Download LEGO Therapy - University of Warwick

Conference
Ashley A. Green
University of Warwick
Tuesday 24th September 2013
LEGO® Therapy was originated
by Daniel LeGoff in the United
States and researched by Gina
Owens (now Gina Gómez de la
Cuesta) and colleagues at the
Autism Research Centre,
University of Cambridge.
LEGO® Therapy for Autistic Children – A Short Summary by Dr Gina Gómez
(left-click in the space above to start the 2.5-minute video clip)
The goals of LEGO® Therapy for children
with autistic spectrum disorders are to:
• improve their motivation to initiate social
contact with peers
• improve their ability to sustain interaction with peers for a period of time
• overcome their autistic symptoms of
aloofness and rigidity
LEGO® Therapy encourages
autistic
spectrum
children
LEGO® Therapy
encourages
autistic
to communicate
with one
spectrum
children to communicate
with one another
and solveaa problem
another
and solve
problem
by building in pairs or groups of three,
by building in pairs or
according to set rules.
groups of three, according
to set rules.
• The “engineer” gives verbal descriptions of the pieces
needed and directions for assembling them
• The “builder” follows his directions, collects and puts
the pieces together
• There is much checking back and forth between the
plan and the creation
• Roles are then switched so they both have a chance
to be “engineer” and “builder”
The “engineer” describes the instructions
The “supplier” finds the correct pieces
The “builder” put the pieces together
After a time, they swap roles
This division of labour with a
common purpose allows children
to practice joint attention, turn
taking, sharing, joint problem
solving, listening and general
social communication skills.
LEGO® Club Rules
• Build things together!
• If you break it you have to fix it or ask for help to
fix it.
• If someone else is using it, don’t take it - ask first.
• Use indoor voices - no yelling.
• Keep your hands and feet to yourself.
• Use polite words.
• Clean up and put things back where they came from.
• Don’t put LEGO® bricks in your mouth.
The therapist’s role is not to point out specific
social problems or give solutions to social
difficulties, rather to highlight the presence of
a problem and help children to come up with
their own solutions.
Solutions that children have come up with are
practised until they can do it, and the therapist
can remind children of strategies in the future
if similar difficulties arise.
Skill Levels
• ‘‘LEGO Helpers’’ are able to find bricks and
sort them into their correct colours.
• ‘‘LEGO Builders’’ are able to build models in
a group and design freestyle models with
adult help.
• ‘‘LEGO Creators’’ are able to build models in
groups and design freestyle models in pairs
without adult help.
Skill Certificates
Once children can demonstrate skills at a particular
level, they are given a certificate to reward their
achievement in front of all the children at the end
of the therapy session (e.g. when they build in a
group successfully for the first time, they are given
a ‘‘LEGO Builder’’ certificate). Children are awarded
certificates on an individual rather than a group
basis and are highly motivated to participate socially
and build models together so that they can move up
to the next level.
• LEGO® Therapy has proved effective for children
with high functioning autism (HFA), Asperger
Syndrome (AS), or pervasive developmental
disorder - not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).
• It can also be effective for children with anxiety
disorders (especially social phobia), depression, or
adjustment difficulties manifesting as depression
or anxiety.
• Including children with behavior disorders, such as
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), or other
externalizing disorders, who also have social skill
problems, is not productive.
LEGO®
Education
WeDo
LEGO®
MINDSTORMS
Education
The “builder” collects and puts the pieces
together
The “programmer” creates a control program
for the LEGO® WeDo or MINDSTORMS model
Roles are then switched so they both have a
chance to be “builder” and “programmer”
Sources of Information
LeGoff, D. B. (2004). Use of LEGO© as a therapeutic medium for
improving social competence. Journal of Autism and Developmental
Disorders, 34(5), 557–571.
LeGoff, D. B., & Sherman, M. (2006). Long-term outcome of social
skills intervention based on interactive LEGO© play. Autism,
10(4), 317–329.
Owens, G., Granader, Y., Humphrey, A. & Baron-Cohen, S. (2008).
LEGO® therapy and the Social Use of Language Programme: an
evaluation of two social skills interventions for children with high
functioning autism and Asperger syndrome. Journal of Autism and
Developmental Disorders, 38(10), 1944–1957.
In Press
LEGO® THERAPY
A MANUAL FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LEGO®-BASED SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT THERAPY FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISIC SPECTRUM
DISORDERS.
Daniel B. LeGoff
Gina Gómez de la Cuesta
www.autismresearchcentre.com