PikkuMyy
09-11-2005, 09:48 PM
On the heels of the "no toys?" thread, although not in response to it...
I'm an early interventionist working with young children with developmental disabilities. Right now I'm supervising a case in which a 2 yr 9m old boy had about 8 toys which were kept in a black plastic bag. He has autism, is completely non-verbal, and is not very persistent with his communication. As a result, he was wandering around the house with nothing to do. To relieve his boredom, he was ripping up VHS covers, taking dirt out of the plants and throwing it on the floor, eating crayons he would find, and lying on the couch. His attention span was about 10 seconds.
Since beginning this case, I have happily provided him with many toys donated by other families I'm involved with and have discovered that not only does he have very little toys, his cousin who is 4 1/2 who lives with him has NO toys.
Neither mother plays with the boys so the older one follows his mother around the house wanting to be held the whole time, or playing gameboy, and the younger one engages in property destruction.
For the little one, toys are IMPERATIVE to his ability to learn to imitate, communicate, learn important skills, etc. And for the older one, I imagine that toys would open up a world of connection for right now he is so shy that he can't even look at his other cousins who visit the house several times a week and are also boys.
I will certainly do some of my own research into good articles on the importance of play/imaginative play/toys (or using real objects as toys) but in the meantime, does anyone have any recommendations for clear articles that I can give my student's mother to read? His father has blamed her for his autism because she doesn't play with him, and although that isn't the cause, he really need to learn how to play and to have her playing with him. I want to give her something that talks about how play teaches skills, fosters emotional development, and teaches about social interaction.
I'm an early interventionist working with young children with developmental disabilities. Right now I'm supervising a case in which a 2 yr 9m old boy had about 8 toys which were kept in a black plastic bag. He has autism, is completely non-verbal, and is not very persistent with his communication. As a result, he was wandering around the house with nothing to do. To relieve his boredom, he was ripping up VHS covers, taking dirt out of the plants and throwing it on the floor, eating crayons he would find, and lying on the couch. His attention span was about 10 seconds.
Since beginning this case, I have happily provided him with many toys donated by other families I'm involved with and have discovered that not only does he have very little toys, his cousin who is 4 1/2 who lives with him has NO toys.
Neither mother plays with the boys so the older one follows his mother around the house wanting to be held the whole time, or playing gameboy, and the younger one engages in property destruction.
For the little one, toys are IMPERATIVE to his ability to learn to imitate, communicate, learn important skills, etc. And for the older one, I imagine that toys would open up a world of connection for right now he is so shy that he can't even look at his other cousins who visit the house several times a week and are also boys.
I will certainly do some of my own research into good articles on the importance of play/imaginative play/toys (or using real objects as toys) but in the meantime, does anyone have any recommendations for clear articles that I can give my student's mother to read? His father has blamed her for his autism because she doesn't play with him, and although that isn't the cause, he really need to learn how to play and to have her playing with him. I want to give her something that talks about how play teaches skills, fosters emotional development, and teaches about social interaction.