Games About Pointing and Choosing
Children with autism only gradually grasp the idea that one can choose from among several options and then communicate that choice. Like so many other concepts, it is complicated to teach, because, not knowing how to communicate a preference or a desire, a child with autism will often become upset and either give up or meltdown--often so quickly that there is no time to show the child how to make a choice. Helping a child understand that he or she will be successful and that it is worth persisting is the tricky part of this activity.I want to show you the games we use to teach the idea of pointing at things in order to make a choice, but it is hard to explain the timing aspect of playing these games with children who have very little tolerance for frustration. I don't have the right video clip of a child learning this that i can show you so I will try to explain the game and show you the set up with a video model for you, the adult.
Set up the game so that something that your child wants is visually available but not in a place that your child can reach it independently. You will see on the video model below that I am using a clear plastic bag with a zipper for this purpose. I have a little boy, named Amid, who is using this bag recently and for him it is a sensory game but for me it is a learning to point and choose game.
As soon as I see what Amid wants in the bag, I take his hand and help him touch the desired item but he can't get it because in is in the bag. Then I get the desired object out of the bag fast. I have loaded the deck in this bag because Amid prefers the two fish and the eyeball guy over everything else. I can guess accurately what he wants most of the time, even if he just looks at it. At regular intervals (after about 30 seconds to 1 minute) I take away the object that he is holding if he has not dropped it and I put it in a different container. He then wants another item out of the bag and I guess what it is by watching what he looks at and help him touch the item and get it out for him. I recycle his favorite three items back into the bag when I can and sometimes he surprises me and picks an entirely different item. This is happy because we play this game for fifteen minutes or more at a time and I like the variety but it is a little harder for me to guess accurately. Maybe this is a good thing because it seems that if I guess wrong sometimes, Amid gets more accurate about pointing. He does not get frustrated much anymore because he knows for sure that he can have any item in the bag and he is now accurately touching the item he wants. He does not point with one finger but rather touches with his whole hand but it looks very different than it did three weeks ago when he often hit the bag to get an item but looked away rather than at an item. After he developed a clear preference for the fish, he started looking for it in the bag. One more tip you should know is that Amid and I had to come to an understanding about his not independently getting items out of the bag. He was not happy with me but deferred to my rule after about three angry outbursts where he bit his hand, stared daggers at me with his nose about two inches from mine and threw himself on the floor. Amid is sooo mad! I said each time. Tahirih holds the bag. That makes Amid mad! Once we got through establishing bag handling rules, he has enjoyed this game enough to look for the bag when he comes to see me and asks to play the game several times each week. He asks by touching the bag, of course.
Raised Platform
Another system we use to teach choosing with a point is using a raised platform that we have in our clinic. The child can go under the platform with mom or dad and someone else, Allison Norgard in this case, puts the desired objects on the clear acrylic area of the platform for the child to see. The child (or parent at the beginning) points to the desired object and then Allison hands the item over to the child. Many a child has pointed to the desired object with his or her foot but we accept any readable gesture and hand over the goods.Other Ways to Offer a Choice with Pointing
When I am asked to help parents design a play space, I suggest a high shelf where toys can be put so that the toys are visible to the child but not easy to reach. This way, parents model pointing and help the child point at the desired toy before getting the toy down and handing it over. It is easier to be certain what your child wants if you put several undesirable items up on the shelf and only one that your child really wants. As your child becomes better at pointing to choose, bring down the wrong item and help your child become more accurate and persistent about making a choice this way. How does this strategy compare with letting a child make a choice using photos or pictures? This is just a different strategy that a child can use to communicate a choice and it is useful to also teach children to make a choice by selecting a picture and handing it to a parent. Pointing is a really useful communication skill to have since your index finger is always with you. We all use pointing as a means of communicating even though we have words that we could say. Both systems are important communication skills.