Abstract

While the typical developing children show signs of symbolic play in the first two years of life, children with autism may never develop this skill. This deficit in play has implication for other areas of development. What is more? Play is correlated with language ability in both typically developing children and children with ASD. Play in children with ASD is closely linked to social development and peer interaction, and deficit in this area may cause children to be less accepted by peers in social situation. This study was conducted with the aim of comparing the play skills of 6-year-old (60-72 months) autistic, mentally retarded and normally developed children. The study was carried out on 150 children studying at special education institutions and kindergartens in Edirne, Kirklareli, Tekirdag city centers, and their towns with the participation of mothers or fathers of the children. Survey method was used in the study. The study is descriptive in nature. For data collection, “Parent Information Form”, “Preschool and Kindergarten Attitude Scale” and “Play Skills Assessment Scale” were used. According to the results of Play Skills Assessment Scale Total Score Means, the  means scores of normally developed children are higher than the means scores  of autistic and mentally retarded children and the score difference was found statistically significant [F(2-147)=70,44, p<0.05].  Mentally retarded means scores were found to be higher than the means scores of autistic children, but the score difference was not statistically significant [F(2-147)=70,44, p>0.05].  As a result, it can be concluded that the play skills of autistic and mentally retarded children are more deficient than the play skills of normally developed children. It should not be forgotten that to remove this deficiency, autistic and mentally retarded children need to play more.

Key words: Autism, mentally retarded children, normally developed children, play skills.