Learning through play One of the best ways for children with autism, Asperger's, and sensory processing disorders to learn is through play. Children improve their motor skills, language skills, and social skills by moving their bodies and interacting with their environment. Yet the biggest challenges parents, teachers, and loved ones face with children on the autism spectrum or with sensory processing disorders is how to successfully engage them in play. Pediatric occupational therapist Tara Delaney provides the answer. In 101 Games and Activities for Children with Autism, Asperger's, and Sensory Processing Disorders, she shows you how to teach your children by moving their bodies through play. These interactive games are quick to learn but will provide hours of fun and learning for your child. And many of the games can be played indoors or outdoors, so your child can enjoy them at home, outside, or on field trips. More than one hundred games that help your child: make eye-contact, stay focused, and strengthen his or her motor skills - associate words with objects and improve language and numerical skills - learn how to interact with others, how to take turns, and other social skills needed for attending preschool and school Tara Delaney M.S., OTR, is the Executive Director of Steps Therapy Inc., specializing in sensory integration, autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, as well as social skills development. 101 Games and Activities for Children With Autism, Asperger's and Sensory Processing Disorders By TARA DELANEY The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Copyright © 2009 Tara Delaney All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-07-162336-0 Contents Chapter One THE HOW OF ENGAGEMENT It is often said that play is work for children with neurological difficulties, especially autism, Asperger's syndrome, and sensory processing disorder. This is understandable since many children with a neurological challenges struggle with expressive and receptive language skills, motor planning, as well as sensory processing. These struggles ultimately impact the ability of these children to initiate and engage in free play. The challenge is compounded because they have difficulty learning by watching others—another key element of play. Also, social interaction, in and of itself, is not highly motivating for many of these children, especially children with autism or Asperger's, so they are not naturally inclined to seek out other children to play with. However, reports from parents, educators, and therapists, as well as my own experience show that when these children are taught effective ways to engage with objects and people to expand their sensory, motor, language, and social skills, they have fun! Assume a Connection Increasing a child's engagement in the world around him or her is the main objective of the games and activities in this book. Getting and holding the interest of some children may seem futile at times. The challenge when playing with and teaching children with neurological difficulties is that we, caretakers and educators, judge a child's interest based on the feedback he or she gives us. However, children with autism, Asperger's, or sensory processing disorder may not give typical feedback, even as infants. We may find ourselves decreasing or changing our engagement level, ultimately giving the child less input or fewer experiences. Often our motivation is to protect our children or simply not to over-stimulate them, but instead we limit their opportunities to learn how to connect. As a therapist, I see that children with neurological difficulties are exposed to fewer sensorimotor and language experiences compared to typically developing children, often because these children don't give feedback that shows they are interested in playing or being spoken to. Some may even give negative feedback to parenting input, such as arching away when we hold them, averting eye contact, not watching the caretaker with their eyes, as well as having adverse reactions to certain sensory stimulation, such as movement or touch. When a young child doesn't appear to register what we say or do, or appears to register it in a negative or fearful way, the natural reaction is to pull back and give less. We may not even realize we are doing this. It is simply a natural response that occurs during all human interactions. When we smile at or talk to babies, they smile back or even laugh and coo; then we smile and coo back, responding to the baby's positive feedback. When that doesn't happen, we start doing it less because we are not getting the expected feedback. Interaction is reciprocal, so when someone talks less to us, we also tend to talk to that person less. When parents put their child on a swing at the playground and the child screams, most parents take the child off the swing—and it may be a while before the parents try to put the child back on the swing. If the parent gets the same reaction on the