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Autism, Vol. 12, No. 2, 143-157 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1362361307086657

Development of symbolic play through the use of virtual reality tools in children with autistic spectrum disorders

Two case studies

Gerardo Herrera

Universitat de Valencia Estudi General, Spain

Francisco Alcantud

Universitat de Valencia Estudi General, Spain

Rita Jordan

University of Birmingham, UK, r.r.jordan{at}bham.ac.uk

Amparo Blanquer

Centro Comunica de Diagnóstico e Intervención, Spain

Gabriel Labajo

Autismo Burgos, Spain

Cristina De Pablo

Autismo Burgos, Spain

Difficulties in understanding symbolism have been documented as characteristic of autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). In general, virtual reality (VR) environments offer a set of potential advantages for educational intervention in ASD. In particular, VR offers the advantage, for teaching pretend play and for understanding imagination, of it being possible to show these imaginary transformations explicitly. This article reports two case studies of children with autism (aged 8:6 and 15:7, both male), examining the effectiveness of using a VR tool specifically designed to work on teaching understanding of pretend play. The results, confirmed by independent observers, showed a significant advance in pretend play abilities after the intervention period in both participants, and a high degree of generalization of the acquired teaching in one of them.

Key Words: autism • imagination • pretend play • virtual reality


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