Characteristics of play interaction in twins with autism spectrum disorder

Play is a natural state in which children enjoy and practice various cognitive, social, and motor skills. Play observations in the natural learning environment helps practitioners and researchers to develop appropriate intervention. Previous research based on observations in the natural learning environment indicates a large gap between the behavior of children with autism and that of their peers. Although autism occurs relatively frequently in twins, research on their play interaction is scarce. The aim of this research was to determine the dominant type of play and interaction in three pairs of twins with autism spectrum disorder in an everyday school environment, the duration of interactions, the most frequent initiators of interactions, and whether there was a difference with regard to whom the social interaction was directed. Six boys with autism, i.e., three pairs of twins, participated in this research. Data was collected by employing questionnaires (A general questionnaire; ZQYT; GARS-3), as well as through observations (The Social Interaction Coding Protocol). The twins' behavior and interaction were recorded by a video camera. The results showed that twins were most frequently involved in manipulative and repetitive play, somewhat less frequently in relational play, while they did not participate in symbolic play. There was no statistically significant difference in the duration of interactions when the initiator was a twin compared to those initiated by another child, while interactions initiated by a teacher lasted significantly longer. The twins interacted with their co-twin least frequently. Furthermore, research results indicated that simple socially directed behavior was the most common type of interaction, followed by coordinated socially directed behavior. The obtained results led to the conclusion that twins with autism most frequently participate in two types of play and that the duration of their interaction varies depending on whether the initiator is a child or an adult. In children with autism, play has a significant role in the educational context. Thus, the data obtained by observing the play of twins with autism is significant for practitioners when evaluating how play characteristics can be used to plan interventions for improving the social interactions of children with autism.