To Jacqueline C S, Kung Karson T F
The University of Hong Kong, China.
Autism. 2025 Mar 12:13623613251321207. doi: 10.1177/13623613251321207.
Play, in particular sex-typical play, is important for affective, cognitive, and social development. There is limited research on sex-typical play in autistic children. The few prior studies on this topic relied heavily on reports or involvement of caregivers/parents, did not assess cognitive abilities, and examined a limited number of sex-typical play outcomes. The present study examined sex-typical play in 120 children without intellectual disability (30 autistic boys, 35 non-autistic boys, 20 autistic girls, 35 non-autistic girls) aged 4-11 years. Vocabulary and abstract reasoning were also assessed. Consistently across all five play measures (parent-reported composite play, self-reported activity preferences, self-reported toy preferences, self-reported playmate preferences, and observed toy play), there were medium or large, and mostly significant, differences between autistic and non-autistic boys, suggesting less male-typical/more female-typical play in autistic boys. Autistic and non-autistic boys did not differ in vocabulary, abstract reasoning, or age. No consistent, clear, or significant patterns emerged in comparisons of autistic and non-autistic girls. The more non-conforming play in autistic boys concurs with certain prior findings suggesting that the autistic community is not confined to social norms and shows increased gender diversity. The potential link between the unaltered play in autistic girls and camouflaging is considered.Lay abstractIn the non-autistic community, boys and girls tend to play differently, although these average differences do not apply to all the boys and girls. Little is known about similarities and differences in sex-typical play (e.g. playing with cars, playing with dolls, rough-and-tumble play, playing house) between autistic and non-autistic children. We looked at different aspects of sex-typical play such as toy, activity, and playmate preferences in autistic and non-autistic children without intellectual disability. Different methods including parent reports, self-reports, and play observation were used. We found some average differences between autistic and non-autistic boys. On average, compared with non-autistic boys, autistic boys played in a more non-conforming manner (less male-typical/more female-typical toy, activity, and playmate preferences). These findings are consistent with observations from other research studies suggesting that autistic individuals may defy social norms and express themselves in diverse ways. There were no differences between autistic and non-autistic girls. One possibility is that autistic girls may camouflage, or mask, their non-conforming play preferences, but further research is needed to test this possibility. The findings from this study can help families, professionals, and schools better understand how autistic boys and girls develop.
玩耍，尤其是符合性别特点的玩耍，对情感、认知和社交发展至关重要。关于自闭症儿童符合性别特点的玩耍的研究有限。此前关于该主题的少数研究严重依赖照顾者/父母的报告或参与，未评估认知能力，且所考察的符合性别特点的玩耍结果数量有限。本研究考察了120名4至11岁无智力障碍的儿童（30名自闭症男孩、35名非自闭症男孩、20名自闭症女孩、35名非自闭症女孩）的符合性别特点的玩耍情况。还评估了词汇和抽象推理能力。在所有五项玩耍测量指标（父母报告的综合玩耍、自我报告的活动偏好、自我报告的玩具偏好、自我报告的玩伴偏好以及观察到的玩具玩耍）中，自闭症男孩和非自闭症男孩之间始终存在中等或较大差异，且大多具有显著性，这表明自闭症男孩的男性典型玩耍行为较少/女性典型玩耍行为较多。自闭症男孩和非自闭症男孩在词汇、抽象推理或年龄方面没有差异。在自闭症女孩和非自闭症女孩的比较中，未出现一致、明确或显著的模式。自闭症男孩中较多不符合性别特点的玩耍行为与之前的某些研究结果一致，这些结果表明自闭症群体不受社会规范的限制，且展现出增加的性别多样性。本研究考虑了自闭症女孩玩耍行为未改变与伪装之间的潜在联系。
在非自闭症群体中，男孩和女孩的玩耍方式往往不同，尽管这些平均差异并不适用于所有男孩和女孩。关于自闭症儿童和非自闭症儿童在符合性别特点的玩耍（如玩汽车、玩娃娃、打闹玩耍、过家家）方面的异同知之甚少。我们研究了无智力障碍的自闭症儿童和非自闭症儿童在符合性别特点的玩耍的不同方面，如玩具、活动和玩伴偏好。使用了包括父母报告、自我报告和玩耍观察在内的不同方法。我们发现自闭症男孩和非自闭症男孩之间存在一些平均差异。平均而言，与非自闭症男孩相比，自闭症男孩的玩耍方式更不符合性别特点（男性典型的玩具、活动和玩伴偏好较少/女性典型的较多）。这些发现与其他研究的观察结果一致，表明自闭症个体可能会违背社会规范并以多样的方式表达自己。自闭症女孩和非自闭症女孩之间没有差异。一种可能性是自闭症女孩可能会伪装或掩盖她们不符合性别特点的玩耍偏好，但需要进一步研究来验证这种可能性。本研究的结果可以帮助家庭、专业人士和学校更好地理解自闭症男孩和女孩的发展情况。
