Lego Therapy for Autism: Definition, Benefits, How it Works
Amanda Unrau CCC-SLP
August 26, 2024
Lego Therapy is a play-based intervention for autism. It uses materials of interest to address the social challenges associated with autism. This article will discuss Lego Therapy for autism in more detail, explaining how it works, what it addresses, and how to implement it.
What is Lego Therapy for Autism?
Lego Therapy was developed in the early 2000s by clinical neuropsychologist Daniel LeGoff. Dr. LeGoff knew that children with autism had difficulty engaging with their peers, but he observed that these same children interacted with peers more often when playing with Legos. Based on this, Dr. LeGoff developed a Lego based therapy for autism.
Lego is a type of play therapy. Children learn best through play since play allows them to learn about others and their environment through observing, experimenting, imitating, interacting, and role playing. Children with autism play differently than their neurotypical peers and often need to be explicitly taught play and social skills. Lego therapy is a way to bridge the gap between existing interests and lacking play/social skills to build communication, imagination, and social skills.
The main goal of Lego Therapy is to teach social skills in a structured play setting that can then be generalized to a variety of other settings and interactions in daily life. Sessions are conducted in a small group so that children can learn social skills and practice using them in a structured setting. Children learn how to share, initiate interactions, communicate with others, solve problems, and collaborate.
Benefits of Lego Therapy for Autism
There are numerous benefits to combining legos and autism for children in Lego Therapy:
- Improved social skills: Individuals learn social skills such as sharing and taking turns during structured group activities. In turn, these skills can be transferred to other settings outside of Lego Therapy sessions. For example, children will learn to take turns in various types of unstructured play with others or during spontaneous conversation.
- Improved confidence: As children participating in Lego Therapy for autism complete projects and achieve success, they feel proud of their accomplishments. This positive reinforcement builds self-esteem in individuals who often struggle with feeling confident in many areas of life.
- Improved fine motor skills: Children with autism often have weak motor skills. The physical component of Lego Therapy allows the opportunity to practice hand-eye coordination controlled grip of small items, and precise movements.
- Improved executive function skills: Participants in this program have to follow directions, use problem solving skills when things don’t work as planned, come up with new plans, and work together to complete a plan. These tasks help develop critical thinking skills and creativity.
How Does Lego Therapy Work?
Because children who participate in Lego Therapy need to work collaboratively with others, Lego based Therapy works best with children who are somewhat verbal and can follow basic instructions given visually and verbally.
Roles in Lego Therapy
A Lego Group Therapy session typically consists of a group of 3-4 individuals working on a project together. There are three main roles that participants rotate through to learn different social skills.
- Engineer: The engineer reads and gives the instructions to the others by requesting bricks from the supplier and directing the builder to construct the model. The individual in this role has to clearly communicate and provide specific step-by-step directions.
- Supplier: The supplier locates the correct bricks to use. The individual in this role must listen carefully to the instructions and fulfill requests from the Engineer.
- Builder: The builder creates the Lego model using the instructions from the engineer and the Lego pieces given by the supplier. The individual in this role also needs to follow directions and ask for repetitions or clarification of instructions when needed.
- Foreman: The foreman role can be introduced when there are four group members. The foreman ensures that the other members are doing what they are supposed to. The individual in this role helps others when needed and identifies problems that the group needs to solve. The foreman can also encourage and compliment the others.
An adult such as a therapist or teacher facilitates the session. They guide the children and provide support as needed by encouraging problem-solving and communication among the members of the group. More than one facilitator may work together to target specific goals, such as an occupational therapist and a speech therapist targeting motor skills and language goals.
Guidelines for Getting Started with Lego Therapy
While Lego Therapy sessions can be structured in various ways, here are some general guidelines to follow when getting started.
- A typical Lego Therapy session consists of structured play with specific individual roles. In order to achieve the best outcomes, the same children should continue to work together for the duration of therapy. When grouping children, language skills, cognitive ability, personality, and any other specific goal areas should be considered. This means that each child should be assessed in order to determine their individual goals and who they should be matched with. This also becomes crucial when monitoring and assessing progress over time.
- Lego Therapy sessions typically run for about an hour a week for 10 weeks. A typical session may consist of 40 minutes of structured building time and 20 minutes of free play. Shorter 20-30 minute sessions may be more appropriate for younger children. Each group consists of 3-4 children and at least one adult.
- During each Lego Therapy session, a welcome and introduction time allows for the group to review the language, rules, and roles. Initial roles should be assigned, but these roles will rotate during the course of the session. The group will start with simple Lego models so the facilitator can get an idea of how long it takes the children to complete the builds.
- Sessions also include free play time. This component can be just as beneficial as the structured portion of the sessions because it allows for increased creativity. It also allows children to use their newly learned social skills in a more relaxed and natural setting.
- It can be helpful to create and use a social story about Lego Therapy to review with the children during the first session. This allows you to introduce the specific terms and roles, as well as go over the rules for the sessions. Visuals are also helpful to introduce at this time.
