number of subsession symbolic in nature.
5)
Aver Averag agee durat duratio ion n of cont contin inuo uous us symb symbol olic ic pla play y (min)
It is the ratio of 2) to 4).
6)
Number of different symbols used
It is the number of form = prototype unique pairs.
7)
Aver Averag agee numb number er of of symb symbol olss per per symb symbol olic ic sub sub-session
It is the ratio of 6) to 4).
8)
Aver Averag agee numb number er of of symb symbol olss per per minu minute te of of play play (symbol/min)
It is the ratio of 6) to 1).
9)
Aver Averag agee num numbe berr of of sym symbol bolss per per min minut utee of of symbolic play (symbol/min)
It is the ratio of 6) to 2).
10)
Number of different symbolic forms used
It is the number of unique concrete objects or actions used in symbolic play.
11)
Avera Average ge num number ber of sym symbol bolic ic form formss per per minut minutee of symbolic play (form/min)
It is the ratio of 10) to 2).
12)
Number of different symbolic prototypes used
It is the number of unique elements represented in symbolic play by symbolic forms.
13)
Avera Average ge number number of symbol symbolic ic protot prototype ypess per per minute of symbolic play (prototype/min)
It is the ratio of 12) to 2).
14) 14)
Aver Averag agee numb number er of of form formss per per prot protot otyp ypee (form/prototype)
It is the ratio of 12) to 10).
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Symbolic Play
Interpreting results The values in the summarizer have the following meanings: •
I, II, III, IV
The summarizer has room for up to four session. By summarizing different sessions on the same sheet, the teacher can compare how the symbolic play behavior evolves over time.
•
Duration of play session
Is the the leng length th of time time that that the the chil child d sust sustai ains ns continuous play. This value has to be as large as possible.
•
Duration of symbolic play
It the the summ summed ed leng length th of time time that that the the chil child d sustains symbolic play. The teacher obtains this num number ber by summ summin ing g up the the leng length thss of the symbolic sub-sessions. This value has to be as larg largee as poss possib ible le.. It cann cannot ot be larg larger er than han Duration of play session .
•
Proportion of symbolic play
It tells how much of the play time the student has spent on symbolic play. 0% means total absence of symbol symbolic ic play. play. 100% 100% means means the play play was entirely symbolic. This value has to be as large as possi possible ble with with the menti mention on that that rejec rejectin ting g nonnonsymb symbol olic ic form formss of play play like like boar board d game gamess of physical play is not good either.
•
Number of symbolic play sub-sessions
It tells how many times the student engaged in continuous symbolic play. 0 means no symbolic pla play. y. Too Too larg largee a valu valuee mean meanss the the stud studen entt switches from symbolic to non-symbolic play too quickly.
•
Average duration of continuous symbolic play
It tells how much, in average, the student sustains continuous symbolic play. This value has to be as large as possible.
•
Number of different symbols used. It does not include duplicates
•
Average number of symbols per symbolic sub-session
•
Average number of symbols per minute of play
•
Average number of symbols per minute of symbolic play
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For example, if the student used the symbol stick = sword three time times, s, then then the the summ summar ariz izer er record recordss “stick “stick = sword” sword” only only once.
It is an indicator of how imaginative the symbolic play of the child is. This value has to be as large as possible. It is a mea measure sure of the the amou amount nt sym symboli bolism sm contained by a student's play. This value has to be as large as possible. It is a measure of symbolic “density” of a student's play. This value has to be as large as possible.
Symbolic Play It does not include duplicates. For example, if the student uses a stick both as a sword and as a flag pole, then the summarizer records “stick” only once.
•
Number of different symbolic forms used
•
Average number of symbolic forms per minute of symbolic play
•
Number of different symbolic prototypes per minute of symbolic play
It does not include include duplicates. duplicates. For For exam exampl ple, e, if the the stud studen entt repr repres esen ents ts a fuse fuse both both by a wood wooden en stic stick k and and by a meta metall rod, then the summarizer records “fuse” only once.
