Beyond echoplaylia - Promoting language in children with autism

The article was written to support the use of play as a K medium to extend and enrich the communicative exchanges and, more specifically, the symbolic language of children on the autistic spectrum. The first argument in support of such use of play lies within the features of autistic communication, and particularly the extreme challenges encountered in imaginative play and narrative thought. The second argument on behalf of play lies within the selection of specific intervention strategies, which are discussed subsequently. Finally, the article presents a case illustration of how adult facilitated dramatic peer play led to a breakthrough in a range of symbolic behaviours in a 9-year-old girl with autism, who up to that point had not progressed beyond a semi-communicative use of echolalia, best described as 'situation association'.