Masculinity Becomes Asperger’s Syndrome
March 7, 2017
HEATHER writes:
My five-year-old son was recently diagnosed with Asperger’s. One of the red flags noted by his speech therapist, and then by the psychologist who diagnosed him, is that he “can’t play pretend.” By this they mean playing with dolls or action figures, coming up with a spontaneous little script. It’s true, he does find this difficult, especially with unfamiliar adults. With me, he can, but it’s never a spontaneous experience. I didn’t notice for years because he can spontaneously play pretend in so many other ways – he can pretend to cook, pretend a stuffed animal is a pet, pretend he’s an explorer, firefighter, or fur trapper, pretend his bed is a ship, etc. He can play with other children in these ways too. I never had to teach him any of this. But in a clinical setting he’s unsure of what to do with dolls, and labeled with “can’t play pretend.”
I don’t dispute his diagnosis, and I acknowledge that playing pretend with dolls can really help his speech and social skills (although drawing cartoon situations seems to work better for him). Read More »