All Blue, Only Blue, No Other Color Will Do

We have a new Smart Board at the clinic, and I am starting to use it in therapy.  Basically, it is like having a very large touch screen computer monitor.  I have been using it with some children as though it were a large white paper and we have been coloring and drawing on it. There are many cool ways one can draw and create art on a Smart Board but trying to create a structure that allows a child with autism to draw in a socially interactive way can be a challenge.  This post is about one of the autism challenges that I have encountered as I started using a Smart Board.

For some children, the activity of coloring is like a cognitive pothole where the child becomes stuck in a single colored neurological loop.  The child becomes consumed with the desire to use one and only one color.  If I was not trying to hold a conversation with the child, I am sure I could be cool with the one color thing--at least for a while.  I am not cool with it, though, because there is very little one can or wants to say while trying to cover a large white surface with a single color.

Three children that I saw this week insisted on the color with one and only one color thing and wanted to fill the entire white surface of the Smart Board with one color.  I used a shapes program on the Smart Board and filled much of the board with circles. The child was then able to pick a color and fill these circles with that color by tapping on the circle.  Two of the three children would only choose blue.  The third would start with one color and then she stuck with that color, period, end of discussion.  I know the drill with her because we have done some coloring on paper and she does the same thing. When I tried to talk these children into using other colors, I got ignored--which served me right because talking is almost never useful in this kind of situation.  If I pushed the issue by taking a turn and coloring with a different color on the board, the child got upset and tried frantically to repair the damage that I had done.  If I pushed too long, the child lost interest in the Smart Board activity suddenly, completely and absolutely.  So.... what to do?

First, I know that some of you have some good strategies and now, as I think about it, a lot more strategies are coming to mind. Feel free to comment below with what you would have done or have done in a similar situation. I missed several of the likely to succeed strategies.

Child 1.  I gave up on talking and took a turn, thus ruining her art by adding a second color.  She moved away from the Smart Board and requested that we go to a different room to play. I took her to a different room when she said We gotta get outta here, Tahirih!

Child 2.  This child filled every circle with blue.  I took a turn and filled a circle with red.  He protested angrily and I decided to take an indirect approach to showing him all the color opportunities on a Smart Board.  I offered Child 2 a different activity which I set up across the room.   While Child 2 was busy putting together a letter puzzle on the other side of the room with his mom, I had mom call out letters across the room to me.  When she called out a letter, I wrote the letter on the Smart Board.  Child 2 likes letters and he started looking up to see me write the letter.  I changed colors often and called back what I was doing. Red B. I said while writing a B in red.  Blue T.  Purple X.  The child began to call out letters with prompting from mom.  I wrote the letter in different colors.  I hope we will be able to do a letter writing game on the Smart Board next time he comes so that we will not be stuck with blue, blue, nothing but blue every time he draws on the Smart Board.  Once we have the colored letter game down, we will try to play the colored circle game the same way--with lots of different colors.

Child 3.  We started by making circles and Child 3 helped me and then I suggested that we paint the circles.  he agreed but then "painted" them with blue, blue, and more blue adding circles and then painting them until the whole white board was covered in blue. I sometimes changed the color of a circle quickly but my co-artist quickly changed circles back to blue and after a few times he asked me politely to leave the circles alone.  The words were polite but the voice sounded a note of panic. I became aware that every time I changed the color of a circle, this child was learning that asking politely does not work and he was moving closer to having a melt down. I stopped changing the colors. I then talked about how "boring" all blue circles were and he told me he liked boring.  Never argue with a child who has autism. You can disagree but there is no point engaging in an argument. I know this rule and I didn't pursue this discussion because it was likely to become an argument.  We talked about it being my turn to choose a color and that it would be fair if I got to choose my own favorite color.  He told me that I could take a turn but my favorite color was blue. I soon realized that we were not making progress even though this little guy is very verbal and wants to be cooperative.

We left the Smart Board to go and spin tops on the other side of the room.  But before we started, I quickly put a bunch of square shapes up on the Smart Board.  My plan was to fill these with color. The first top we wound up for spinning was blue.  I suggested that my friend go across the room and paint one square on the Smart Board blue.  He did this, because he really does try to do things that I ask him to do--as long as I am not asking him to do something that is terribly wrong. He came back as I wound up the top and we watched the blue top spin.  The second top we wound up to spin was orange and purple.  I went over to the Smart Board and colored a square with orange and purple.  Then I went back to where my co-spinner was waiting and let the orange and purple top spin.  We watched the top spin across the floor. The third top that I pulled out was green.  I guess you better color the next square green  I said.  Why?  he asked.  Well, because this top is green.  I answered.  I don't think that Child 3 understood my logic exactly but with a furrowed brow, he did it anyway.  We continued this way until all the squares were colored and he did grasp the pattern of making squares on the board match the color of the top.  All the different colors look good to me.  I said, as we finished spinning all the tops.  Not boring.  My friend did not say a word on this topic.  All I can claim at this point is that this one time, Child 3 used a variety of colors even though he typically tries to use all blue, not just on the Smart Board but where ever possible.  He used different colors without signs of anxiety or sounds of protest.  Maybe that was progress.