Lego Therapy can also be modified for varying ability levels. Younger children with weaker motor skills can use larger Lego blocks, can have simplified roles, and can have directions that are displayed as pictures instead of written out in words. Older children who may be working on more advanced communication skills might work together to complete more complicated Lego models or create their own designs.
Research and Evidence Supporting Lego Therapy
There are a few studies and reviews that have shown the effectiveness of Lego Therapy as an intervention in targeting social skills in children with autism.
According to a systematic review published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders in 2017, Lego interventions were shown to improve communication and social skills and reduce negative behaviors.
When compared to children in a study in 2008 who participated in another social skills therapy program over the course of 18 weeks, the children who did Lego Therapy demonstrated more improvement on social interaction scores.
A study conducted by LeGoff and Sherman in 2006 looked at the long-term effects of Lego Therapy. When comparing children who received Lego Therapy to those who received a different therapy, those who participated in Lego Therapy demonstrated more significant improvement. It also showed long term maintenance of skills three years after receiving the therapy.
How to Implement Lego Therapy at Home
Lego Therapy can be used in clinical therapy settings, educational settings, and in the home setting. When implementing Lego Therapy at home, there are several important things to keep in mind:
- Set up a dedicated space. It is helpful to have an area that has few distractions so that children can focus on completing their Lego building projects.
- Make Lego Therapy part of the daily routine. In addition to scheduling specific times for structured sessions, Lego activities or new materials can be used as rewards or positive reinforcement.
- Depending on how many people participate in the Lego Therapy session at home, some roles may need to be combined. When three people are involved, the roles of Engineer, Supplier, and Builder can each be assigned to one individual. If playing with two people, one person will need to take on two roles. For example, one person will be the Engineer and the other will be the Supplier and Builder. If playing with four people, the Foreman can be added.
- Use Lego Therapy as a complement to other therapies. This is a great intervention to use alongside speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral therapy, and/or social skills groups. With Legos, autism therapies can all be targeted simultaneously, which makes each one more effective.
As a speech language pathologist, I believe home practice is essential for the carryover of speech and language skills taught during therapy sessions. The more consistently skills are used in daily life, the more likely the skills will be generalized sooner. In addition, combining other therapies with speech therapy makes speech therapy more effective, and vice versa.
Using Forbrain in Lego Therapy
Forbrain is a brain training device that uses the auditory feedback loop to enhance the way one’s voice sounds. When the user wears the Forbrain headset, they hear their voice louder and more clearly through the auditory stimulation technology.
Forbrain complements Lego Therapy, and it can be used during or in between Lego Therapy sessions to further support the skills taught and targeted during these therapy sessions. The child simply wears the headset and participates in sessions as usual. As they speak and interact, their voice will be amplified in their ears. This increases self-awareness, which can increase the child’s motivation to participate and interact with their peers during Lego Therapy sessions. Using Forbrain in conjunction with Lego Therapy can also improve clarity of speech, attention, and memory. All of these are important components of successful social interactions.
Final Words
Lego Therapy for autism can be an effective intervention for supporting and improving social skills. Lego Therapy has been shown to improve social skills and communication while reducing maladaptive behaviors in children with autism. Besides improved social interactions, Lego Therapy can support motor skills development, confidence building, and executive functioning. It can be implemented at home and used in conjunction with other therapies. It can also be paired with complementary tools and devices, such as Forbrain.
Parents, caregivers, educators, and healthcare professionals should use the tips shared in this article to determine if Lego Therapy is a good fit for your child or student with autism. Review the article to learn how to implement it successfully.
References
Hummel, Kyle, & McKenna, Kate. (Accessed 2024, August 14). Lego-Based Therapy. Association for Science in Autism Treatment. https://asatonline.org/for-parents/learn-more-about-specific-treatments/lego-based-therapy/
Jade. (Accessed 2023, August 15). Lego Therapy. The Autism Page. https://www.theautismpage.com/lego-therapy/#google_vignette
Legoff, Daniel B., & Sherman, Michael. (2006, July). Long-Term Outcome of Social Skills Intervention Based on Interactive Lego Play. National Autistic Society, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361306064403
Lindsay, Sally, Hounsell, Kara Grace, & Cassiani, Celia. (2017, April). A Scoping Review of the Role of Lego Therapy For Improving Inclusion and Social Skills Among Children and Youth with Autism. Disability and Health Journal, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2016.10.010
NeuroLaunch. (2024, August 11). Lego Therapy and Autism: Building Connections Through Play. NeuroLaunch. https://neurolaunch.com/lego-therapy-for-autism/
Owens, Gina, Granader, Yael, Humphrey, Ayla, & Baron-Cohen, Simon. (2008, June 20). Lego Therapy and the Social Use of Language Programme: An Evaluation of Two Social Skills Interventions for Children with High Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(10). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-008-0590-6
Rudy, Lisa Jo. (2023, August 28). Lego Therapy for Autistic Children. VeryWell Health. https://www.verywellhealth.com/lego-therapy-for-children-with-autism-4169865
Seath, Nicole. (2024, May 9). What is Lego-Based Therapy? Therapy Focus. https://therapyfocus.org.au/on-the-blog/what-is-lego-therapy/
Amanda Unrau
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