"Dr. Wolfberg has done a fine and sensitive job in characterizing the pivotal role that play skills hold in the social and linguistic world of the child with autism. Her development of Integrated Peer Play Groups, and the delineation of the autistic child as the ‘Novice Player’ and the typical child as the ‘Expert Player,’ is a very valuable heuristic tool to all who work with children with autism."

–Bryna Siegel, Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, University of California, San Francisco

Based on award-winning research, this volume offers new hope for children with autism by shedding light on theory and practice. It goes beyond the usual autism literature by including what is known about play with typical populations. Part One, Perspectives on Autism and Play, examines the complex problems children with autism experience in reciprocal social interaction, communication, and imagination by looking closely at the nature of the disorder in relation to play’s role in childhood culture and development, as well as current intervention practices. Part Two, Passage to Play Culture, presents ethnographic case portraits of three children with autism as they overcome obstacles to enter into the "play culture" of their peers. The author traces their development over ten years (from ages 5 to 16), focusing on a two-year period during which the children participated in a peer play intervention. This period marked the emergence of remarkable transformations in the children’s social relations with peers and symbolic activity. The text includes vignettes, dialogue, and samples of writing and drawing to bring the children’s stories to life.