PLAY approach

[Karen A]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/educatio...sm-1788276.html

 

Hi.I recieved an invitation to a presentation regarding the PLAY approach and have been wondering whether to attend partly out of interest.

The article in the link above was in the paper today.I was just wondering whether anyone else has come across this approach.The article appears to suggest that the results are very good.I am just wondering what others think.As my LA has apparently commissioned a worker for under fives I thought it might be something I should have an opinion on.

 

I hope as I have linked to a published article I have managed to stay within Forum rules.If not mods feel free to Edit.

Karen.

[Sally44]

It sounds very interesting. It is certainly an area that I tried with my own son when he was younger. I felt that he needed the opportunity to interact and play with someone else and so I found a play therapist group that were working with autistic children. I think it definately made my son want to interact. And the time he spent with them taught him that interacting with people can be fun and pleasurable. It also taught me how to 'join in' and not try to take over or direct. I also had to learn to 'shut up' and not talk all the time and instead gradually add a 'narrative' explanation of our play to explain to my son what he was doing and what emotions he was demonstrating.

I think it can teach some basic skills that can be built upon. I also think it can provide motivation to the child because they enjoy it, when so often any other kind of interaction has been a negative experience for them.

Obviously it isn't a cure. But I think it can make a difference to the child and also to the family members who maybe distraught because they feel there is no communication or understanding between them. For higher functioning children it gives them the opportunity to learn, develop and become motivated in an area that is a great difficulty for them. As with most other areas of difficulty it is not that the autistic child cannot play, it is that they don't have the skills or the approach used is not meeting them at their level. Once you've got their level you can start moving forward. As I have said in previous posts about my own son; when given the opportunity/support and having been taught the skills he prefers to play and join in with other children rather than pace up and down the fence line.

 

[chris54]

It sound interesting but, the basis of what is described in the article is how adults play with children, isn't it?

Perhaps what they are saying it the parent don't play with their children and should.

 

 

[Sally44]

Obviously it differs greatly from child to child, but as a generalisation children on the spectrum tend to play alone. They don't seek interaction or demand their parents time. This can lead to less interaction. Then the child usually has language difficulties which can make communication difficult. When parents or siblings attempt to play with the child there can be tantrums and meltdowns causing family members to back off even more. From my experience it is about 'joining in' with what the child was already doing. This got the interaction going and gained trust. Again many children play in a rigid way and interaction with other children can be threatening to them because they become anxious that their repetitive play will be disrupted. If the adult joins in with what the child is already doing and then starts to extend that involving the child and taking the lead from the child then the play continues and develops. So although all parents play with their child, what I learnt from play therapy was the therapeutic side of play. And the above sounds similar to that.

[chris54]

If the adult joins in with what the child is already doing and then starts to extend that involving the child and taking the lead from the child then the play continues and develops.

 

As I said, isn't that how adults play with children? But then maybe not, I know that when I helped run a home-start drop in, some of the parent there didant seem to have a clue. I, in my innocence thought that that was a small minority of parents but maybe it is most parents.

[BusyLizzie100]

Some children on the autistic spectrum do need to be taught how to play, it doesn't necessarily come as naturally as it does to other children.

 

They may need to be shown explicitly how to play with objects, eg how to move beyond spinning wheels, into pushing a car along, and then being taught how to develop a story or script around pushing the car along eg 'the car is driving up the hill' - most other children may discover this naturally themselves through curiosity and exploration but autistic children often get 'stuck' in a phase of play development.

 

Play intervention then needs to be explicit, ie taught in almost a 'formal' fashion, and at a level and in a way that the child can understand and starting at the stage at which they are stuck.

 

Children at the more severe end of the spectrum may benefit from rough and tumble play, which can encourage them that interaction with other people can be pleasing and rewarding, eg enjoying being tickled and asking for more, while more able children may benefit from 'mirroring' play, eg sitting opposite an adult who uses small dolls in a short play script; the child is encouraged to copy the play; eventually the aim is for the child to add his/her own details or change the script entirely.