•
Average number of symbolic prototypes per minute of symbolic play
It is a measure of the student's proficiency in using his knowl knowledg edgee in symbol symbolic ic play play.. This value has to be as large as possible.
•
Average number of forms per prototype
It is a measure of the student's proficiency in using the environme environment nt in symbolic symbolic play. play. This value has to be as large as possible.
It is a measure of the student's ability to match available objects to elements in his mind. While there is not optimal value for this number, a value as stable stable as possib possible le from from one evaluati evaluation on to another is better. A value much larger than 1 means that the student is not very imaginative. A value much smaller than 1 means that the student does not know how to exploit the environment.
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Symbolic Play
Building a symbolic play repertoire A symbolic play repertoire consists of a repertoire of symbols and a repertoire of games and play scripts.
Building a repertoire of symbols Children with autism have trouble with extracting and using symbols in play. They need to be taught symbols explicitly. As shown in “Components “Components of play symbols” symbols” at page 4, a symbol has three components: • • •
The symbolic prototype, which is the concept that the child has in mind and intents to represent in play. The symbolic form, which is what the child use or does in play. The symbolic likeness which links the two. The attributes that the symbolic likeness rests upon may belong to a real likeness between the form and the prototype or may belong solely to the prototype, the child adorning the form with a prototype attribute the form does not h ave.
The teacher may use the following table to keep track of the symbols taught to the student: Nr.
Symbolic form
Symbolic prototype
Real likeness
Virtual likeness
1.
Pebble
Grenade
Small, round
Explodes
2.
Stick
Sword
Long, thin, stiff
Cuts, snaps
3.
Rock
Enemy tank
Sturdy, heavy
Big, moving, throwing projectiles projectiles
4.
...
It is essential to use symbolic prototypes that the student knows well, as proven by the list of trained tacts and their usage in LRFFC training. Likewise, the symbolic form must be familiar to the student. As explained in “Development “Development of symbolic play” play” at page 19, symbolic abilities grow over time. Therefore, it is better to devise a repertoire for each stage of development than a single repertoire for all. Moreover, it is strongly recommended to try to derive new stages' repertoires from the previous ones by enhancing the existing symbols with new attributes, by reusing the existing forms to represent additional prototypes or by adding new forms to represent existing prototypes.
- 39 -
Symbolic Play
Building a repertoire of play scripts After constructing the repertoire of symbols for the current stage of symbolic play (see “ Development of symbolic play” play” at page 19), 19), the teacher may proceed with creating a repertoire of play scripts for the same stage. The new scripts should satisfy the following conditions: •
• • •
They must be appropriate in contents and complexity to the existing stage of symbolic development. If the student is developmentally at Stage II, it is useless to design play scripts representing occasional events like doctor-nurse-patient doctor-nurse-patient (see Stage VI: 2 ½ years at page 33). 33). They must contain symbols in the repertoire of symbols corresponding to the current stage or earlier stages. They should be developments of scripts corresponding to earlier stages. The same core scenario should come in as many variants as possible to avoid rote memorization of scripts.
We believe that having a portfolio emerging from an initial set of fifty core scripts into a repertoire of several hundred variants suffices in terms of the necessary variety necessary teach to children how to play as naturally as possible.
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Symbolic Play
Planning symbolic play training As [Autism and Play] witnesses, teaching a child with autism is hard yet the reward is great for both the student and the teacher. Like any difficult task, training symbolic play requires careful planning. Fortunately enough, we have the Westby Scale of Symbolic Play Development that we can use as a guide. Therefore, the planning below follows it closely. Because the half of the scale referring to symbolic play is closely related with the verbal development half, we believe this correlation should be maintained for children with autism and related disorders. Such correlation requires from the therapist that he does not advance to the next stage of symbolic play until the child demonstrates the verbal skills corresponding to the current stage. One should keep in mind that the planning below refers to symbolic play only. However, it is essential that the student learns how to play non-symbolically as well. A good source to find non-symbolic games for ages 0 to 6 is [Raising The Child (ro)]. That being said, the following sub-sections give guidelines for each stage.
