Toys for Children with Autism: Targeted Support Improves Engagement and Growth

Introduction

Children with autism often face unique challenges in their development, particularly in areas such as communication, social interaction, and sensory processing. Toys designed specifically for children with autism can play a crucial role in addressing these challenges. By providing targeted support, these toys can enhance engagement, foster learning, and promote overall growth.

Key Points

• Toys can be powerful tools for development in children with autism
• Understanding atypical play patterns helps in toy selection
• Sensory preferences influence toy engagement
• Strategic toy choices can support multiple developmental areas
• Parental observation guides effective toy selection

Understanding How Children with Autism Engage with Toys

Raising two boys with autism has made Kate and I become retrospective thinkers. Often, we drive down the memory lane and see things or moments that make more sense today than they were then. Most of them, being things we had little knowledge about. See this – by now we know toys support kids in their cognitive, physical, social and emotional growth, language and communication development. But do we always consider these things when buying a toy?

Looking back, Kate would say, "I bought their toys emotionally and not because I thought they would benefit them. I wanted them to play with toys kids their age was playing with. I think a big number of toys I bought were irrelevant". It is normal for parents to want kids to experience things from their perspective. Often, we feel sorry for them and overcompensate to fill gaps in their lives.

While our experience is perhaps not visible in all kids, kids with autism engage in what is called "atypical play" or "autistic play patterns". Capture this, when Jayden was between 2-4 years old, he largely played with toys once, and those he kept for a while he engaged in repetitive play. He could colour-code and line them up or just spin the wheels.

Kate would recall that, in Jayden's initial autism assessment, the specialist asked, "How does he engage with toys?" While not universal and could be unique to every child on the spectrum, kids with autism tend to repeat specific action with toys like lining them up, engage in sensory-focused play such as liking toys with specific textures and could have restricted interests. They are also likely to play alone, and demonstrate limited functional, less pretend or imaginative play compared to neurotypical kids. This is often caused by differences in sensory processing, social communication styles and their preference for predictability or routines.

Over the years, Kate and I have focused on growing our knowledge about autism and its presentation to our kids as they develop. One thing we have learned is that the differences our boys portray are not deficits, but a reflection of unique strengths and needs. Fundamentally, we now understand kids with autism need toys that will help them move from one milestone to another. This insight informs a clever way of upgrading their toys based on set milestones or cognition level, instead of engaging in emotive purchasing.

Practical Strategies for Supporting Play in Children with Autism

Here are a couple of strategies that we have learned along the way:

Preference for Predictability

Kids with autism have a routine or predictability bias, often demonstrated by their repetitive play with toys. It could be lining up cars, spinning wheels or stacking blocks in same order repeatedly. While predictability calms them and reduces anxiety, it is important to realistically introduce them to other scenarios and contexts. Kate and I have often joined our kids play – of course gently. When, let's say they line cars up, we add a new car and contextualise its attributes – "blue car, small car, a police car, etc". Introducing new contexts to their usual routine enhances their flexibility and triggers them cognitively to consider other options.

Build Confidence in Decision-Making

For a long time, we used to go to toy store and our boys would choose the same toy they took yesterday. Preference to what they know is a common trait in kids with autism. As a parent we felt we are wasting money building a museum of similar toys at home. We have had to be bold and always initiate them to consider other toys or avoiding stores they had been before. Good thing is, their curiosity developed fast, and they remember not to take a toy they already have. I have always loved to see them try new things.

Sensory-Driven Play

Yes, kids with autism select toys based on their sensory qualities – texture, sound, visual appeal. Often, they will select toys that stimulate or soothe them. For example, kids who are noise sensitive would avoid noisy toys and kids with sensory-seeking needs would love tactile toys like a squishy ball. So, it is normally good to have a variety of toys. New toys should be introduced gradually. More importantly – be guided by the triggers you child experiences and avoid toys that could irritate them.

Solitary or Parallel Play

Kids with autism are more likely to play compared to neurotypical kids. Even when they play alongside others, they tend to have limited direct interaction. They could be focusing more on their activity or toy. It could be because of the social communication differences or anxiety in joint play. In this case, it is good to gently join their play, and mimic what they are doing. You could verbalize actions in the play and aim to build their trust. Eventually, as their courage builds up, they can join play with others and even take turns.

Things to Consider

1. Observe and Adapt: Be child centred. Look carefully at what your child loves and plays with. This will give you a glimpse of their sensory and communication style, and aid you in adjusting his toys accordingly.

2. Sensory-Friendly Choices: With kids with autism, rarely will you go wrong by selecting quiet soft toys, and putting them in calm spaces like the sensory zone at home.

3. Make Play Time a Habit: It is good to include play into kid's daily schedule to increase speed of mastering new skills.

4. Encourage Communication: When joining your kids play, verbalize play and throw in words gradually. Good to prompt speech calmly and when they achieve even the tiniest of the milestones – go big with praising efforts. Confidence is a goldmine for kids with autism.

5. Collaborate: By joining play, I mean purposely go to the child's level and play. More like "be a child" again. The good things you are doing always share with child's therapists or teachers – to co-produce outcomes outside home settings.

Conclusion

Selecting the right toys for children with autism is crucial for their development and well-being. By understanding their unique needs and preferences, parents and caregivers can provide toys that enhance engagement, foster learning, and promote growth. Targeted support through appropriate toys can help children with autism overcome challenges in communication, social interaction, and sensory processing. Ultimately, these toys contribute to their overall developmental progress and improve their quality of life.

"The right toy in the right hands can be a powerful tool for growth and development in children with autism."

Want to learn more about creating effective play environments for children with autism? Check out our next article on setting up sensory-friendly play spaces!