Socializing with the Siblings!

For some children with autism, playing (either with toys or another person) can be difficult and it is a skill to be learned. They do not find play reinforcing but instead may choose to engage themselves in more self-stimulatory behaviour rather than appropriate play. Play time can be less structured, requires more flexibility and expectations may not be clear.

As a parent, you may want to have all your children play together, but this can be challenging if your child does not have play skills yet or does not enjoy playing. It is important to identify which level is your child at before you get him to engage with his other siblings in play effectively. If your child does not have any play skills yet, it will be best for the child to start learning how to play with an adult first, learn some interactive games and toy play skills that he may enjoy and language skills is preferred.

Once the above skills are acquired, start engaging your kids together. But start off with a small group, have only another child involved, an adult to facilitate the play and keep it short and structured. Use toys that are of interest of both children.

There are 3 stages of play.  Please refer to our previous blog post to find out more about these Three Stages.

Remember to slowly start fading off once your child can play independently with his siblings. Once he is also comfortable with one sibling, increase number of siblings.

Have fun playing together with your children!

Written by,

Jessica Ganesha

Consultant, EAP Malaysia