Preliminary stage Before commencing, it is necessary to teach likeness. The teaching steps have already been detailed in “Training “ Training likeness” likeness” and the protocol for mastery verification has been laid out in “Probing likeness”. likeness”. If the student does not master likeness, likeness, then symbolic symbolic play training training should should proceed proceed while postponin postponing g mastery mastery verification for a later moment.
Stage I If the student is at Stage I of symbolic play development, do the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Build a reper repertoire toire of of objects objects that that will will be used used as symbol symbol prototype prototypess later later on. Do the the game gamess sho shown wn in in “Stage “Stage I: 9-10 months” months” at page 23 or other similar games. Check Check the mastery mastery of of likeness likeness capabi capabiliti lities es if not alrea already dy checked. checked. Check Check for maste mastery ry all the verbal verbal milest milestones ones corres correspondi ponding ng to Stage I before moving to Stage II. Check Check for mastery mastery of imaginat imaginative ive play play at at this this level. level.
Stage II If the student is at the Stage II of symbolic play development, do the following: 1.
Build a repertoi repertoire re of objects objects by adding objects objects appropr appropriate iate for this this stage to the repertoir repertoiree of objects objects from Stage I. 2. Do the the game gamess sho shown wn in in “Stage “Stage II: 13-17 months months”” at page 24 or other similar games. 3. Check Check the mastery mastery of of likeness likeness capabi capabiliti lities es if not alrea already dy checked. checked. 4. Check Check for maste mastery ry of all all the verbal verbal milest milestones ones corres correspondi ponding ng to Stage II before moving to Stage III. 6. Check Check for mastery mastery of imaginat imaginative ive play play at at this this level. level.
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Symbolic Play
Stage III If the student is at Stage III of symbolic play development, do the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 7. 8.
Start a repertoir repertoiree of symbols starting starting from the the repertoire repertoire of objects objects of the previous previous stages augmente augmented d with objects and body parts appropriate for Stage III. Maintain the repertoire of objects separately. Do the the game gamess sho shown wn in in “Stage “Stage III: 17-19 months” months ” at page 27 or other similar games. Build a repertoi repertoire re of very very short short play play scripts scripts appro appropriat priatee for Stage III. The repertoire should contain a least 20 different scripts. Teach Teach the symbo symbols ls necessar necessary y for the the scripts scripts in in the repert repertoire. oire. Teach Teach sym symbol boliza izati tion on at at the the level level of Stage III. Teach Teach the the play play script scriptss in the the reper repertoi toire. re. Check Check the master mastery y of likenes likenesss capabil capabilitie itiess and do not move move to Stage IV until mastery is achieved. Check Check for maste mastery ry of all all the verbal verbal milest milestones ones corres correspondi ponding ng to Stage III before moving to Stage IV. Check Check for mastery mastery of imaginat imaginative ive play play at at this this level. level.
Stage IV If the student is at Stage IV of symbolic play development, do the following: 1. Build Build a repert repertoir oiree of symbol symbolss by: by: 1. Using the repert repertoire oire of objects objects from the previous previous stages stages.. 2. Augmentin Augmenting g the repert repertoire oire of of symbols symbols from from the the previous previous stage stage.. 3. Addi Adding ng new new sym symbo bols ls.. 2. Do the the game gamess sho shown wn in in “Stage “Stage IV: 19-22 months” months” at page 29 or other similar games. 3. Build a reperto repertoire ire of short short scrip scripts ts appropr appropriate iate for Stage IV. The repertoire should contain at least 50 different core scripts with a few variants each. 4. Teach Teach the symbo symbols ls necessar necessary y for the the scripts scripts in in the repert repertoire. oire. 5. Teach Teach sym symbol boliza izati tion on at at the the level level of Stage IV. 6. Teach Teach the the play play script scriptss in the the reper repertoi toire. re. 7. Check Check for maste mastery ry of all all the verbal verbal milest milestones ones corres correspondi ponding ng to Stage IV before moving to Stage V. 8. Check Check for mastery mastery of imaginat imaginative ive play play at at this this level. level.
