imaginitive play - a few questions

[saladsandwich]

im just wondering about this, in children with autism is this a skill that is delayed or a skill that never comes or does it depend on the child?

my ds is 3 and half and as just started getting some play, he does still group and line things up alot but there is abit of noise coming into his play, his play still doesn't sit right with me, no play with figures, still very solitary but can tolerate children beside him now...

today he emptied one of his jigsaws out and sat in the box and said boat! does this means ds is improving with imagination and he doesnt have asd? he is 12months behind in play skills, social interaction, communication and language, many traits and behavioural issues, eye contact getting worse, his language is up and down too had a day full of baby talk with the odd full conversation about what he likes.

hes suppose to be getting reffered to someone to do with asd but after today with the box im starting to wonder now whether it is all just a delay and nothing else

To be honest, most of us on the autism spectrum have fantastic imaginations and imaginative play skills. It was a myth that we didn't. But we struggle to make up complicated stories involving people, or play 'with' them instead of alongside them or alone.
So the imaginative play thing just ends up confusing a lot of parents.
Autism is really seen in three things - social clumsiness, especially in groups. Desperate need to predict what's about to happen each day and panic (quiet or via meltdowns) if something unexpected happens. And for 8 out of 10 of us, sensory difficulties where we're way too sensitive or too undersensitive to lighting/sounds/smells/touch/taste/heat/cold/pressure.

The experts are well worth seeing. If your lovely young one doesn't have autism, they'll soon tell you.

The reference to imagination actually means social imagination - autism being a social/communication disorder. Within the triad of impairments, this is reflected as:

1. Copying and pretend play are absent; 2) May copy the actions of others, but without real understanding of their meaning and purpose (may bath doll, make pretend cups of tea for example); 3) Repetitive and stereotyped enacting of a role, but without variation or empathy, e.g. a TV character or even an object such as an aeroplane; 4) Awareness that things go on in the minds of others, but has few strategies to discover what these may be. (Minimally affected people appear to have ability to recognise others' feelings, but this is learnt rather than empathic.)

These are arranged in descending order of severity (according to Gittens and Aaron).

Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, Salad. I'm sure you're desperate for answers. My DS is capable of more advanced pretend play than this, and he has just got a DX of ASD. I don't mean that your DS must also have autism, just that the ability to pretend an item is a different item doesn't exclude it. I hope you get some answers soon.

when ds (not autistic) was 3 he could speak but you couldnt have a conversation with him and he stammered badly all he done is lined up toys or spun them and if you played a game of shops with him he would want to keep doing it over and over forever, ive always worried about autism and although i have concerns about him now i know he cant be autistic he does roleplay now hes 6 but its recent so maybe some kids just take longer? he will push his toys while talking random converstations using names of his school friends and today he told me he was going to go in a rocket to the clouds and shoot the rain to make it go away, so looking good! but imagination has taken a while!

thanks for answering my question

amberlight my ds struggles with everything you have typed, very routine based, expects certain things from a situation if it doesnt happen hes very upset, he is quite sensory too

stabby looking at the things on there ds is probably 2) and creeping onto 3).... i think number 4 is a way off for ds, he shows no concern or empathy at all. tbh i think he does have asd i just wish someone would just diagnose him with something to get us a bit of help

latterlov im tied between asd and just general delay for ds because he does seem to be like a child alot younger, he as never done roleplay, he doesnt play shops... when playing shops he will take a penny off you then become engrossed in the till, he will make cups of tea but its always a cup with a piece of fruit in it everytime, there is no tea making as such. he is only 3 so things could change

thanks again