But maybe he is at home right now reflecting on how much nicer those squares would have looked if he had done them all in blue.

Google SketchUp

Every year, at least a few of the kids that I work with show serious talent in drawing.  Here is a wonderful tool if you have a child who "thinks in pictures."

Sensory Room

Here is an enjoyable website activity that will allow you and your child to create a fantasy Sensory Room.  The sensory room has options like what kind of bubble to put in the bubble tubes and what kind of music to play on the boombox.  I am always looking at these things as context for some communication goal since that is what I do.  Here is my idea:  Have each person in the family create their own personal favorite sensory room.  Talk about colors, music, themes, and all the other choices comparing what Mom likes and Dad likes and sister likes and so on.  Print each fantasy sensory room out when all choices have been made. 

For some children this would be a joint attention game.  For others a turn-taking activity.  For still other, an opportunity to learn new vocabulary words.  For children with strong language skills, you might want to make a chart and compare and contrast the way each person was the same or was different from others in the family.  E.g.  Dad loves bats but Mom loves fish.  Mom and Dad both liked the star sky.  I would think of this as a Theory of Mind game because it illustrates for the child differences and similarities in the way different people think.

There Are Artists Among Us

Many children have artistic talent that can be developed, celebrated, and used to teach other skills. Certainly, we should foster artistic ability in any child and if it happens also to be a passionate interest, we are fortunate indeed. We have a skill to build so many other skills upon! We can use the talent and interest in drawing to teach language skills, emotional regulation skills, reading skills, writing skills, social skills, flexible thinking skills--the list is limited only by the teachers imagination. For example, think of all the descriptive words and phrases that one could use to describe Abby's drawing:

• Curly hair.
  
• Long hair.
  
• Long curly hair.
  
• Long curly brown hair.
  
• A crown on long curly brown hair.
  
• Happy.
  
• Happy girl in a blue dress.
  
• Happy girl with long curly brown hair in a blue dress.
  
• Cool shoes!
  
• This happy girl, with long curly brown hair, and a crown, has a blue dress and matching blue shoes.

Now, suppose that everyone in Abby's family, cousins, uncles, grandma and grandpa all wrote a story about Abby's beautiful girl in a blue dress. She would learn fascinating things about the different ways that different people think by reading these stories.  She would be motivated to read these stories that others made up about her mysterious and beautiful girl in a blue dress. Abby could hold a family contest to see who would write the best story. Abby could vote and give an award for the funniest, scariest, weirdest, longest, and overall best story--helping her learn to analyze and consider the merit of each story that others wrote. One person's story might include a dragon, perhaps. Another person's story might be about the blue girl in a fashion magazine. The third person might talk about how the beautiful girl in a blue dress stopped smiling because her beautiful shoes made her feet hurt. This competition could help Abby understand that what is in her head when she draws is not the same thing that is in everyone other people's head when they see her picture. Abby could then write the True Story of the Girl in the Blue Dress. She would learn writing skills as we all do by having an audience in mind and an audience that is real. Everyone in Abby's family, and now you and I dear reader, would want to read Abby's story and know the truth.

Dot To Dot Activity

I have been using some some Dabber Dot Markers this week with many children in the clinic. One artist makes dots and the second artist draws lines between the dots. When I have two children together, they both find it easier to let the other co-create the artistic creation with this set up than they do if they both had regular markers and were each taking turns adding to a single drawing. This is because:

1. The roles are clear (Dot Drawer and Line Drawer)
2. It is harder for my more artistically skilled friends to imagine what the finished product will look like--so a friend is not ruining the art by doing something different than what was imagined.
3. There is a lot of structure because we usually count while doing dots and count while doing lines.
4. The finished art is interesting to look at because it has some visual structure--which is hard to achieve with youngsters who still mostly scribble, which some of my young artists still do.

One of the challenges has been that the motor skill of drawing lines is hard to overcome for some children and they use the dabbers to draw lines. I exaggerate the Dot Dot Dot motion and say Dot Dot Dot at the beginning for these children. I also have to model variations in order to get some variation. I make a big deal out of picking up my marker as I model drawing lines in between each dot to help children understand that each line is separate. I also used big grid paper--huge Post It paper actually. This makes it easier to keep some structure as the child and I use the grid to space dots for some drawings. I had to do hand-over-hand for some of the children.

Below are some of the results for children who are about five years old.

Singing Art Together and Stringing Art Together

I will take a break with the Speech Generating Devices Series of posts for at least one day and give you two game websites to try with your child. First, on Ze Frank's flower meditation site, you can sing together (you need a microphone on your computer) and a beautiful flower will grow and change with your voice!


With Ze Frank's string art program, you can make some wonderful string art and set it spinning around. Spend a few minutes figuring the program out before you do it with your child but here are some social phrases you can introduce as you play:

What color string should we choose?
One string or two strings?
Make a wiggle string or straight string?
How about a zig zag sting this time?
Let's make a letter--maybe letter M.
I will make a H for happy.
Are we done drawing strings?
Time to spin!
You push spin!
Wow! That is beautiful!
Push pause.
We can look together.
Let's show mom!
MOM! COME SEE!

