Evaluating the Effect of Play Therapy on Social Skills and Stereotypical Behavior of Boys Aged from 7 to 10 Years old with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This study was done to evaluate the effect of play therapy on social skills and stereotypical behavior of boys with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders.

The present study was a semi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design with control group. Participants included 17 boys with high-functioning autism disorders who were between the age range of 7 and 10 years old and referred to one of the autism centers of Tehran. Seventeen children were selected by purposive sampling and were randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups. The intervention was performed in 12 sessions of 90 minutes, twice a week; The Social skills rating system (SSRS) –Parent version, Gresham and Elliot (1990) and the behavior problems inventory, Johannes Rojahn were completed by participants’ parents twice, as pre-test and post-test.

Data were analyzed by using multivariate covariance analysis. The results of multivariate analysis of covariance showed that play therapy is effective on co-operation (P = 0.04), external behavior (P=0.02), and internal behavior components of social skills (P = 0.01) and stereotypical behaviors components of behavioral problems (P=0.001).

These findings showed that play therapy can be considered as an evidence-based treatment for children with autism spectrum disorders.