Children with autism have a disorder that causes them to see, understand, and interact with objects in very unique and personal ways. This results in very different play and autonomy skills, which makes learning, communication, and socialization difficult for them.
The hyperattention that autism enjoys is a tool that must be taken into account when establishing intervention objectives and when proposing all the activities to work with each individual child. If we continue the child's preferencesMotivation will accompany us throughout the entire process and will lead to success in their development, being meaningful to them and ensuring that these lessons remain with them long-term. But this seemingly simple aspect is in line with other cross-cutting factors such as time and rigidity, as well as difficulties in social interaction.
Children on the spectrum have a restriction on interests This makes the transfer to different skills or activities complex and very delicate. On the other hand, everything related to one-on-one interventions falls within the social framework and, therefore, is generally not an ideal setting for children with autism. We must find ways to approach them in a respectful and empathetic manner, carefully considering their time and giving them spaces for action and inaction, balancing social and individual spaces.
Play in autism tends to have characteristics of order, alignment, categorization, letters, numbers, geometric shapes… Even the drawing and the way I draw maintains an almost established and immovable order that means the therapist and the intervention have to be very measured and with great reading and observation skills. You have to measure a lot how break the rituals, such as entering their game in a friendly manner so that you can continue it and the interaction doesn't break down.
The tool of play is essential for all the skills involved in learning, communication, and socialization. Aspects such as taking turns, the simple act of accepting that another person is sharing my space and interacting or participating occasionally, and the fact that there is a car on a train line (these children are more into trains than cars) and accepting it can be a goal achieved in a single session.
The work of structure and destructure of its patterns Just as training in social skills is the basis for their future as autonomous learning, whether at home with their siblings, at school with their peers or in the park with other children, we must focus and also intervene in different environments so that it generalizes to other people, that is the great success of all interventions.
Cristina Oroz Bajo
co-founder of the VICON Method
Language development programme for children with autism