DS is 5 and about to be assessed for ASD. Yesterday he asked me if he could set up a toy shop on the dining room table and then had me come and "play shops" with him. He was the shop keeper and I the customer and then vice versa. Would you class this as Imaginary Play? - Those of you who know more about such things. He was very into it and it did seem that he had thought of this game himself. He pretends to be a car sometimes as well but I think he is copying something he has seen when he does that. Also has a car mat and will often talk about where the cars are visiting etc while he pushes them around the mat. Would you say this was imaginary play?

Thanks for your responses.

My understanding of imaginary play is that a child will substitute one object for another, so for example, a matchbox could be substituted for a mobile phone, a vehicle or a building block. I believe this type of substitution is called object transformation. Another aspect of imaginary play is the acting out of others' thoughts and actions - so your ds sounds as though he was role playing the part of the shopkeeper. Would you say that during your game of shops, your ds assumed the perspective of the shopkeeper? If so, then it could indicate that your ds is showing signs of understanding others' thinking (often called theory of mind).

I would definitely class this as imaginary play - especially if the language he used while playig was his own and not a 'script' copied from elsewhere. It sounds very positive.

It is indeed imaginary play and as a SALT working with a lot of people wh oare/have been assessed for ASD, I would be delighted to see it.

That is imaginary play!

DS1 was diagnosed with autism despite being pretty, well, imaginative with his imaginary play. It was one of the reasons he wasn't picked up younger, though. It's my understanding that lack of imaginary play is a clue to something deeper going on and that the real issue is lack of social imagination. If, for example I tell DS1 that it hurts me if he stamps on my foot, he can't imagine what that would feel like and wouldn't see it as something bad. If I remind him not to poke bottoms because the people belonging to the bottoms don't like it, he doesn't see the problem.

Confusing isn't it ALMummy.

You may remember my DS (4.5) has recently been DX with Aspergers.

He had no imaginitive play when he was say 3 and a half, only played with trains and cars and would copy sections of programmes over and over. He still goes over and over the same things, but has a wider range and will carry out a peppa pig dialogue using his disney pixar cars, for example.

A few days ago he said to me catch the ball mummy (always puts fear into me when we are in the house as he kicks high and hard). Imagine my surprise when he kicked a pretend ball towads me and I had to catch/head/kick it back (as I was instructed of course ).

He has also recently started to pretend that objects are other things, like Manny said about, i.e. a brick for a phone, but he then laughs like a drain so think he might be doing it because he knows it's the 'wrong' thing, don't know where this fits in.

He does lack social imagination, tho. He says that roads are dangerous, he might get bumped by a car, he has to hold hands to be safe, etc, but he still tries to run into the road if he gets angry/frustrated. He can't imagine what he has not experienced, I suppose.

Thanks for your great and reassuring replies. I am aware that he doesn't do this sort of thing as often as he probably should be but I felt great after the "Toy Shop" game and that with encouragement it could definitely go further ie creating more imaginary situations and role playing. He doesn't tend to use objects in an imaginary way though but I will try to encourage this.

When he was being the shop keeper he looked a bit shy but really pleased and as though he had been enlightened that it was possible to pretend to be someone else - the language was his own Sphil . Making me a bit tearful thinking of it actually because I have been so busy looking for "signs" one way or the other and this is really positive and not something I have really seen from him before.

DS1 (probably somewhere on the quirky end of NT or mild end of spectrum) used to be like this when he was younger. At 5 much of his play revolved around super hero figures. Now at 7 he is much broader in his range of play. He still doesn't do much realistic role playing - though will do so if directed by another child or adult - but he will now pretend objects are other things. He's also involved in a complicated spy game every play time with a group of children, which was his idea - a major breakthrough for him.

I can really picture your DS playing shops and think it's wonderful - especially that it was his idea

ALMummy - it's such a positive, lovely thing for your DS to be doing.

Sorry if I sounded too negative in my last post.

You didn't TM, at all.

The road thing sounds similar to my DS. He knows to hold hands crossing the road because he doesn't want to get "bumped", but the awareness of it for himself without me telling him to watch the road and looking out for him does not really seem to be there. He does get quite panicky with heights though, like sliding down a pole in the park or crossing a rope bridge that is a bit high. However he wouldn't be bothered about being high up in a building say, he doesn't seem to notice that.

If the person doing the assessment is any good, they'll know that lots of individuals on the autistic spectrum do 'imaginary play'. Usually something to do with cars or things with wheels, collections of things, and practical play to do with "real life situations" where they need to learn the social rules involved.