Children with ASD often exhibit appropriate functional play with toys and parallel play with peers. Functional play involves playing with a toy as it is intended, such as moving a toy train along a track. However, this functional play often does not evolve into more imaginary or symbolic play, as it does with typically developing children. The functional play of running the train along the track may never grow into imagining pretend people are boarding the train and taking a train ride.

As children with ASD engage in functional play, they may be willing to play near their peers with the same materials. However, this play often will not include interacting with peers and sharing toys, as it does with typically developing children. For instance, two children may be driving trains on the same track, but may never make a plan together to join the trains and take the train on a trip. Limited imaginary play skills also impede a child's ability to engage in more flexible and improvisational play and ultimately, in cooperative play with peers.

Some children with ASD do not initially display even functional or parallel play. These skills, however, are typically easier to teach a child with ASD. It is the imaginary, symbolic, and interactive facets of play that represent core social deficits of ASD and are typically much more difficult for a child with ASD to acquire.

Another component of social skills is social-emotional development. This refers to one's ability to read emotional states in oneself and others. Children with ASD often have difficulty in both recognizing their own emotional states and in recognizing the emotional states of people around them. Furthermore, they may not have appropriate strategies to deal with ever changing emotional states. They may not know how to react to their feelings of anger or sadness, and often, their reaction does not match their emotional state.

Although social challenges are the hallmark area of deficit for children with autism, it does not mean that they do not form close relationships with family members and peers. Providing support for children with autism to form relationships with others should be a priority for intervention services.

From Autism 101 (http://depts.washington.edu/pdacent/courses/autism101/1.php)