Playing, Laughing and Learning with Children on the Autism Spectrum. Julia Moor

      Jessica Kingsley Publishers London and Philadelphia

      First published in 2008

      by Jessica Kingsley Publishers

      73 Collier Street

      London N1 9BE, UK

      and

      400 Market Street, Suite 400

      Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

       www.jkp.com

      Copyright © Julia Moor 2008

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher.

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      All pages marked

       Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

      Moor, Julia, 1966-

      Playing, laughing and learning with children on the autism spectrum : a practical resource of play ideas for parents and carers / Julia Moor.

      p. cm.

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 978-1-84310-608-1 (pb : alk. paper) 1. Autism in children--Treatment. 2. Autistic children--Rehabilitation. 3. Play therapy. I. Title.

      RJ506.A9M66 2008

      618.92'85882--dc22

      2008005994

       British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

      A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      ISBN 978 1 84310 608 1

      eISBN 978 1 84642 824 1

       To my husband Chris,for his loving support and dedication and for being with me on the journey every step of the way.

      Acknowledgements

      With thanks to the members of the Leeds and District ABC Group (Autism, Behaviour and Communication) who completed my survey and shared their valuable ideas and experiences.

      Thanks also to Joanne Sandiford, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, and Terence Gaussen, Consultant Clinical Psychologist (Belmont House Child Development Team Leeds), for their time and comments in the production of this book, and for their invaluable input post-diagnosis to our son’s (and our own!) early learning.

      Thanks finally to the adults with learning difficulties who attend my art groups and have taught me as much about their thoughts, feelings and experiences as I have taught them about creativity.

      Introduction

      When our son was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder at the age of two and a half, like thousands of parents before us we roller-coasted through the typical emotional responses: dismay, grief, fear for our future, but finally relief. We conclusively had a name for this condition that was filling our little boy’s life with distress, impossible, repetitive and meaningless routines and such a reluctance to respond to us that we were sure he was deaf.

      At the age of two, the world and people around Robin were mainly there to be avoided. His focus was only on ‘parts’ with no motivation to seek out the meaning of the ‘whole’: wheels on cars; strings on pull-along toys; lids on containers. Direct intervention, overly enthusiastic voices and physical encouragement to ‘play properly’ were met with hysterical screaming.

      When we were given the diagnosis, upsetting as it was, it felt like we’d been given a map not quite to get out of the maze but at least to understand where we were in it.

      As well as dealing with the challenges of obsessional behaviour, inflexibility, anxiety and frustration, my biggest concern was how to engage my son in meaningful activities at home – how do I help him play? At the time, there was lots of information available on autism, there was help with his speech and behaviour and health, but I simply found very little on how to play with my son – what to fill his hours with. Having studied child development in the past, coupled with my gut instinct as a mum, I knew that he was missing a vital part of his childhood; and watching his meaningless rituals and being constantly shut out were breaking my heart.

      For 12 months my main focus had been getting through the day without distress, but I wanted more than this for my son and felt angry with the autism for robbing him of what I felt was his birthright. It seemed that so many things were off limits; his world (and mine) was getting smaller and smaller; at an age when curiosity was meant to urge him forward – to explore,