en Educational Studies پژوهشي Original <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#339966;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height:2;"><b>Objective:</b> The present study was undertaken with the objective of assessing the efficacy of child-centered play therapy in enhancing the social skills and self-regulation of children diagnosed with autism.<br> <b>Methods</b>: The methodology employed in this investigation was quasi-experimental in nature, utilizing a pre-test-post-test design that included a control group. The statistical population for this research comprised all boys and girls aged between 6 to 9 years who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and who possess medical records for the academic year 2023 at the Aftab Children&#39;s Autism Center of Quds city. This sample was randomly assigned into two groups: a control group consisting of 12 participants and an experimental group also comprising 12 participants. The instruments utilized for data collection included The Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS), developed by Tangney et al. (2004) and Social Skills Rating Form (Stone et al., 2010). For the purpose of data analysis, a multivariate covariance analysis test was employed, with a significance level set at 0.01.<br> <b>Results</b>: The findings indicated a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups regarding social skills; in other words, child-centered play therapy has demonstrably enhanced both social skills and self-regulation within the experimental group.<br> <b>Conclusions</b>: Therefore, interventions grounded in child-centered play therapy may be appropriately integrated into the programming of school counseling centers.</span></span></span></span></div> child play therapy based on social skills, self-control, autistic children 0 0 http://ijer.hormozgan.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-198-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Azam Darafshi darafshia@gmail.com 0000-0000-0000-0000 No MA in general psychology, Azad University, Quds branch, Tehran Farideh Abedi Barzi abedibarzi@yahoo.com 0000-0000-0000-0000 No MA in general psychology, Azad University, Quds branch, Tehran, Iran Zahra Andalibipour andalibipour333@gmail.com 0000-0000-0000-0000 No MA in Clinical Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Shahroud Branch, Semnan, Iran Fatemeh Saboui sabouifa@yahoo.com 0000-0000-0000-0000 No MA in educational affairs, Payam Noor University, Dezful branch, Iran Rojin Roghani 0000-0002-0000-0000 No MA in General Psychology, Department of Psychology, Shahr-e- Qods Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Mehran Mohebian Far mohebianfar@gmail.com 0000-0000-0000-0000 Yes MA in family counseling, Azad University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran