Do you remember your child's first day of kindergarten?
...how that morning you entered into a sort of
wrestling match as they fought you to get dressed. They begged to stay home and needed to be
carried to the car --all the while kicking and screaming and undoing their
seat belt as fast as you could belt them back in?
...how they held onto
the back of the driver’s headrest with a death grip while you tried to yank
them out of the car by their feet?
Remember doing that on the first day...on the
second day and the 30th day?
What?
Wait…you don’t recall doing that?
Ah…probably not.
But, for those of us raising a child on the
Autism spectrum…it’s easy to remember days like that.
Chances are good when your child started
school, it was YOU who was shedding tears as they stepped into a new
developmental milestone without hardly a glance back. Unlike my son who has
Autism, my neuro-typical daughter couldn’t wait to start kindergarten and barely
let me stop the car before she was racing ahead through the school doors without
me.
As a parent I can provide for my children’s
basic needs – I can feed and clothe them.
I can give them a home…a safe haven, but when you have a child who lacks
the skills or confidence with navigating social circles…who has trouble
recognizing facial cues – such as noticing when someone begins to look
away while you are talking, it is a hint they may not be interested in learning
about the names and functions of all the droids featured in Star Wars the Clone
Wars.
Engaging in reciprocal language…small talk –
is no small feat. Which makes it difficult to grow and reach
the next level as shown in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: BELONGING. It is an intrinsic desire and the heart of
what makes us human.
Imagine if you had
the desire, but lacked the skill to make it possible.
And on those days when my son, now almost 11 years old with normal intelligence and “high functioning autism” comes home and
shares he is “lonely” and kids don’t “get him”…that he feels “stupid” –
my heart sinks…
While he receives language support from a
licensed Speech & Language Therapist there is no substitute for the real
world. The challenge is finding an arena. I know we are not alone – there are many children who do not even have a
diagnosis, but struggle with making friends.
Maybe they are shy. Maybe they
lack the coordination or desire to play team sports…which is tough when sports seems
to be one of the most popular ways for children to strengthen social skills and
solidify friendships. While high school offers many after school clubs...there are few options for elementary school children.
One solution to level the playing field and
get kids who struggle “in the game” is to capitalize on a love children the
world over share…
LEGOS!
Who knew something so simple could not only rein as a top toy for more
than 50 years, but offer dozens upon dozens of cooperative learning
opportunities for children.
How
popular? Did you know?
· The LEGO company
estimates that
some five billion hours a year are spent playing with them and believe that on average, every person on the earth
owns 86 LEGO bricks!
· In 2012, 45.7
billion LEGO bricks were produced at a rate of 5.2 million per hour.
· Laid end to end,
the number of LEGO bricks sold in 2012 would stretch round the world more than
18 times.
· The first mini-figure
was produced in 1978. Since then more than 4 billion have been made – making
it the world’s largest population group!
· LEGO bricks as we know
them were first introduced in 1958 and the bricks made then will still
interlock with the ones manufactured today.
A few weeks ago I became a finalist for a grant to fund a start-up LEGO Club at my children's school. I didn't receive the grant, but haven't given up hope. Please contact me at andrea at therapyonwry dot com if you know of another organization interested in funding this sort of project.
Proposed LEGO Club Model:
Monthly
or twice monthly after-school meetings
Meetings
lasting 60-75 minutes, that revolve around a theme
One
facilitator, three parent volunteers per group of 15-20 students
Meeting
components:
settling-in challenge – 10 minutes
circle talk - 15 minutes
building time – 30 minutes
student presentation – 15 minutes
clean-up – 5 minutes
Popularity would dictate whether more than one group is needed,
if so groups would be divided by grades and would require more volunteers. The program would be
billed as a creative social outlet for all students as a means to
build confidence, team building and expand learning experiences. I would coordinate
with a teacher and our school librarian to conduct LEGO Club and showcase
creations in the library each month. In time, and as the group matures and develops - I would love to see the older groups create stop action animation PSAs using LEGO mini-figures to promote everything from healthy eating to anti-bullying. The sky is the limit.
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Settling In LEGO Challenge Ideas:
1. Divide children into pairs. Provide them with two bags
containing 10 identical bricks and two LEGO plates. Instruct them to sit back
to back. One child builds bricks onto his LEGO plate and then communicates
where he placed each brick and the type of brick used to his partner. The goal is for the partners to end up with
pieces that look identical to each other.
2. Have each child grab a handful of bricks.
Then go around the room and for every brick the child has chosen, he has
to share something about themselves. For
example: their name, favorite food, favorite game to play, etc.
