Pretend Play

One aspect of the DSM IV criteria for autism looks at pretend play, specifically "lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe play or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level".
Obviously there are a bunch of other aspects mostly involving social and language development and interaction, but, this is one that stands out for me particularly, because, when Tom was diagnosed at age 2, he had none. Nothing.
Now, I can honestly say his pretend play is fantastic. He's such an imaginative little boy.
Here is a picture taken last night of one of his lego creations (completely independently).

"Dad! Look! My pilots are having a briefing!"

Tom watched Star Wars yesterday for the first time in a few weeks. Can you interpret this scene? My husband picked it out immediately, but then he is an intelligence officer. Yes, the 'pilots' are getting a 'briefing'. Yes, he used those words. Jeff's so proud.
But, this one little nugget aside, his pretend play is probably on track for his age, if not advanced. That's not just me being a delusional parent either, his BCBA comments on his play skills being advanced, even for a typical child. So, on this aspect, we've come a long way.

His play skills have been developed in a few ways, but always so that functional play was a part of it. For example, he loves trains. He doesn't however just push trains around a track. They have parties, go on adventures and now, the trains have merged with the lego and the stormtroopers go for a ride on the train, usually to get them to their next adventure destination.

I'm a big fan of learning through play. That's how children are supposed to make sense of the world, they play out situations and scenarios whilst watching them in real life. It's very true for Tom too. One day his stormtroopers were going to the beach to surf, but they needed to take a train, and for that, they needed a ticket, so they stopped at the grocery store, bought popcorn and juice and their tickets on the way. That's just an example, but, it gives you the idea. The life skills are creeping into his play and it's fantastic.
He comes up with scenarios that encompass knights, ghosts, cops and 'criminals' all at once and it keeps him entertained for hours.
We're fortunate the his ABA tutors, even though we've had quite a few of them, and more change than I would like, are big fans of teaching him through play. One of his current tutors is taking her masters with a specialty in play therapy, which is great. Another of his tutors would run most of his programs through play, including having trains ask him questions. So, much of what Tom has done has been ABA, but within a Floortime framework and it's worked well. It wasn't particularly intentional, but Tom is a stubborn kid who won't work if he realizes that's what he's doing.

So, to sum up, lots of great progress and one clear aspect of the DSM criteria that I can draw a big line through as it no longer applies. The rest of it will come, but, being a checklist kind of girl, it's very motivating to cross off one thing.