Stage V If the student is at Stage V of symbolic play development, do the following: 1. Build Build a repert repertoir oiree of symbol symbolss by: by: 1. Augmentin Augmenting g the repert repertoire oire of of symbols symbols from from the the previous previous stage stage.. 2. Addi Adding ng new new sym symbo bols ls.. 2. Do the the game gamess sho shown wn in in “Stage “Stage V: 24 months” months” at page 31 or other similar games. 3. Build Build a reperto repertoire ire of short short script scriptss appropr appropriat iatee for Stage V. The repertoire should contain no less than 100 different core scripts with a few variants each. 4. Teach Teach the symbo symbols ls necessar necessary y for the the scripts scripts in in the repert repertoire. oire. 5. Teach Teach sym symbol boliza izati tion on at at the the level level of Stage V. 6. Teach Teach the the play play script scriptss in the the reper repertoi toire. re. 7. Check Check for maste mastery ry of all all the verbal verbal milest milestones ones corres correspondi ponding ng to Stage V before moving to Stage VI. 8. Check Check for mastery mastery of imaginat imaginative ive play play at at this this level. level.
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Symbolic Play
Stage VI If the student is at Stage VI of symbolic play development, do the following: 1. Build Build a repert repertoir oiree of symbol symbolss by: by: 1. Augmentin Augmenting g the repert repertoire oire of of symbols symbols from from the the previous previous stage stage.. 2. Addi Adding ng new new sym symbo bols ls.. 2. Do the the game gamess sho shown wn in in “Stage “Stage VI: 2 ½ years” years” at page 33 or other similar games. 3. Build Build a reperto repertoire ire of short short scrip scripts ts approp appropria riate te for for Stage VI. The repertoire should contain no less than 150 different core scripts with a few variants each. 4. Teach Teach the symbo symbols ls necessar necessary y for the the scripts scripts in in the repert repertoire. oire. 5. Teach Teach sym symbol boliza izati tion on at at the the level level of Stage VI-VII. If mastery fails, do not postpone move to Stage VII. 6. Teach Teach the the play play script scriptss in the the reper repertoi toire. re. 7. Check Check for mastery mastery of all the the verbal verbal mileston milestones es correspon corresponding ding to Stage Stage VI before before moving moving to Stage VII. 8. Check Check for mastery mastery of imaginat imaginative ive play play at at this this level. level.
Stage VII If the student is at Stage VII of symbolic play development, do the following: 1. Build Build a repert repertoir oiree of symbol symbolss by: by: 1. Augmentin Augmenting g the repert repertoire oire of of symbols symbols from from the the previous previous stage stage.. 2. Addi Adding ng new new sym symbo bols ls.. 2. Build Build a repert repertoir oiree of script scriptss appropr appropria iate te for for Stage VII by: 1. Combining Combining similar similar scripts scripts to obtain obtain longer longer scripts scripts (sequenc (sequences). es). 2. Create Create scripts scripts that represent represent play sequences sequences.. 3. Teach Teach the symbo symbols ls necessar necessary y for the the scripts scripts in in the repert repertoire. oire. 4. Teach Teach sym symbol boliza izati tion on at at the the level level of Stage VI-VII if mastery has failed at Stage VI. 5. Teach Teach the the play play script scriptss in the the reper repertoi toire. re. 6. Check Check for maste mastery ry of all all the verbal verbal milest milestones ones corres correspondi ponding ng to Stage VII before moving to Stage VIII. 7. Check Check for mastery mastery of imaginat imaginative ive play play at at this this level. level.
