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Eye Tracking Young Children with Autism
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Eye Tracking Young Children with Autism

Published on: March 27, 2012

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The emergence of object play in young children at elevated likelihood for autism

Floor Moerman1, Petra Warreyn1, Sofie Boterberg1

  • 1Research in Developmental Diversity Lab (RIDDL), UGent, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.

The British Journal of Developmental Psychology
|November 17, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Early play behaviors in children at elevated autism likelihood (EL) show subtle differences. Autistic EL children engaged less in combination play and spontaneous symbolic play compared to non-autistic EL children, suggesting object play alone isn't a reliable early autism indicator.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Background:

  • Children at elevated likelihood for autism (EL) include younger siblings of autistic children and very preterm infants.
  • Understanding early play development is crucial for identifying potential developmental differences.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate object exploration, combination play, and (pre-)symbolic play in EL children.
  • To compare play behaviors between EL children with and without an autism diagnosis at 36 months.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective study using direct observation and detailed coding of play behaviors.
  • Assessment at corrected ages of 10 and 14 months in EL children (n=83).
  • Comparison between autistic (n=22) and non-autistic (n=61) EL children.

Main Results:

  • Both autistic and non-autistic EL children progressed through play stages, from object exploration to (pre-)symbolic play.
  • Non-autistic EL children showed more general combination play acts at 10 months.
  • Slightly more spontaneous (pre-)symbolic play was observed in non-autistic EL children at 14 months; object play was similar when playing alone.

Conclusions:

  • Findings suggest subtle differences in early play, particularly in combination and spontaneous symbolic play, between autistic and non-autistic EL children.
  • Solitary object play assessment may not be a strong indicator for identifying autism in very young EL children.
  • Further research into specific play sequences and their predictive value is warranted.

Keywords:
autismlongitudinalobservationalplaysiblings at elevated likelihoodvery preterm‐born children

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