My first blog!

Today I was working with a five year old boy, who has Autism.  We had a great time using a Sesame Street alphabet foam floor puzzle.  Some would think I was crazy for using an alphabet related toy with a child who enjoys perseverating on letters, and, on Elmo for that matter.  That exact thought crossed my mind when I was buying this puzzle with this specific child in mind.  I have to admit, I did not exactly have a plan in mind beyond requesting when I introduced it to him.   Don't get me wrong, I planned on using it beyond requesting, I just wasn't sure how.  The pieces are foam squares, all the same size.  Each piece has a letter on it, with a picture related to the letter.  We started the activity by having him request the letter that he wanted.  This child is very much an "I wanter," with everything beginning with "I want."   We began this activity by having him request, using varying carrying phrases, such as "Can I have the...?" (we have sentence strips for this.)  As the activity progressed, it evolved into so much more:

• Communication repair:  He asked for the specific letter he wanted, always going in order.  I gave him the wrong one, and he was so motivated to get the right one that he was able to tell me "no" or "not A" (that's not A!)
• "wh" questions:  With so many different pictures, characters, actions on each piece, we were able to work on "wh" questions (currently, the only one he has mastered is "what is it?")
• Given that all the pieces fit together, regardless of where we put them, we were able to work on prepositions and responses to "where" questions, using the surrounding pieces as the location (i.e. next to the B, or next to Elmo."
• We used a topic board for commenting all throughout this activity.  By the end, he independently told me "that's cool!"

I have thought about starting a blog before, but was not really sure what I would talk about.  While I was engaging with this child during play with this puzzle today, I thought about how much I could do with it, which I was not thinking of when I bought it.  I thought, hmmm, maybe I could start a blog to talk about experiences in therapy, using materials, etc.  Even if no one reads it, at least I have a way to keep records of what I do with different materials!