Gallo-Lopez, L., & Rubin, L. C. (Eds.). (2012). Play-based interventions for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. New York, NY: Routledge.

Reviewer:
Jenifer Ware Balch

Curricular Areas:
Career Development, Counselor Education

Subject Headings:
Elementary school, Middle school, High school

Review:
Play-Based Interventions for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders provides information regarding a wide variety of expressive, engaging, and play-based interventions to use when working with children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is divided into four parts: Foundations, Individualized Play-Based Interventions, Programmatic Play-Based Intervention, and Expressive/Creative Interventions. Within these four parts, there are 17 chapters that cover a variety of topics. The first chapters focus on general play, explaining the neurobiology of play and play in children with ASD. Three chapters focus on individual play therapy, each from a different theoretical perspective: child-centered, developmental, and Jungian. There are also several chapters devoted to integrating various types of expressive arts into the therapeutic process, including art therapy, music therapy, dance/movement therapy, and sand tray. Other play-based approaches are also covered, including canine-assisted play therapy, family theraplay, play and drama therapy, LEGO-based play therapy, and filial therapy. In addition to the aforementioned interventions, this book has three chapters devoted to specific programs: DIR Floortime, The PLAY Project, and The ACT Project.

This book is a wonderful resource for educators, supervisors, and practitioners working with children and adolescents with ASD. Educators can use this as a supplemental text for practicum and internship as well as courses about counseling children and adolescents, especially when covering special populations. This book can also be a great resource for supervisors to recommend to supervises, possibly practicing and reviewing specific techniques during supervision. Practitioners can use this resource as a guide to help further understand treatment approaches for clients. Each intervention chapter gives a brief overview and then discusses how the intervention can theoretically be applied to individuals with ASD. While there is not enough space in each chapter to provide all of the information necessary to implement the intervention, it is a good foundation for understanding the application to this specific population. If readers are not already familiar with the particular intervention, they can get a basic theoretical understanding from this book and then turn to other resources to learn more about specific implementation strategies.