Symbolic play - what is it?

[RainingCatsandDogs]

Ds 22 months has speech delay - only saying about 10 single words although his understanding seems OK.

He does wave,point,make good eye contact but SALT I saw privately for a 1st assessment asked me to look for symbolic play e.g. using some object to pretend to be another.

Ds definately doesn't do this - most interested in kicking a ball around,climbing,running,throwing (everything).He has good motor skills generally.

Can someone explain what this is more clearly to me and how to encourage it (if I can) - am assuming this lack of this is a link to possible ASD.

SALT said it was not just pretending to use say a toy telephone as a telephone but substituting something else? - this seems far beyond anything he is interested in.

Just to add ds does dislike crowds of toddlers -just clings to my leg in big groups,doesn't share well if someone picks up something he has taken possession of he shouts at them which has the desired effect.

Likes books but only ones with pictures of real objects or the touch/feel ones not stories.Seems to play with other toys normally although has very short attention span.

He is just 22 months but I am worrying.

Here's a definition of symbolic play :-

"Symbolic Play refers to symbolic, or dramatic, play which occurs when children begin to substitute one object for another. For example, using a hairbrush to represent a microphone. The child may pretend to do something (with or without the object present or with an object representing another object) or be someone. They may also pretend through other inanimate objects (e.g., has a doll pretend to feed another doll). Dramatic play with sequence of pretend acts predominates after 2 years of age."

(from this website www.psychology-lexicon.com/lexikon/symbolic_play.htm

Is it regarded as worrying it a child of just less than 2 years doesn't do this? - can't imagine him using a hairbrush as a microphone!

offhand I would say that 22 months seems young to expect this, and this website would seem to back this up:-

www.firstsigns.org/healthydev/milestones.htm

In terms of encouraging symbolic play - make your own bridges/tunnels for cars/trains to go under - so have it go through a loo roll and say it's a tunnel, or use lego to make a bridge that sort of thing...also get hold of a cardboard box, and encourage your ds to go in it and say it's a house or a boat etc with the appropriate basic vocab and actions.

some useful books to read from the language point of view

Baby Talk by Sally Ward
You Make the Difference by Ayola Manolson
The Parent's Guide to Speech and Language problems by Debbie Feit (covers a lot of ground, and has useful charts of what is concerning at what age).

SALT wants me to look out for it amongst other things. - but not really sure how to encourage it.She is coming back in one months time.Thanks for your help.

Sorry didn't see your last message before I posted - very helpful.
Do have the Sally Ward baby talk book and do the 1/2 hour as suggested but he is still not speaking as he should.

bump for the daytime laydeez

Ds1 very rarely uses symbolic play, but it's not completely absent. He has got some megablocks, lined them up and given them Teletubby names. Ds2 has just started, he gets hold of beakers or plastic skittles and pretends they're rockets.

I think it's a qualitative judgement rather than there being an acid test for symbolic play. My ASD son (4) does now substitute objects in his play in a limited way that reflects a current obsession - anything at all like a helicopter can be 'imagined' to be a helicopter. My non ASD son (18 months) is just starting imaginary play, he doesn't do much but it is flexible - he enjoys making me meals in his play kitchen and he enjoys my reaction to his 'meals' - there is in his case a much deeper instinctive social understanding that he is mimicing real life for play. I don't think using a toy phone as a phone is in any way a bad sign, my NT son knows quite well that his toy phone is not the same thing as the real one. Every time I get a new mobile, he will not play with the old one because he knows it's not the real one any more.

Thanks for the bump TotalChaos and the other advice given today.I really appreciate your help.

I am clearer on what to look for.He does try to feed me and gets a cup and pretends to drink but the SALT seemed to be saying this was not symbolic and the object used had to be nothing like the real life one e.g. not bathing a doll in a pretend bath filled with water but using a box say to mimic a bath.

Am definately going to try the loo roll/lego tunnels and bridges.

I keep mulling over symbolic play! I guess the only very early instance I can think of is when kids put a bowl on their head like it's a hat? other than that, DS didn't really do any symbolic play till he was 3, and wasn't really very interested in it at all. But then DS is somewhere on the language disorder/possible ASD side of things, so not really "normal" as regards pretend play.