ReviewWorld journal of clinical pediatrics2023
Play therapy in children with autism: Its role, implications, and limitations.
Review in World journal of clinical pediatrics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Inclusion of Fathers in Parent Coaching Interventions for Young Autistic Children: A Systematic Review.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Pooled it
- The effectiveness of play therapy on depression and anxiety in hospitalized children with cancer: a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Assisted Robots in Therapies for Children with Autism in Early Childhood.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of improved creative play interventions on social communication, behavioral, and cognitive function in children with autism spectrum disorder: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in public health · 2026Trial
- A Study on the Intervention Effect of the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Model in Serious Games for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Knowledge Structure and Evolution of Hotspots in Play Therapy: A Bibliometric Analysis via Multiple Visualization Tools.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Environmental and family correlates of daily TV-watching time in children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing children.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Differential Effects of Individually Adapted Challenge-Oriented Heidelberg Ballschule Activities Versus Static Version on Motor Competence and Affective Engagement in 9-11-Year-Old Female Children.BioMed research international · 2026Article
- Design and application of emotion-oriented play-learning tools for children with autism: a cross-cultural qualitative study of parents and teachers in China and Malaysia.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Examining the Link Between Social Affect and Visual Exploration of Cute Stimuli in Autistic Children.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Unraveling functional neurological disorder in pediatric populations: A systematic review of diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes.World journal of clinical pediatrics · 2025Article
- Management of critical care emergencies in children with autism spectrum disorder.World journal of critical care medicine · 2025Article
- Behavioural disorders and sleep problems in Sanfilippo syndrome: overlaps with some other conditions and importance indications.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Review
- The Impact of a Music- and Movement-Based Intervention on Motor Competence, Social Engagement, and Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- LEGOBrain sciences · 2024Article
- Decoding the genetic landscape of autism: A comprehensive review.World journal of clinical pediatrics · 2024Article
- Metabolomic changes in children with autism.World journal of clinical pediatrics · 2024Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Play is a pleasurable physical or mental activity that enhances the child's skills involving negotiation abilities, problem-solving, manual dexterity, sharing, decision-making, and working in a group. Play affects all the brain's areas, structures, and functions. Children with autism have adaptive behavior, adaptive response, and social interaction limitations. This review explores the different applications of play therapy in helping children with autism disorder. Play is usually significantly impaired in children with autism. Play therapy is mainly intended to help children to honor their unique mental abilities and developmental levels. The main aim of play therapy is to prevent or solve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal child-healthy growth and development. Play therapy helps children with autism to engage in play activities of their interest and choice to express themselves in the most comfortable ways. It changes their way of self-expression from unwanted behaviors to more non-injurious expressive behavior using toys or activities of their choice as their words. Play therapy also helps those children to experience feeling out various interaction styles. Every child with autism is unique and responds differently. Therefore, different types of intervention, like play therapy, could fit the differences in children with autism. Proper evaluation of the child is mandatory to evaluate which type fits the child more than the others. This narrative review revised the different types of play therapy that could fit children with autism in an evidence-based way. Despite weak evidence, play therapy still has potential benefits for patients and their families.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.