Lego Therapy - Social Communication Groups
Image Credit: The Magic Tuba Pixie - Flickr
A timely article as this is a form of therapy that I am proud to offer as an Independent Speech, Language and Communication Therapist.
It's really nice to see 27th May's article about Lego Therapy from The Independent in the Independent. It seems to be taking the world by storm! Our household is major Lego fans - and we end up with some amazing creations! My daughter loved the awesome Masterbuilders Lego group she went to this week.
Lego Therapy is an alternative approach. It's still the Lego we all know and love - but in a highly structured therapeutic approach which is all abut developing communication, interaction and language skills of children with social and communication difficulties.
This can be ideal for kids for whom unstructured play times can be fraught with difficulties, who struggle to follow instructions, who are easily frustrated when they struggle to communicate their message, who are eager for friendships but just find it really tricky to get connected, or who don't always let others get a word in edgeways. It was developed to help kids with Autism by a Psychologist Daniel LeGoff (better still - he even has Lego in his name) :)There's no denying it - it can be challenging for the kids taking part - working with an often-solitary toy in a collaborative way. But I have seen first-hand the safe and structured space it can create for learning to work with others, the pleasure for a child of being the one giving the instructions for once, and the satisfaction of having created something together.
It's not a fix for autism or social communication difficulties, but it is gathering an evidence base for developing social skills in an intrinsically motivating way.Give me a call if you think your child could benefit from an SLT-led Lego Therapy group. Groups are of 3 carefully matched peers and individual Speech, Language and Communication goals are developed and supported for your child.
judephilip.co.uk