Lego therapy and autism
Aims:
To evaluate if Lego Therapy helps autistic children to socialise and communicate.
Background:
Autistic children may be naturally attracted and motivated by systems of one kind or an other. LEGO is a highly systematic toy that appears intrinsically rewarding to autistic children.
Methods:
We conducted clinical trials comparing autistic children who received LEGO Therapy with those who did not.
Results:
An earlier project confirmed that LEGO Therapy leads to improvement in social skills. Our work evaluating Lego Therapy has recently been summarized in a manual called “Lego Therapy: How to Build Social Competence Through Lego Clubs for Children with Autism and Related Conditions” by Daniel LeGoff, Gina Gomez de la Cuesta, GW Krauss, and Simon Baron-Cohen, published by Jessica Kingsley Ltd (www.jkp.com).Importance:
This is important as one example of a clinical intervention that many autistic children enjoy, and they learn social skills from it without realising they are.
Relevance:
To parents, clinicians and developmental psychologists.
Funding:
The Autism Research Trust
Staff members
- Dr Gina Gómez de la Cuesta
Selected Publications
- 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 38:1944-1957 (2008), G. Owens, Y. Granader, A. Humphrey, S. Baron-Cohen