Volume 16, Number 1

Published 2024

Editors' Note

Our interview with author and leading play therapist Eliana Gil begins this first issue of volume 16 of the American Journal of Play. She discusses her career as a play therapist whose clinical experience and research have often focused on traumatized children and what psychiatrist Lenore Terr called “post-traumatic play.” Also in this issue, Leonard Waks explores the work and influence of the philosopher, psychologist, and educator John Dewey on play theorists. Then Farahiyah Wan Yunus, Sakinah Idris, Siti Noraini Asmuri, Bess Fowler, and Muhammad Hibatullah Romli review standardized instruments developed over the last fifty years to assess the benefit of play on child development. And next, Adrienne Thorne, Karen Stagnitti, and Judi Parson highlight the importance of pretend play for developing executive function and rehabilitating children with brain injuries in a study of both preschool children who have an acquired brain injury and neurotypical preschool children. Finally, Gray Atherton, Emily Dawson, and Liam Cross close the issue with an examination of how board games offer individuals with autism a collaborative, engaging, and educational environment that provides them opportunities to practice their social skills.

Interviews

The Power of Play Therapy: An Interview with Eliana Gil

Eliana Gil is founding partner of Gil Institute for Trauma Recovery and Education, LLC, a private practice in Fairfax, Virginia. As a registered play therapist; a registered art therapist; and a licensed marriage, family, and child counselor, her research and her clinical practice have focused on working with traumatized children, play therapy, posttraumatic play, and family play therapy. She is the author, coauthor, or coeditor of many publications, including Cultural Issues in Play Therapy (2nd ed., 2021), Post-Traumatic Play in Children: What Clinicians Should Know (2016), Play in Family Therapy (2nd ed., 2015), Working with Children to Heal Interpersonal Trauma: The Power of Play (2010), and The Healing Power of Play: Working with Abused Children (1991). She has been recognized for her work in child-abuse prevention by the American Family Therapy Association and the California Governor’s Award, and the Association for Play Therapy awarded her its lifetime achievement award.

Articles

John Dewey On Play: Theory and Pedagogy

Leonard J. Waks

The author discusses American philosopher, psychologist, and educator John Dewey and the Laboratory School he founded at the end of the nineteenth century at the University of Chicago, where he conducted important studies of child development. The author notes the influence of Dewey’s theory of (and pedagogical guidelines for) children’s play, which he initially formulated between 1896 and 1900 and which subsequently influenced such play theorists as Lev S. Vygotsky and Loris Malaguzzi. However, the author asserts, the literature on play has largely neglected Dewey and contains no account of his important and influential early works about play, a gap he intends this article to fill. Key words: John Dewey; psychology of play; playfulness; theory of play

Identifying Standardized Instruments for Measuring Play’s Effect on Child Development: Findings from an Extension of a Systematic Review

Farahiyah Wan Yunus, Sakinah Idris, Siti Noraini Asmuri, Bess Fowler, and Muhammad Hibatullah Romli

The authors contend that children benefit from play as a form of intervention and as a means of fostering their cognitive, social, and physical growth. They review several standardized instruments developed over the last fifty years to assess this benefit of play on child development. They identify twenty-one such play measures, the majority of them applicable to children under twelve. Some of the measurements can be conducted by children, but most are proxy rated and employ some form of observation. Over half require no or minimal training. Others can be completed in less than thirty minutes. More evaluations exist for the earlier instruments, but these measurements lacked psychometric evidence to back them up. The authors note they based their selections on the distinct characteristics and features of the measures, and they offer their conclusions to assist users in choosing the best systematic instruments for their specific needs. Key words: assessing play, child development, evaluating play assessment instruments, meta-analysis of play measurement, reviewing measurement tools

Pretend Play and Executive Function in Preschool-Aged Children with an Acquired Brain Injury

Adrienne Thorne, Karen Stagnitti, and Judi Parson

The authors compare pretend play and executive function both in preschool children with an acquired brain injury and in neurotypical preschool chil- dren. They find the ability to produce logical, sequenced pretend play actions and object substitutions in play correlates strongly with executive function ability in both groups, and working memory emerges in their study as the most reliable predictor of pretend play in both groups of children. Their investigation highlights the need to include pretend play in rehabilitating children with brain injuries and the importance of pretend play for devel- oping executive function in all children. Key words: acquired brain injury; executive function; pretend play; rehabilitation for children.

