Karen Stagnitti is Emeritus Professor in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University. She has been working for over 40 years with children and families who have a child with issues with their development. She is now retired from teaching and research, however she continues to train and write. She is the developer of several play assessments: the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment, the Pretend Play Enjoyment Developmental Checklist, the Animated Movie Test and the Pretend Play Checklist for Teachers. From her research in the development of the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment, she developed Learn to Play Therapy, which aims to build the spontaneous ability of a child to initiate their own pretend play. Her work was developed when she was working in community based early childhood intervention teams with families who had children with developmental issues such as autism spectrum disorder. She has over 130 publications across peer reviewed journals, book chapters and books.
Karen Stagnitti
Lecturers