Now I will not send you to Ze Frank's comedy video skits because these are too adult in content to share with your child--which is the purpose of this blog. I am trying to stay focused on my professional goal and just talk about games and activities and strategies for communicating with your child. But I will say that I laughed so hard over some of Ze Frank's video skits that I had tears running down my face--so if you had a stressful day being a parent, you might want to look up Ze Frank on Google and have a good laugh before tucking in for the night. And just to introduce you to Ze Frank so that you can get a sense of his mature brand of humor, here he is featured in a Simone Says (Does) Game where you need to remember and repeat the pattern.

For lots more games sure to please young children with ASD (and their dads, brothers, and maybe even mothers) go to http://www.zefrank.com/

What a Child with Autism Can Do with Grandpa

I get asked by grandparents and aunties and others for tips on how to play with a relative who has autism. They tell me that they feel standoffish and uncomfortable but actually want to play and interact with their young relatives. I believe, if they work at it and they get a little help, Grandpa or any loving relative can create a meaningful relationship with a youngster who has autism. If you are the parent and you have learned how to play and interact with your child, the next step may be to help other willing relatives learn a way to be part of your child's life.

Identify a Starting Activity

One trick is to help important relatives find an appropriate starting ritual or game to do with your child each time they are together. If your child is young, one of the games from austimsgames.org may be just right for the two of them. Or maybe your relative already has a good starting ritual, but has not identified it as such or does not use it consistently. "You know, Dad, how you often take your hat off and put it on Emily's head and then accuse her of stealing your hat? Emily loves when you do that." Explain that your child likes things that he or she can predict--that have happened before and will happen again. Tell each important relative that you are trying to find some activity that will become a bond between them and your child.

Think Simple, Brief, Unique

Simple: If Grandpa is a singer, help him find a unique song that he will sing to your child each time they are together. If Grandma paints (or even if she is willing to paint) encourage her to sit down next to your child at the kitchen table (your table or hers) and pull out the water color paints. They don't have to talk much, if your child is not too good at conversation yet. Your child does not even need to paint with grandma until he or she is ready. But in your child's mind, Grandma becomes the person who paints with me.

(Here is a unique painting activity that anyone can do with a child on the computer. Just start moving the cursor around and click to get a new color.)



Auntie can create a bonding ritual each time she comes by bringing a sticker for your child if your child loves stickers. Encourage your uncle who is an airplane mechanic to email pictures of "Cool Airplanes" to your child, or just parts of the airplane like the tires or the engine--particularly if your child likes mechanical things. A teenage cousin might engage your child in a simple board game or a wrestling match every time they come together.

Brief: You know how long your child can interact with others. If it is two minutes, then create a one minute routine for your child and the important person to do together. A one minute song for Grandpa to sing. A one minute art project for grandma to do next to your child. Tell Auntie to present the sticker with a flourish and then smile and move away. Find longer activities for your child to do with relatives as your child is able. Let relatives know how long to continue and when to quit.

Unique: The trick to this strategy is that your child associates each person with one enjoyable but unique activity. Maybe one cousin throws socks down the laundry shoot with your child. Another plays a tickle game. Or one grandpa fishes with your child and the other takes him to the library, each person becomes a unique but predictable source of pleasurable social interaction.

Draw Together

Some of the most successful language activities that I have created with children have been drawing activities. This is in spite of the undisputed fact that I can't draw very well at all. I am most successful, I admit, with children who, themselves are not yet talented in drawing.

Picture this: I sit beside a mostly nonverbal child who is busy scribbling on a large white paper with markers. I pick up a marker and start tapping it on the paper saying "dot, dot, dot, dot, dot" The child stops scribbling and starts dotting the paper with me, often saying "da, da, da". So I move on to my next very interesting idea and draw a long line saying "line, line, line, line" and the child tries to copy me and says "iee, iee, iee" and so on with "circle" or "wiggle wiggle". I might move to a simple face game (described and demonstrated here) where I draw "happy" or "sad" or "scared" "or "mad".

A more verbal child would inspire me to start drawing shapes, naming the shapes, and then after I have a full contingent of shapes on the paper, I might start to play the "Bye Bye" game where I say "Bye Bye circle" and then scribble it out. After saying farewell to a few of the shapes, I would hand my marker over to the child and say "Bye Bye Rectangle" when the rectangle is the only shape left. Then on to letters. "Line, line, across. Hello H", "Line, bump, bump. Hello B" and so on for several letters.

If the child were a little more verbal, I would draw beside the child while asking "What color should I make this Kitty?" "Do you want a Mommy Kitty or a baby Kitty?" "What kind of tail do you want...long or short?" I would throw in comments like "Uh Oh! This is a sad Kitty! Look. Tears."

If the child were much more verbal I might say, "Here is a swing set. There are two swings. Two boys are on the swings. One boy in a blue shirt and black pants is waiting, and waiting, and waiting. " (The child next to me would surely have a blue shirt and black pants.) "This boy wants to swing. What could he say?"

Here is a cool art program from Crayola where you can draw with your child on the computer.