 

The idea is that while children are supposed to enjoy play, it's also a vital part of learning and development. In my opinion, it's probably one of the most worthwhile interventions that can be used with autistic children, since it encourages so much - that other people can be interesting, that it's worthwhile to communicate with other people because it's fun/rewarding, that things do change, that I can change things, that things are not always what they seem, that there are other possibilities ... with the emphasis on enjoyment and having fun.

 

There's a huge amount of literature about play in autistic children, covering everything from what is play and why do we play to why is play often underdeveloped in autistic children and how to encourage play and the benefits of doing this.

 

This particular article does make it sound as if it's the parents' fault that the children don't/can't play; that if only mummy took the time, the child would have fun and the effects of autism would be reduced. It presumes that we all know how to play with our children. I think that does the majority of parents of autistic children a great disservice; it isn't always that straightforward and it isn't always that easy. As with other areas of development - eg toilet training, learning to talk/communicate, how to read - autistic children often need more support and explicit teaching because things don't always come naturally or are picked up in the way that 'typical' children tend to.

 

On the other hand, I think it's great that these type of schemes are around and can we have more, please!

 

Lizzie xx

Edited September 19, 2009 by BusyLizzie100

[chris54]

It must just be me that did all these thing without realizing it and assumed that other people did as well.

 

And perhaps that's why play therapy never really made sense to me as I was already doing it, therefor could not see what they were getting at.

[BusyLizzie100]

It must just be me that did all these thing without realizing it and assumed that other people did as well.

 

And perhaps that's why play therapy never really made sense to me as I was already doing it, therefor could not see what they were getting at.

 

I tried many, many times to play with my boys over the years without great success I've had much greater success with my third child, who is apparently not on the autistic spectrum. And he is able to self-occupy too, ie if he hasn't got anything to do he'll look for something to do and find something fun.

 

It's through blood, sweat and tears and finally wanting to find out about this play lark that I began to understand a bit more it. If only I'd known then what I know now... but hindsight is a wonderful thing!!

 

Lizzie

[Cat]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/educatio...sm-1788276.html

 

Hi.I recieved an invitation to a presentation regarding the PLAY approach and have been wondering whether to attend partly out of interest.

The article in the link above was in the paper today.I was just wondering whether anyone else has come across this approach.The article appears to suggest that the results are very good.I am just wondering what others think.As my LA has apparently commissioned a worker for under fives I thought it might be something I should have an opinion on.

 

I hope as I have linked to a published article I have managed to stay within Forum rules.If not mods feel free to Edit.

Karen.

 

At the core of the programme is the idea that the people who spend the most time with the children – their parents and carers – are the ones who can make the biggest difference.

 

It is very nice for someone to recognise this. After reading the article I feel like what is being suggested as a programme to follow is something that many of the parents who home educate their autistic children are already doing. I say this because of the discussions that we have with each other about how we work with our children and what works best. My better half wrote his Uni dissertation about the pararmeters of behaviour in society being defined by using play as a tool for teaching. Don't ask me what it meant I kind of got what he meant. But he is a HUGE believer that play can be used to progress many children. It is something that we have always actively used with our son.

 

Cat

Edited September 19, 2009 by Cat

[Cat]

It must just be me that did all these thing without realizing it and assumed that other people did as well.

 

And perhaps that's why play therapy never really made sense to me as I was already doing it, therefor could not see what they were getting at.

 

Well there are at least two of us who are thinking this

 

Cat

[bid]

My better half wrote his Uni dissertation about the pararmeters of behaviour in society being defined by using play as a tool for teaching. Don't ask me what it meant I kind of got what he meant. But he is a HUGE believer that play can be used to progress many children. It is something that we have always actively used with our son.

 

Cat

 

That's really interesting Cat. My dad was an Educational Psychologist and did his PhD over 40 years ago on the correlation between the inventiveness/creativity of a child's 'naughtiness' and their intelligence, extending that to use it as a measurement of intelligence. Slight digression, but sort of related to the importance of play in a child's development.

 

I was a firm believer in the value of play when mine were little, and actively avoided home reading/maths schemes, etc, in favour of creative play activities to teach these things.

 

Bid

Edited September 19, 2009 by bid