Stage VIII If the student is at Stage VIII of symbolic play development, do the following: 1. Build Build a repert repertoir oiree of symbol symbolss by: by: 1. Augmentin Augmenting g the repert repertoire oire of of symbols symbols from from the the previous previous stage stage.. 2. Addi Adding ng new new sym symbo bols ls.. 2. Build Build a repert repertoir oiree of script scriptss appropr appropria iate te for for Stage VII by: 1. Combining Combining similar similar scripts scripts to obtain obtain longer longer scripts scripts (sequenc (sequences). es). 2. Create Create scripts scripts that represent represent play sequences sequences.. 3. Teach Teach the symbo symbols ls necessar necessary y for the the scripts scripts in in the repert repertoire. oire. 4. Teach Teach sym symbol boliza izati tion on at at the the level level of Stage VIII. 5. Teach Teach the the play play script scriptss in the the reper repertoi toire. re. 6. Check Check for maste mastery ry of all all the verbal verbal milest milestones ones corres correspondi ponding ng to Stage VIII before moving to Stage IX. 7. Check Check for mastery mastery of imaginat imaginative ive play play at at this this level.. level..
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Symbolic Play
Stage IX If the student is at Stage IX of symbolic play development, do the following: 1. Build Build a repert repertoir oiree of symbol symbolss by: by: 1. Augmentin Augmenting g the repert repertoire oire of of symbols symbols from from the the previous previous stage stage.. 2. Addi Adding ng new new sym symbo bols ls.. 2. Build Build a repert repertoir oiree of script scriptss appropr appropria iate te for for Stage IX by: 1. Modify Modify existing existing scrip scripts ts to include include hypot hypotheses heses and and problem problem-solv -solving. ing. 2. Create Create new new scrip scripts ts in line line wit with h the sta stage. ge. 3. Teach Teach the symbo symbols ls necessar necessary y for the the scripts scripts in in the repert repertoire. oire. 4. Teach Teach sym symbol boliza izati tion on at at the the level level of Stage IX. 5. Teach Teach the the play play script scriptss in the the reper repertoi toire. re. 6. Check Check for maste mastery ry of all all the verbal verbal milest milestones ones corres correspondi ponding ng to Stage IX before moving to Stage X. 7. Check Check for mastery mastery of imaginat imaginative ive play play at at this this level.. level..
Stage X If the student is at Stage X of symbolic development, do the following: 1. Build Build a repert repertoir oiree of script scriptss appropr appropria iate te for for Stage IX by: 1. Modify Modify existi existing ng scripts scripts to inclu include de cooper cooperativ ativee play. play. 2. Create Create new new scrip scripts ts in line line wit with h the sta stage. ge. 2. Teach Teach the symbo symbols ls necessar necessary y for the the scripts scripts in in the repert repertoire. oire. 3. Teach Teach sym symbol boliza izati tion on at at the the level level of Stage IX. 4. Teach Teach the the play play script scriptss in the the reper repertoi toire. re. 5. Check Check for master mastery y of all the the verbal verbal milesto milestones nes corres correspon pondin ding g to Stage X before considering the stage mastered. 6. Check Check for mastery mastery of imaginat imaginative ive play play at at this this level.. level..
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Symbolic Play
Summary Symbolic play is an essential part of child development and there is a strong correlation between the cognitive and verbal abilities of typically developing children and their play. Children with autism and related disorders have certain characteristics characteristics that prevent them from engaging spontaneously in play or finding joy in it. This document presents the central role of symbols and symbolization in the ability to perform symbolic play. It shows the major stages of symbolic play development. development. It proposes criteria to measure the quality of symbolic play and it offers guidelines to plan the training of symbolic play. The document is meant to be used in conjunction with the other kinds of therapies for autism (applied behavior analysis, verbal behavior, speech therapy) so that the child with autism gains a harmonious and natural development as possible.
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Symbolic Play
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