Playful Interactions between Twins with Autism and Teachers and Peers: a Case Study

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Published: Apr 4, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/ppej.11445
Keywords:
twins with autism playful interactions interactions with teachers and peers innate intersubjectivity
Μaria Antonios Kypriotaki
University of Crete
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6201-3320
Maria Eleftherios Markodimitraki
University of Crete
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9769-5923
Abstract

The purpose of the present analytically structured empirical case study was to explore the interactions which twins display during playing with their teachers and peers in a Special Nursery Unit. Two 5.5-year-old twin brothers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)  participated in this study, along with two teachers and seven non-typically developing peers. Non participant observations were made for four full-time school days in four consecutive weeks. We observed the frequency, initiations, and duration of playful interactions in a naturalistic context. Results derived from the analysis of video-recordings and documents from the school service records indicate that twin brothers with autism take initiative in order to become interactive partners in their dyadic play with their non-typically developing peers although, when so, interactions do not last longer. In twins’ dyadic interactions with their teachers, they never take the initiative to any playful interaction. There are also indications that twin brothers are engaged in interactive rather than solitary play. Findings provide a starting point for a new approach of the twin situation and the extraordinary etiological heterogeneity of ASD in terms of Innate Intersubjectivity Theory. 

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Author Biographies
Μaria Antonios Kypriotaki, University of Crete
Department of Preschool Education
Maria Eleftherios Markodimitraki, University of Crete
Department of Preschool Education
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