10 activities to do with children with Asperger

Asperger syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder included within the autism spectrum disorders. This is a fairly well-known problem today, which stands out for the presence of difficulties in social interaction and communication (despite the fact that its developmental level is normative), presentation of a restricted and monotonous pattern of behavior and interests, and occasionally hypersensitivity to stimulation.

In Asperger's syndrome there is no reason for intellectual disability and language development is normative and it occurs correctly, although their communication is not fully effective and they have problems with aspects such as literalness and pragmatism. On the other hand, raising children with this type of disorder can be complicated if we do not know how to stimulate them properly. with a view to overcoming as far as possible their difficulties and limitations in areas such as communication and socialization.

In this article we will see a series of possible activities to carry out with children with Asperger

in order to stimulate them and gradually enhance their capacities.

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Asperger: aspects to take into account

When preparing or carrying out different activities that can help children with Asperger, it is necessary to take into account the particularities that this disorder represents for said minors.

First, it is common for children with Asperger's to present orn high level of interest towards a specific topic or stimulus, such as computers, music, trains or dinosaurs. In many cases they become great experts in these matters. This theme can be exploited to connect with the minor, generating greater social ties and being able to take advantage of it to generate interest or help them understand other areas.

You have to remember that these are minors who tend to be very literal, analytical and objective. Therefore, they will tend to prefer that the activities they carry out are based on or can be solved through the use of logic. They also feel safe with repetitive and routine elements, making changes difficult for them to assimilate.

Another relevant element is the literalness with which these children usually understand language, making it difficult for them to capture irony, double meanings or the figurative meaning of many expressions. The acquisition of competence to identify this type of message can be trained despite the fact that it is usually a great difficulty for them. Likewise, they also tend to present difficulties in identifying emotions, so that the practice of activities that can favor said identification can be very useful for them.

For those with Asperger syndrome it is often difficult for them to communicate successfully and have difficulty relating. Likewise, excessive stimulation can overload and disorient them. That is why the games and activities that are carried out have to allow them and encourage interaction with others but at the same time without forcing them to do so and respecting their living space.

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Examples of activities with Asperger children

Below are some activities that favor the stimulation of children with Asperger syndrome. Most allow to stimulate communication and socialization, in addition to fostering some other skills.

1. Mirror

Imitation games are a good way to encourage the child to notice the behaviors of others and learn different skills and sequences of behaviors. Thus, can be used as a pathway for action learning. It can be done between two people or in a group.

One of the people stands in front of the child or the group of children and does an action, which the others must imitate. The actions to be imitated can be very simple initially, but become more complicated as the child gains mastery of the skill in question. It also favors the establishment of affective bonds and communication.

2. Pass the ball

A very simple game that favors communication and observation of characteristics. It is based on the participants (either the family or the class group) passing a ball to each other, saying in each pass a characteristic of the person to whom they send the ball.

3. Pictionary

Interpretation is often a complex issue for children with Asperger's. Through games such as pictionary in which pairs are formed, one of which has to interpret what the other draws without more clues, it is possible to stimulate the ability to interpret what the other communicates. Interpersonal relationships and language are favored.

4. Theatre/Role Plays

Acting out a scene can be a fun way for children with Asperger's to incorporate outside perspectives. To act as a doctor, teacher or cook or to practice activities such as going shopping can help develop your theory of mind and empathy when experiencing a role other than one's own. In addition, it can also help to acquire greater competence in some basic skills.

• Related article: "Theory of Mind: what is it and what does it tell us about ourselves?"

5. Mime: Tell me how I feel

One of the areas in which subjects with Asperger have great difficulty is recognizing emotions in other people, for example from facial expressions. They also often have difficulty recognizing and expressing their own emotions. Working on this recognition is essential.

For this, an activity that can be carried out is the representation of concrete emotional states from modeling. It can be carried out alone with the child with Asperger or in groups. The adult must select an emotion and represent it through mime. After the performance, you have to explain in a simple way a situation in which you may feel that way. The child has to try to guess, from among several options that are given beforehand, which emotion is being worked on. After that he must try to represent it himself.

6. movie snippets

The use of short films or fragments of films can be effective in order to improve the recognition of emotions. Before visualizing them, some typical characteristics of the expression of certain emotions will be explained. Then they will be provided with cards that represent a face representing the emotion in question. Afterwards, several selected scenes are broadcast in which the expression of emotion occurs, and the child in question must assign a face to each of the scenes broadcast.

7. Creation of schedules

The rules and the establishment of routines are very important elements for children with autism spectrum disorder since it allows them to have a record of what is going to happen next.

Making a recognizable visual schedule with your child can help them feel safe. Especially when it comes to young children, it is common to use images and photographs representative of an activity and paste them on a cloth by means of velcro, so that each day they can have a more or less clear vision of what they have to do at a given hour.

8. Games based on construction and crafting

The use of activities in which children with Asperger's can observe and use logical patterns can serve both to develop their cognitive skills as to calm them in moments of anxiety. An example is the use of puzzles and construction games such as LEGO. Also the creation of crafts and the use of clay and plasticine. It serves to develop their fine motor skills and creativity.

9. sharing teaching

The fact that children with Asperger's tend to have restricted interests of which they can become great experts can be taken advantage of in multiple ways. One of them is based on exposing and teaching their knowledge regarding the subject of their interest. It is possible through this type of activity encourage interaction and foster the autonomy of the minoras well as his leadership skills.

10. Games and physical activity

Physical activity is essential to develop psychomotor skills. It is recommended to carry out sports in which they can be introduced little by little, without requiring sudden contact with a large group of people. Games that may require the use of turns are also recommended, so that learn to respect the time of others. Games like English hide-and-seek or pica-pared have rules that are easy to understand and apply.