Abstract
One of the deficits observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is impaired imaginative play. One form of imaginative play common in many typically developing (TD) children is having an imaginary companion (IC). The occurrence of ICs has not been investigated extensively in children with ASD. We examined differences in parent report of IC between TD and ASD populations in 215 (111 with ASD) gender-matched children aged between 2 and 8 years. Findings indicate that significantly fewer children with ASD created ICs, although there were many between-group similarities in IC forms and functions. Results are discussed in terms of qualitative differences in play, social attributions, and how children with ASD conceptualize their ICs’ minds.
Highlights
Imaginary or pretend play is an activity that typically developing (TD) children engage in frequently and spontaneously
Past research on imaginative behavior in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shows that this population is profoundly delayed in imaginative play (Baron-Cohen 1987; Rutherford et al 2007; Wolfberg et al 2012), social imaginative play (Lewis and Boucher 1988; Ten Eycke and Müller 2015)
Our findings indicate that a substantial minority of children diagnosed with ASD (16.2%) do spontaneously create imaginary companion (IC), with similar features to TD children’s ICs in some respects
Summary
Imaginary or pretend play is an activity that typically developing (TD) children engage in frequently and spontaneously. Children with ICs are more likely than their NIC counterparts (a) to know that their minds are opaque to others (Davis et al 2011), (b) to form richer narratives when storytelling (Trionfi and Reese 2009), (c) show more sophisticated self-directed speech (Davis et al 2013), and (d) are better able to take the listener’s perspective into account during a referential communication paradigm (Roby and Kidd 2008) They are more likely to describe friends with reference to their mental characteristics instead of behavioral tendencies or physical appearance (Davis et al 2014). We explored factors relating to IC creation within the ASD group, investigating whether age at which children were diagnosed with ASD or children’s reported cognitive functioning related to the tendency to create an IC. The present study asked whether certain functions of ICs may be congruent with the needs (e.g., social communication) of children with ASD
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