Make-believe play

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You know how the DSM-IV-TR criteria for classical autism (autistic disorder) say:

You'd think it's not too much to ask of one like me who writes short-stories and who's a good actor to engage in simple make-believe child's play spontaneously. Should be no problem or so.

Epic fail. I couldn't even participate when the toy figures approached me and tried to get me into the game.

So obviously, imagination and the ability to write and act on a stage are nothing like participating in a spontaneous game of make-believe.

Anyone experienced similar?

I used to really get into pretending and make-believe play. I actually participated in it longer than my peers, but they'd actually have a great time with me.

My boyfriend and I actually do these "stories" over the phone that's similar. We had just typed them down originally and two seperate stories had gotten to be over 2,500 MS Word pages between the two of us. But now we just act out the characters and the situations over the phone. It's actually a ton of fun and it's a great way to relieve stress and express ourselves.

I used to do pretend play quite alot as a kid, but more so with other kids when on my own not so much

When I was a kid I would go off alone and make up very imaginative worlds full of characters and rich dialogue. I know my parents and teachers probably thought I was nuts but I would have the characters interact with each other in my mind and I would often say their "lines". I would feel and think like them at the moment and this would go on and on and suddenly I would look up and everyone else went back inside from recess. I could vividly imagine everything about a situation. The only writer who even comes close to the imaginative detail of make believe is JK Rowling. I would literally create those types of worlds in my head.

I've never heard of anyone else doing this kind of solo imaginative play.

^ I did. Too much to elaborate on now, but my worlds lasted months.

Yes, I do not find the DSM criteria accurate. Some things they require are quite arbitrary (from a functional-causes perspective) and not "indicative" at all - I mean they might be very nice to say but they are not diagnostic: such as this

We have seen in this thread that autistic people certainly can have make-believe play. (Perhaps not social play - but what's that?) I also have a gripe with the "common triad" criteria of "sociocommunicative, obsessive and imaginative" - highly misleading of course since autistic people can be perfectly imaginative. (what they mean is that autistic people can't imagine beyond their existing routine and feel unprepared when it is disturbed. I think this is what the "make believe play" is trying to refer to as well.)

On the other hand, other highly diagnostic features are completely ignored. eg, Sensory issues are a big, massive elephant in the living room.

Last edited by Liresse on 06 Mar 2009, 3:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Spontaneous human behavior.... Its kind of like me being able to smile yet "forgetting" to when someone smiles at me and I stare blankly at them like a weirdo. lol Its kind of hard to explain but its almost like I have a feeling of observing them rather then interacting with them.

There are aspies who lack make beleive play but yet it's in the autistic criteria, not in the aspie criteria so according to it, aspies are supposed to not lack it.


I did make believe play growing up. But my play skills were below the age level when I was a baby and then it grew as I got older. Well my mother played with me so that helped. I read in a few books how autistic kids mimic make believe play just by watching their mothers play with the toys when they are with them. So they copy them learning how that's what you are supposed to do with the toy. But then they could be playing with the same way over and over thinking that's how you are supposed to play with it. That's what I did as a little girl.

I did make believe play...and did it longer than my peers too....but often it did not quite register to me that it was make-believe.