Games and Social Skills for Students with Autism

When my son was growing up, one of the things I noticed was that he did not play games with other students.  This wasn't just about "parallel play," but he didn't want to play structured games, like board games, with other children.  I didn't know why then.  At first, I thought he didn't understand the rules of the game.  I would try to teach him at home, but he wasn't interested.

As I started working with special needs students in my class, I started realizing that they also had trouble with wanting to or knowing how to play games.  I finally realized why.   It wasn't just that they didn't understand the rules of how to physically play the games.  They didn't understand the social rules, either.  I was taught that sometimes students need to be directly instructed how to do some things that many of us learn just by watching or being around others.  Not just be taught how, but actually practice those skills.

• taking turns
• cheering on another player
• congratulating another player
• taking a loss well
• not boasting or bragging when doing well or winning
• trying again if at first you don't succeed
• understanding that rules need to be followed, even if you don't like them

These lessons, of course, extend beyond the board games, which is why I wanted to write this post in the first place.  I have a student who likes to race through everything.  His math worksheet, putting away his papers, walking to lunch, and even throwing away trash.  It's been a problem all year.  I asked him why, but he had trouble explaining it (which makes sense, considering he has a language disability).  He finally told me he had to win.  That was it, but it was enough.

We began working on this by playing board games every day.  We play one board game each afternoon.  It  was difficult at first.  He would cry, get angry, sulk, you name it.  We would keep telling him, "this is how you play the game."  Then we would model for him, and the others, how to congratulate other players, say, "oh well," and shrug.  It took several weeks, but it worked.  He can now play without getting frustrated.  He has slowed down his work, too, and his walking.

The other day, my paraprofessional was talking with his mother, explaining how proud of him we were.  The mom looked at her, cocked her head, and said, "So, that's it."  Curious, my para asked her what she meant.  She said that usually, her son has a meltdown if his sister finishes her breakfast before he does.  But that morning, the sister finished first and the son didn't even notice.  He was able to generalize the social skills we had been working on.

Eureka!