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Beanbag Sandwich, an RDI Game
THIS IS A SITE FULL OF GAMES:
Movement games, construction games, board games, pretend-play games, acting games. Games for children who refuse to play with anyone and games for children who want desperately to play but try to control what everyone does. Games for children with no verbal language skills and games for precociously verbal but socially challenged youngsters. Games that are just silly and fun and games that are cognitively challenging and engaging for the brightest of young minds. Games for the artistic child and the athletic child. Games for one adult to play with one child and games that can be played with small groups of children.
These games are designed to make sense and be enjoyable to youngsters with ASD or other developmental disorders. Each game is designed with a bit more structure and is more predictable or routine than is common in the play of children who do not have neurological challenges.
Videos are often included because it is much easier to understand if I just show you and don't try to explain it all in writing.
THESE GAMES ARE ORGANIZED BY LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY ....more
THESE GAMES ARE ORGANIZED BY LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY ....more
Beginning Level Games 1 are for children who are minimally verbal or have no language skills yet and/or children who resist participating in social interaction for even brief periods of time. The games are designed to be played with one adult and one child.
Beginning Level Games 2 in particular are designed to entice children into social play even when they have been reluctant to engage in social play. The enticement is the sensory components and the simple, structured routine of the games. For these youngest players, every game includes an interesting sensory element. A child might be squeezed between bean bag chairs (as pictured above) or treated to a swing in a blanket. In these games, there is always a satisfying sound, sight, or feel. Puzzle pieces click, tops spin, blocks fall, or the child climbs and jumps.
Intermediate Level Games are for children who are beginning to combine words and can stay in a social interaction for several turns. These games continue to have simple routines that are easy for children to understand, and thus allow the child to focus attention on the social or language aspects of the game. While designed for one child and one adult, while working in an elementary school setting, I used versions of these games in small group settings-but usually with a classroom assistant or another professional.
Advanced Level Games work to engage and delight children who have more developed language and social skills while still needing to practice and learn new social interaction and language skills. These games may still feature enjoyable sensory experiences, but they also appeal to a child's growing cognitive and social understanding of the world. Several small group games are described in this section.
Stage Play Acting Games are games and activities from a therapeutic acting program called Stage Play. They are included to give ideas to anyone thinking about setting up an acting program for youngsters with ASD and for anyone just wanting to include the fun of drama and acting in their play sessions. These games are appropriate for many children older than eight years. In my experience, with some modification these activities can be used to include children of all abilities in acting and theater.
Index of Additional Game Pages is a navigation/table of contents page to take you directly to many more game pages, not organized by difficulty, but organized instead by topics.
WHO CREATED THESE GAMES?
On this site you will find games created by me, games created by renowned autism experts and games created by parents, the real experts. Every game here was tested and fine tuned over many years as I worked with children, eight and younger, and their families in a free, play-focused, language disorders clinic. I am beginning, recently, to add games that I used in an Elementary School setting with students older than eight. For me, a Speech Language Pathologist, the games were used as a means of teaching communication and social interaction skills. I worked with children who had a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or were at high risk of eventually being given this diagnosis based on their pattern of developmental challenges. Atypical play development was a common issue with the children that I saw and finding great play-based therapy activities was a professional challenge. In the process of meeting this challenge, I ended up with a set of wonderful games. Too good, in fact, not to share.
Retired Speech Language Pathologist
I WISH YOU THE HAPPIEST HOURS OF PLAY!
If you are visiting this site, chances are, you spend time with a wonderful child who has ASD or some other developmental challenge and you are looking for more and better ways to play together. Perhaps you want to play just for the fun of playing or you would like a joy-filled way to teach your child new skills. It is for you that I created Autism Games!
Happy Playing
Tahirih
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