Parents of kids with Autism - How do you connect with your kids through games and play?

[Frances Castillo]

I'm designing a non-digital game to help parents connect with their autistic kids more easily. I have a nephew with autism, so this topic is important to me personally.

Are there any parents willing to share what play strategies and games have worked for them and why?

If you're willing to share, please fill out this questionnaire, or comment below. Thanks!

 

[Pats]

I think it would be based on personal interests. What does he like?

 

[disconnected]

Legos and coloring works here.

 

[Isadoorian]

Legos and coloring works here.

The 2 classics that never fail to entertain

 

[TinyTownFamily]

When I think about learning resources for autistic children, I think one issue is the need to be adaptive...autism education is not so much "one size fits all" like educating typical children. For my son, he has never shown much interest in anything other than flashcards, and then YouTube, and children's apps. He has not shown interest in coloring or Legos. He will do the absolute minimum when I try to get him to color of play with blocks. I think that this is one of the difficulties in educating autistic children in traditional environments...time has to be invested into each autistic child to learn how they learn...and then a plan has to be developed to suit those individual needs.

 

[onlything]

From my experience, I would sometimes be able to connect to my parents through board games. I can't remember the names anymore but they were similar to Catan. There were some where you would build a farm or travel through dragon-infested lands, all with some degree of building, randomness and resource gathering.
Although that's only for a bit older kids, I suppose and depends highly on one's interests.

 

[rollerskate]

When my oldest son only spoke Minecraft, I got one of my friends that was a Minecraft player to translate what he was saying for me, so I could decipher what he meant.

Autie kids (and adults, for that matter) live in their private worlds. The key to connecting and communicating with them is to try to learn about their worlds, and encourage them to talk about them, in whatever "language" feels most comfortable for them. It doesn't even necessarily have to be verbal. The key is to find where they're at, and learn how to meet them there.