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LEGO® (Therapy) Can Help Your Autistic Child

Reading Time: 3 Min
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Published: 26 February, 2020
Updated: February 24, 2023
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LEGO therapy is a play-based form of therapy that is used to aid in the development of social communication skills for children and teenagers on the autistic spectrum (otherwise known as Autistic Spectrum Disorder – ASD).

What is LEGO® Therapy and who is it for?

It was recognized by Dr. Daniel LeGoff in 2003 that a vast number of children on the spectrum had an interest in LEGO. His ideology behind this type of therapy was to use LEGO® play to replicate real-life scenarios, with the aim being that the child would be able to transfer these experiences when they were socially interacting with other peers.

LEGO therapy aims to use a child’s natural sense of curiosity and love of playing to stay engaged throughout the session whilst developing their communication and social skills. During the session, the child plays one of four roles (engineer, supplier, builder, or director), with the children changing roles each time they attended LEGO® therapy. 

LEGO therapy is aimed at children and teenagers between the age of 5 – 12 years old with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other types of social communication difficulties.

These sessions typically last between 45 minutes to two hours and are held once a week for around 6 weeks with each therapy session consisting of three or more children or teenagers. A price you would expect to pay for this would be between £150 to £250 in total.

How does LEGO Therapy work?

As I mentioned above, there are four roles that the children will play a part in. These are:

Engineer

  • This is the only person who has access to and sees the instructions
  • They will communicate with the supplier to describe what bricks are required
  • They oversee the work the builder is doing to make sure he or she has been given the right bricks from the supplier.
  • They make sure the builder is building the model correctly.

Supplier

  • They supply the bricks to the builder.
  • They ask questions to ensure they know which bricks to pick.
  • Whilst they wait for the builder to finish, they wait patiently.

Builder

  • They take the bricks from the supplier and put them together.
  • The engineer will pass them instructions about how the model should be built.
  • If they have any questions about the building, they will communicate these with the engineer.
  • Whilst they wait for the supplier to provide the bricks they wait patiently.

Director

  • Their main job is to watch over all other roles and to ensure everyone is communicating.

The adult’s job is to observe and play a non-intrusive role throughout the therapy session. It is not uncommon for emotions to run high, and children do not interact well with each other or believe their way is the right way or the only way.

The adult facilitator is there to support but not intervene unless necessary. It’s important that the children or teenagers are left to try and resolve their own issues or quarrels, if the adult realizes assistance is required, they may offer support or guidance the keep them focussed and engaged.

Who can carry out LEGO® Therapy?

In a professional environment only, trained people should run LEGO® therapy sessions. However, if you were thinking of doing this for your child or a friend’s child it’s an option provided you read about it and understand the process.

A typical list of people who hold these sessions are:

  • Speech and language specialists
  • Psychologists
  • Occupational therapists
  • Play therapists
  • Individuals who have completed a LEGO® therapy training course

There is also the possibility that you could sign up to do a LEGO® therapy course yourself, this typically costs around £200 – £300 for a one-day course.

What are the benefits of LEGO® Therapy?

LEGO therapy has proven to bring outstanding benefits to children and teenagers who have a requirement for development in one or more of the following areas:

  • Building patience
  • Working with others
  • Communicating with others
  • Non-verbal skills
  • Having empathy for others
  • Using more descriptive words to communicate what they would like
  • Ability to follow instructions

How to find places that run LEGO® Therapy sessions

I could provide you with a tonne of links but the best advice I can give is to go to Google and search for ‘LEGO Therapy classes near me or ‘LEGO Therapy’

Where to find sets to use for LEGO® Therapy?

At Belle-Ve Bricks, we sell all kinds of sets that would work great with LEGO® therapy sessions.

Check out our shop which includes a lot of favorites from children’s and teenagers’ comics, TV series, movies, and more!

Reading material

If you are interested in this topic, why not have a look at the below books that we recommend:

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Written by Matthew Mitchell
Hey, I am Matthew Mitchell and I am an AFOL from the UK. I have been fascinated by LEGO® since I was a child. My two children are in love with LEGO® and it's because of them that my interest continued to grow, this is how I fell in to the rabbit hole of MOCs (my own creation). 

With every new MOC I saw I became just a bit more addicted to the endless possibilities that LEGO® offers. This led me to creating Belle-Ve Bricks, a platform where talented designers can share their work with the world.

And where we can create together with you, custom models.
About Matthew Mitchell
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