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24 - Creative Play in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Assessment, Intervention, and Future Directions

from Part V - Special Populations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

By
Ellen A. Doernberg  and
Anastasia Dimitropoulos
Edited by
Sandra W. Russ ,
Jessica D. Hoffmann  and
James C. Kaufman
Sandra W. Russ
Affiliation:
Case Western Reserve University, Ohio
Jessica D. Hoffmann
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
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Summary

It is widely known that pretend play and creativity are essential developmental processes for typically developing children, but there has been little collective examination of the role of creative play in children with developmental disabilities. In this chapter, we review the importance of creativity for children with various developmental disabilities, with a specific focus on pretend play. Research over the past decade in disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Down Syndrome (DS), cerebral palsy (CP), Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), and Williams Syndrome (WS) indicates that pretend play is a development skill area where many of these children show deficits, and these deficits may be impactful on their ability to develop appropriate social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral skills associated with pretend play. Recent research also suggests that pretend play can be used as a means of intervention to improve the play skills and associated skills of socioemotional and cognitive-behavioral functioning in children with developmental disabilities. Future study should examine the use of increasingly accessible means of pretend play intervention, such as telehealth, and focus on how parent-training interventions can be utilized to effectively implement pretend play for children with developmental disabilities at an early age.

Keywords

developmental disabilitiespretend playparent traininginterventiontelehealthautism spectrum disorder (ASD)Down Syndrome (DS)cerebral palsy (CP)Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS)Williams Syndrome (WS)
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Lifespan Development of Creativity , pp. 512 - 529
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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