When you begin systematically to ‘teach’ a child with autism to play, it helps if you have worked out a few things beforehand:
Know exactly which objects you will be using – ‘exactly’ means just that, have ready only the toys/materials that you will need for that particular activity. Decide whether things such as the box they come in will be distracting and, if so, remove them.
Know what the play area will be – the living room floor/a table/a tray top/a rug. Does your child need a prop to remind him that this is where his focus of attention will be, a special cushion to sit on, or a picture card reminding him to stay seated?
If you are using picture prompts (the importance of visual supports is explained at the end of the chapter), check they are not confusing or ambiguous or that your child is not interpreting them too literally. See Chapter 4 for lots of ideas on making the most of your computer to access and make visual supports.
Are you going to use a reward or reinforcer for your child after he has completed an activity – something tangible to motivate him to attempt it? Do you have a card to communicate this to your child? For further details on reinforcers see Chapter 5.
How long do you expect your child to engage in the activity? How simple or complicated are your goals? What actions and/or interactions do you specifically want your child to achieve? This may be something as simple as turn-taking with stacking rings or as complicated as an imaginary play sequence with a set of figures.
When you have answered these questions and have the materials and objects to hand, you have set the stage.
Breaking play down into tasks
Once again this sounds like a technical term for a common-sense approach to working with any child with a learning disability. Even for children without additional learning difficulties, their autism impairs the ability to generalize and learn. To break down a play activity we have to look at it as a series of tasks and teach each task separately. This may sound like taking play and removing all the fun – the hard part is not breaking the activity into its separate tasks, it’s keeping it fresh and lively and motivating. If your child picks up on your voice being desperate for him to comply or worse still annoyed at his non-compliance, he’s likely to resist.
The following example illustrates these points.
Playing the magnetic fishing game
The goal – to play ‘turn-taking’ with a magnetic fishing game.
The materials – magnetic fishing games, which are available in many toy shops. Do remember to get an easy-to-handle one or, alternatively, make a simple version yourself by doing the following: Cut a piece of fabric or card into a pond shape. Make six cardboard fish with paper clips attached to their mouths. Make a rod from a piece of dowel and string, and attach a strong magnet to the end of the string.
The tasks –
To lift the rod up slowly with the fish on, after the parent has steered the magnet to the fish.
To attach the magnet himself with his hands and then lift the rod clear.
To attach the magnet by dangling it over the fish.
To ‘turn take’ with two fish.
To ‘turn take’ with six fish.
To add picture cards for him to label on the reverse side of the fish, or to put numbers on the reverse side. Whoever has the highest number, wins.
Even though this is highly structured in some ways, there are no set rules. Some children might get the hang of an activity very quickly and skip straight through all the tasks; others might need extra help from you in motivating them to look at the activity and attempt the first task. Accomplishing each task can be seen as a separate play session – a general ‘fishing game’ picture prompt can be used for each session. The first example session might go as follows:
The materials are set up. Mum and Adam collect the fishing game picture card off his diary board (see later section, ‘Structuring the Day’). The next picture card is of Adam’s reward/reinforcer – listening to music.
| Mum: | Now it’s time to play ‘fishing’. Let’s get the card, Adam. (Adam ignores her and picks up the music card.) |
| Mum: | Yes Adam…after the fishing game we’ll play music. (Adam still resists a little.) |
| Mum: | I can see…a yellow fish and a rod! (Mum takes the fish and pretends to make it swim. She then picks it up and drops it, saying ‘it’s got away…come back naughty fish!’…she plays as if for her own pleasure.) (Adam stands on the fish.) |
| Mum: | Well done, you caught it…it’s got your toes! (Mum makes the fish tickle Adam’s toes.) (Adam sits down.) (Mum puts the rod in his hands and closes her hand around his. They lift the fish out together with a ‘One two three…wheee!’ Mum puts the magnet on the fish and lays the rod on the floor. Adam stands up and starts to walk away.) |
| Mum: | It’s ready to go ‘One two three Wheee!’ Adam – (Mum points to the rod) Adam do ‘One two three wheee’, then listen to music. (Mum physically guides his hand to the rod.) (Adam finally crouches and lifts the rod – Mum touches his elbow, saying ‘s..l..o..w..l..y’) |
| Mum: | Yes, well done! – Adam did it! Let’s listen to music. |
The next two or three play sessions could be spent trying to make simply lifting up the fish fun and motivating so that completing the play activity is not simply a means to reaching the reward. Be as silly and creative as you can be:
This is where parents and carers really have to work hard. Non-autistic children simply don’t need to be taught step-by-step that this is a fun activity – understanding the meaning of the game and what it represents just happens, and any additional fun is just that…an extra bonus. Children with autism will struggle to understand: ‘Why do I need to do this thing?’ Your job is to teach your child that playing, and interaction, are fun!
On the basis of this example, any activity (not necessarily just play) can be broken down into a number of tasks that can be taught separately. In the same way that back chaining can be used to complete jigsaws (your child places in the last piece, then the last two pieces, etc.), it can also be used for any play task. Your child’s first play session is completing the last task after you have guided him through the rest, i.e. he lifts the rod after you have attached it to the fish and put