A plea to play
Wednesday, July 26th, 2006I have used elements of many different approaches over the years, but the one that I’ve found makes the biggest difference with young children with autism is simply that of playing.
For some of us, playing is natural and we make no apologies for it – for me it is the most effective way of developing relatedness with a child and it is FUN!
When children are enjoying spending time with you, they will come and initiate interactions with you – this is true for the great majority of children with autism as it is for normally developing children. Once they are coming to you, you can then start to scaffold their learning, and you will find teaching other things will be easier because now you have their attention and trust.
However, over the years I have worked with many colleagues who just don’t find playing natural – they feel much more comfortable “teaching” something. If this sounds like you, then my plea is this: play first, other stuff can wait.
My personal experience has shown me that this works. I urge you try it for yourself – play with your child just for the sake of playing and see what opens up. However, make sure that you are enjoying yourself, don’t harbor any nagging thoughts that you should be “teaching” something instead.
Relax, you will be “teaching” – you are teaching your child that you are worth spending time with, and that hanging out with you is more interesting than spending time on their own.
Children with autism by definition have difficulty with social interaction – isn’t it wonderful to teach them to interact with people (you initially), in such a joyous way?