Venturing into Play

For those who are at the earliest stages of intellectual development, play and playing games..."Are not time out from real work; they are the most intensive developmental work you can do" (Nind and Hewett, 2001)

If we can teach pupils with autism to play, we can help them break into creativity, thinking solving, formulating and maintaining relationships, purposeful self-engagement, narrative and storytelling, the theory of mind and developing self-confidence, self-belief and self-esteem.

Venturing into Play is an assessment and programme specifically aimed to develop play skills for those with autism and/or social communication difficulties. Where appropriate, your child may spend several sessions per week in VIP to develop their play and social interaction skills. The sessions are pupil led, however, their stage of play will be assessed and they will be supported to develop a particular skill throughout each term. The programme aims to enable the learner to progress from solitary or parallel play through to interactive play using a range of resources and equipment that motivates the individual learner.