This week my teacher & I got to visit a well-established autistic-PreK class in action.
We were so impressed and encouraged to see how far these little guys can come!
*Circle-time chairs included bins for the two young-ones that needed the extra support & boundary...
*Many of these guys are matching letters, numbers, &/or colors & color words...
*Structured Play!Autism completely affects the way these little ones play. This brownie set would really have no appeal to them other than the box and shakeable parts -kinda like handing a new chess set to a three year old.
But it's not that these kiddos are incapable of enjoying these toys, it's just that they need a little more structure to help them pretend, unless shaking the box like a tambourine would suffice. :)
So we got to see how two children followed a set of picture steps to bake, cut, serve, and pretend-eat the brownies. And they took turns.
This is also excellent because of how autism impairs them socially. Many autistic ones will not naturally give eye-contact or even acknowledge another's presence during play. (4 out of 6 of our students are still at this level) - When this little guy handed us each a brownie slice, including us in his play, I knew that it was the result of much work and diligence of teachers & parents.
*Finally, we were impressed by the variety and progress of these students' visual schedules. Some of the older students were past the velcro pictures and were checking off daily tasks with a marker.
So much to aspire to!
♥
