Lego-Based Therapy
Lego-Based Therapy
I was trained in Lego-Based Therapy by Dr Gina Gomez de la Cuesta , who has been instrumental in the development of this approach and whose training is accredited by the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University. She is the founder and director of ‘Play Included’ who are now official partners with The Lego Foundation. Although Lego-Based Therapy can be delivered by people without any college or university level professional therapeutic training (it has a clear step by step model of adult guided activity and communication), it is definitely an intervention that can be enhanced when it is delivered by a clinically qualified Therapist.
Adding the extra layer of professional clinical experience to the delivery of the model allows for a greater perception and response to underlying psychological issues at each point of the intervention - from assessment through to review and closure. This is beneficial for the children in terms of the depth of experience as I will use my Play Therapy clinical communication skills to provide more opportunities for child-centred reflective experiences (you can read more about the benefits for children in accessing Play Therapy communication in the Play Therapy section). My extra skills also help to support the adults in the children’s lives as I am able to provide a greater understanding of the children’s challenges and give more targeted recommendations.
How Can Lego-Based Therapy Help?
Lego-Based Therapy is an intervention that was developed for children with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC - also known as ASD, Autism Spectrum Disorder), though it can be equally helpful for those who struggle with their social interaction and relationships for other reasons, i.e. due to a learning or other developmental disability, trauma or speech and language difficulties. Lego-Based Therapy uses a child's natural interests and strength in construction (a logical, systematic, rule based way of thinking) in order to enhance their weaknesses in communication and play skills (more emotional and social responses that require spontaneity and creativity).
Through Lego-Based Therapy, children can learn to work collaboratively to achieve a shared goal, under the guidance of the Lego-Base Therapy Practitioner. Through the focusing on their common purpose, goals and shared interest, children can develop:
Their understanding of general appropriate behaviour in social groups
Their ability to understand and engage in shared attention in addition to wider conversational skills
Recognising and understanding their own feelings (emotional intelligence)
Recognising and understanding the feelings of others (empathy)
Their ability to take turns appropriately
Their ability to manage their anxiety and patience levels
Their willingness to ask for and to receive help
Their concentration and organisational skills
Their levels of positive self-esteem
Their coping strategies to manage their feelings about the negative behaviour of others
Their ability to work as a team member to problem solve obstacles with the goal of reaching, and then celebrating, a common goal.
Planning Lego-Based Therapy
As previously mentioned, Lego-Based Therapy is focused on improving social interaction with peers. However, it may be the case, depending on the needs of any referred child, that they do not start the intervention with sessions with peers in the first instance; they may need some 1:1 sessions with me first, with a view to working towards peer sessions in the future. This could be for many reasons but common factors would include:
The child requiring a secure relationship with a new adult before they could trust them to hold their difficult feelings during a therapy session.
The child's levels of concentration, patience, communication or play skills may need to be developed before they could join a group session.
The child has some difficulties managing their behaviour in group situations and needs to slowly build their confidence before introducing other children.
The child being completely disengaged from their peer group and interacting only with adults.
Lego-Based Therapy Sessions
Due to the issues described above, there are three possible scenarios that could be recommended as a starting point with any child:
Individual 1:1 Lego-Based Therapy (one child and one Lego-Based Therapy Practitioner), focused on the development of key communication and construction skills.
Pair 2:1 Lego-Based Therapy (two children and one Lego-Based Therapy Practitioner), developing communication, construction skills in addition to collaborative working.
Triad 3:1 Lego-Based Therapy (three children and one Lego-Based Therapy Practitioner), developing communication, construction skills in addition to more challenging and sophisticated collaborative working.
The goal would be to move to children to a Triad model of working (group of three), though children with more complex needs may stay within the simpler models (and can still demonstrate some progression). Lego-Based Therapy sessions would ideally last for at least for twelve weeks (one whole term) and can be offered in successive blocks of half-terms as continuations. The actual sessions usually last for approximately one hour. This may sound long for some children but the tasks of identifying, organising bricks before moving onto a collaborative piece of building does take some considerable time. For children who need more specialised intervention due to the complexity of their needs, the time and content of their sessions can be adapted on a case by case basis.
Lego-Based Therapy Progression
Once children are able to consistently and successfully work within a Triad model (both in terms of competently working across the three core Lego-Based Therapy child roles and also demonstrating improvement in their social communication/relationship skills), they could move towards a more social club orientated therapeutic model, where children can enjoy some free-building time within their own Triad group, whilst in a room with another children in separate groups.
This would not happen within a twelve week intervention; it would be a longer term commitment to supporting any referred child. Widening the exposure to more children increases the opportunity for further social skill development and independence, as they learn to navigate the needs, opinions and behaviour of more people in the room in addition to the increased exposure to sensory information.