New Autism Games Website Launched

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Please Come In to see my new 
 Autism Games Website!

Still on Tahirih's Imagination Lane at www.autismgames.org

Drawing Faces--New Video Model Clip

Here is a new video model of a great game called Drawing Faces.  I post video clips of games on YouTube for this blog and my website and people must stumble upon them unaware of why I am posting.  From such accidental viewers, I get some uncomplimentary comments.  To say the least.  No video clip of mine has elicited more ridicule than my Drawing Faces video.  (No I am not providing the link to that clip.)  These comments often make me laugh, though I guess they must bother me a little.  Most comments were some version of, This woman is bad at drawing and acting!  So, I have caved to my critics and asked my friend, Kate Horvath, who is an actress, if she would do the game for me  so I could post a new one on YouTube.  Perhaps her acting will serve better than mine.  Regardless, she provided me with a charming video model of this game.





I use this game to teach children to attend more to faces, learn the names of parts of the face, and most often to help a child have a way of thinking about emotions.  Kids tend to love this game often trying to draw faces themselves if I start the game and hand over a marker after drawing the first eye.  I added an OK mouth after trying to use the game to help a child get over being sad. Time to be all done Sad, time for Happy seemed like a little too much to ask.  It was more natural for me to say Time to be all done Sad, time for OK.  I have had some children pull out the markers while crying and want to go through all the faces in a spontaneous attempt to get over being sad.  One little girl would still have tears running down her face but be bravely trying to smile when we got to Happy Mouth.  Anna is not Happy yet, I said, Anna is all done sad, goodbye sad mouth.  Anna is OK now.

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.