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 inter-action with peers for a period of time overcome their autistic symptoms of aloofness and rigidity

LEGO® Therapy encourages autistic spectrum children to communicate with one another and solve a problem by building in pairs or groups of three, according to set rules. LEGO® Therapy encourages autistic spectrum children to communicate with one another and solve a problem by building in pairs or 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