“We’ve All Come Together”: A Board-Gaming Approach for Working with Autistic People

Gray Atherton, Emily Dawson, and Liam Cross

The authors discuss how board games offer individuals with autism (who often struggle with social settings and require structured outlets for building relationships) an affordable, naturalistic, collaborative environment that is stimulating, engaging, and educational. Board games, they assert, provide opportunities to practice social skills, including cooperation and social deduction, essential skills for both neurotypical and atypical people. The authors include recommendations for introducing board games into special educational settings. Key words: analog games; autism; board games; developmental disabilities; interpretive phenomenological analysis; social cohesion; special education; theory of mind

Book Reviews

Gabor Csepregi, Attitudes of Play

J. S. Russell

Lorna Arnott and Kate Wall, Research through Play: Participatory Methods in Early Childhood

Debora Basler Wisneski

Allie Ticktin, Play to Progress: Lead Your Child to Success Using the Power of Sensory Play

Christopher J. Alterio

Emily R. Aguiló-Pérez, An American Icon in Puerto Rico: Barbie, Girlhood, and Colonialism at Play

Claudia Bucciferro

Gordon Calleja, Unboxed: Board Game Experience and Design

Maurice W. Suckling

Frank Lantz, The Beauty of Games

Sabrina Sonner

Contributors

Gray Atherton is Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Plymouth in England. Her work focuses on understanding the social experiences of the autistic population, including how empathy toward nonhumans and a penchant for hobbies like board games can improve well-being. Her work has been pub- lished in Autism, Autism Research, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Genetic Psychology, and the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. Emily Dawson is a recent graduate of Edge Hill University in England. Her current research focuses on board games and their incorporation into educational and community settings with individuals from a variety of backgrounds and ages. Liam Cross is Lecturer in Applied Psychology at the University of Plymouth in England. His research has covered embodied psychology, movement synchrony, prejudice, prosociality, anthropomorphism, autism, and analogue and digital games. He has published in the Journal of Social Psychology, Acta Psychology Autism, Autism Research, and the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Adrienne Thorne is a senior occupational therapist at Kids Rehab at the Children’s Hospital in Westmead, Australia. Her clinical work and research focuses on the pretend play of children with an acquired brain injury. She has published in the Occupational Therapy Journal of Australia. Karen Stagnitti is Emeritus Professor in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University, Australia. Her research has resulted in the creation of three play assessments, including the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment. She developed Learn to Play Therapy and has written numerous articles about play assessment, play intervention, and play-based learning. She was instrumental in setting up the Master of Child Play Therapy at Deakin University and ran the Learn to Play Therapy research lab. Judi Parson is an Associate Professor and Play Therapy Discipline Leader in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University. Parson has been actively engaged in advancing the field of play therapy both in Australia and internationally, with a focus on children’s psychosocial health and well-being. Her research covers medical play therapies and digital play technologies. She has written numerous book chapters and journal articles and coedited two books: Clinical Applications of the Therapeutic Powers of Play and Integrating Therapeutic Play into Nursing and Allied Health Practice.

Leonard Waks is Distinguished Professor of Educational Studies at Hangzhou Normal University, China and Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership at Temple University. His research focuses on the philosophy of John Dewey, listening in teaching, and emerging technologies in education. His recent publications include books on the Internet in education and on massive online courses. He has published more than 120 journal articles and book chapters. He is a former president of the John Dewey Society and has been awarded the Society’s Lifetime Career Achievement Award.

Farahiyah Wan Yunus is Senior Lecturer at the Center for Rehabilitation and Special Needs Studies, Occupational Therapy Program, Faculty of Health Sciences at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Her ongoing research explores the variations in play and its correlation with critical and creative thinking among urban and rural children in Malaysia. Additionally, she is investigates early intervention methodologies, with a particular emphasis on using play as a therapeutic tool for children. Siti Noraini Asmuri is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, at the Universiti Putra Malaysia and the assistant coordinator for the community- based rehabilitation center for children with special needs, Putra-PDK. She is the author of Pengurusan Aktiviti Harian Warga Emas (Older Adults’ Activities of Daily Living) and articles about time use, instrument validation, module devel- opment and validation, and instrument translation and adaptation in Malaysia. Sakinah Idris is Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia. She is also the Head of the Clinical Psychology Unit at Hospital Al-Sultan Abdullah UiTM. Her research examines the social skills intervention called PEERS© among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in the Netherlands. She has published in journals such as Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and BMC Psychiatry and Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Bessie Vaughan Fowler is an independent clinical researcher, epidemiologist, and educator. Her research and publications include assessment and outcome measures, occupational therapy interventions, and home safety for children and young people with physical disabilities. Muhammad Hibatullah Romli is a researcher in occupational therapy at the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia. A clinical occupational therapist, he is a lead coordinator for the community-based rehabilitation center for children with special needs, Putra-PDK.