Lego Therapy
Read about it here in the March 15th Philadelphia Inquirer. The therapy has autistic children build with Legos and animate what they make by taking a sequence of digital photographs. Members of the “Lego Club” meet for one hour a week at the Center for Neurological and Neurodevelopmental Health in Voorhees, N.J. under the supervision of three adult leaders. The therapy was devised by pediatric neuropscyhologist Daniel “Dr. Dan” Legoff.
To force communication and collaboration, Legoff assigned rotating roles. The “engineer’s” design had to be acceptable to the “builder,” who had to get parts from the “supplier.”
Jonathan’s year-old group, one of eight at the center in Voorhees, has reached the club’s premier level _ “master builder” _ so now members devote their sessions to producing stop-action videos. These are shown at the Lego Club’s annual “film festival,” attended by adoring fans (relatives).
“I feel bringing Lewis here has brought him out of himself,” said Karen Roberts, mother of one of the filmmakers. “He’s loved Legos since he was a tiny kid. But before this, he didn’t really socialize a lot.”
Lynda Shanahan, [13-year-old] Jonathan’s mother, said: “I wouldn’t say he has dramatically changed since coming here. The diagnosis is like layers: Peel away one problem and another comes up. But I have seen growth. This has helped him get a group of friends where he fits in. It’s built his self-esteem.”
Lego therapy is most likely not for my son, not only because of the level of his language and cognitive/academic skills, but also because Charlie has limited interest in Legos. He stacks them one atop the other and presses them in and tends to be more inclined to line up different colors in patterns and look at them (and interrupting him in this activity unsettles him). A friend did suggest getting Charlie a camcorder (preferably one that can take being dropped a bit) and having him take movies of things he likes—not therapy, maybe, but a good way to help Charlie record the things he like and, too, for us to get more of a glimpse about his view of things.
Sounds like that could be good therapy, and good teaching, for me.
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POSTED IN: Adolescence, Movies, Psychology, Toys, Treatment
10 opinions for Lego Therapy
Jordan Sadler, SLP
Mar 20, 2008 at 7:45 pm
This is an interesting avenue for working on social interaction! I couldn’t help but giggle, though, about the fact that “Dr. Dan” has a last name with “Lego” in it. Coincidence?
shawng3k
Mar 20, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Has Charlie ever played with Dominoes? This has been a lifelong favorite of my son’s. I have pictures of him at 2 (before we knew, but were starting to suspect), lining them up. Now that he’s older, he takes this fascination with lining up things/dominoes and will line them up in the way that makes them enjoyable to knock over. We’ve all seen people, who can make complex patterns of dominoes to eventually knock over. My son is no where near that level, but this has proven to be a good outlet for that particular aspect of his Asperger’s and has helped him develop his creativity and imaginative play. He would much rather do that, than actually play the game of dominioes…but I can’t be too particular, it is good just to see him go even a step or two beyond the repetitive play of the not so distant past.
shawng3k
Mar 20, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Also meant to add that the Lego therapy is a wonderful idea! I may have to get something like that going around here, once my schedule opens up at the end of the school year. Dad and Jonah, just finished making this elaborate Lego castle together - they’ve been building it a section at a time (its a kit) since Christmas. I think it will probably still be on my kitchen table come next Christmas.
VAB
Mar 20, 2008 at 8:57 pm
MK is no big Lego fan either. We got him a camcorder for Christmas and he hasn’t used it once. Sigh.
If you are looking for a camcorder for Charlie, this has absolutely got to be it. I just read about it yesterday: http://tinyurl.com/2qbm8a
Kristina Chew, PhD
Mar 20, 2008 at 9:13 pm
@Jordan,
I noted that Dr. Legoff is the “lego therapist”—-talk about coincidences!
@VAB,
Thanks for the tip—Charlie’s birthday is coming up!
@shawng3k,
a castle on your kitchen table! so are you eating on TV trays….
Cat M
Mar 20, 2008 at 9:19 pm
My sons like Legos, but I learned recently that my 9-year-old has been eating the Legos, and I haven’t decided what to do about it. He explained that he chews them into tiny pieces before swallowing, which was somewhat reassuring in regard to possible bowel obstruction, but I can’t imagine plastic is healthy to eat. (I will never understand why he refuses to taste a peanut butter cookie or turkey sandwich regulary eats Legos, rulers, shoelaces, erasers.)
I think this sort of therapy is interesting, but I realized recently that sometimes the “socializing” is more important to me than to them. My oldest loves to sign up for group activities and even tried out for a play on his own; when I saw the complete lack of socialization between him and the other kids at the play’s after party (he sat down with his plate of goodies at a table by himself, never exchanged a word or greeting with anyone, then said “Ok I’m done,” and when we left, nobody said goodbye or vice versa), I was sad, but he did not perceive any problem and was happy about the whole experience.
I could see my kids enjoying playing with the Legos at this group and maybe making the movies, but I am not sure they would like “forced” socializing. My 11-year-old hates being assigned to work with others in school–even his best friend.
On the other hand, my youngest would love its organization and how everything has a step-by-step process. Also, it seems non-competitive; they aren’t judged on the finished product like so many social activities at school, which leave him feeling angry when his scores are not 100% perfect.
Jill
Mar 20, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I have Legos on my kitchen table, a special table in the family room and another table in my dining room. My oldest does not care for Legos but my younger son is obsessed with them. He can take a 700-800 piece Lego City set and build it in one day. I always make sure that he gets the set early in the day because he will not go to bed until it is finished. I have spent a small fortune on Legos and that company owes me big time.
shawng3k
Mar 20, 2008 at 10:16 pm
@Christina…LOL, no but it does take up the entire middle of the table and we eat on the very edges. :-) I doubt it will be disassembled (relocated, yes) as Dad leaves for military training for 11 months at the end of April (state-side thankfully).
ange
Mar 20, 2008 at 10:24 pm
interesting. bubba’s new found interest is youtube lego movies (stop motion). I had no idea there was such a thing. But I was desperate one day and found them. He loves them. So far I can let him search and click away. Haven’t found any lego porn yet, just a few with questionable language which I can stop rather quickly…. ;)
Bonnie Sayers
May 10, 2008 at 12:30 pm
We recently donated all Nick’s Bionicle lego sets to a teacher on craigslist to use as prizes for his students. Nick was into legos for many years and we had the characters all over the house on display. I am glad that interest is over. He was into puzzles for a long time when he was very young and did 100 pieces at like 5 years of age.
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