3. Have the kids try to move a LEGO mini-figure several floor tiles without
touching the mini-figure. Provide some items for students to use such as: matchbox
cars, sling shots, ramps and rubber bands.
4. Have each child
grab a handful of bricks and see what their imagination builds – their design
must include all bricks they grabbed.
5. Sort out an identical set of LEGO pieces
for each student and watch how each one comes up with a unique creation.
6. See who can build the tallest tower in 5 minutes.
7. Take pictures of simple LEGO structures,
and have the children try to duplicate it. You can also do it step-by-step. Or,
do one as a race.
8. Students form a circle and are each given 5 LEGO pieces.
The first child has 10 seconds to build something with his 5 pieces and
when the timer goes off, pass it to their right and the next child builds upon
the first child's creation with their 5 pieces, until all children have added
on their pieces.
9.
Give each child a LEGO base and ask them to try and create their name in LEGOS.
LEGO Club Circle Talk Ideas:
For students K-2, the circle talk portion could begin with reading a short story related to the theme as a means to extend learning and invite questions and sharing among students.
For students 3-5th, circle talk may involve inviting a parent or someone from the community who works in a related field, share about their occupation and answer questions from the group. For example, if the club meeting theme is bridges -- invite an engineer to speak.
Additionally, circle talk could include a short slide show consisting of 10 or more images of LEGO creations that fit with a particular club meeting theme.
LEGO Club Themes/Book Ideas:
Transportation
– planes, trains, automobiles, trucks, sailboats, submarines, ships
“Transportation inventions: from subways to
submarines” by Sandra Will
“From the Model T to hybrid cars: how transportation has changed” by Jennifer Boothroyd
“Transportation inventions: moving
our world forward” by Robert Walker
“Terrific transportation
inventions” by Laura Hamilton Waxman
“Transportation planner” by Nel Yomtov
“Green ways of getting around:
careers in transportation” by Diane Dakers
Animals – marine life, land animals, farm
animals, wild versus domestic animals, service animals, therapy animals
“Service
animals” by Julie Murray
“Therapy cats, dogs, and rabbits” by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst
“Winter's tail : how one little
dolphin learned to swim again” by Juliana
Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff, and Craig Hatkoff
“Farm animals” by Wade Cooper
Space – planets, aliens, space
ships, rockets, astronauts, stars
“Space – A visual encyclopedia”
“Space” by Alan Dyer
“Astronauts” by Carmen Bredeson
“Alien worlds: your guide to
extraterrestrial life” by David A. Aguilar
Buildings & Bridges–
skyscrapers, homes, stores, monuments, castles, treehouses
“Record
breakers : the biggest” by Claire Llewellyn and Thea Feldman
“Iggy Peck, architect” by Andrea Beaty
“High-rise workers” by Tony
Hyland
Food – fruits, vegetables, ethnic foods, farmer’s market
“First Food
fight this Fall and Other School Poems” by Marilyn Singer
“Fun
Food Inventions” by Nadia Higgins
“Middle Eastern Food” by Wendy Blaxland
“French Food” by Wendy Blaxland
“The food of Mexico” by Byron Augustin
“Buddy and the bunnies in Don't play with your Food” by Bob Shea
Seasonal – Fall,
Winter, Spring, Summer, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s, Christmas tree,
presents, snowman, penguin, flowers, jack ‘o lantern, witch, Frankenstein,
hearts, apples, pumpkins, cornucopia
“Llama Llama Holiday Drama” by Anna Dewdney
“Trick or
treat, Marley!” by John Grogan
“Five Little Monkeys Trick-or-Treat” by Eileen Christelow
“The Legend
of the Candy Cane : the inspirational story of our favorite Christmas candy” by Lori Walburg
“Olivia and the
Christmas Present” by Farrah McDoogle
“Charlie and the Christmas Kitty” by
Ree Drummond
Dinosaurs –
“How do dinosaurs eat their food?” by Jane
Yolen & Mark Teague
“If Dinosaurs Lived in My Town” by Marianne Plumridge
“Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar!” by Bob
Barner
“Dinosaurs Galore!” by Giles Andreae
“Edwina, the Dinosaur who didn't
Know she was Extinct” by Mo Willems
Proposed Budget (to support 30-40 club members)
Two, LEGO Storage Towers $120
20 LEGO Bases $100
Two, 1000 piece LEGO mix sets $400
30 assorted LEGO mini-figures $ 90
Notebook/binder and color copies for documentation $ 40
and use with club meetings
Total $750
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Clones and aliens mixing it up and cheering on the little boy trying to reach the next level.
Belonging: It takes a village |
