Conference

Ashley A. Green

University of Warwick

Tuesday 24th September 2013

LEGO Therapy was originated

by Daniel LeGoff in the United
States and researched by Gina
Owens (now Gina Gmez de la
Cuesta) and colleagues at the
Autism Research Centre,
University of Cambridge.

LEGO Therapy for Autistic Children A Short Summary by Dr Gina Gmez

(left-click in the space above to start the 2.5-minute video clip)

The goals of LEGO Therapy for children

with autistic spectrum disorders are to:
improve their motivation to initiate social
contact with peers
improve their ability to sustain interaction with peers for a period of time
overcome their autistic symptoms of
aloofness and rigidity

LEGO Therapy encourages

autistic
spectrum
children
LEGO Therapy
encourages
autistic
to communicate
with one
spectrum
children to communicate
with one another
and solveaa problem
another
and solve
problem
by building in pairs or groups of three,
by building in pairs or
according to set rules.
groups of three, according
to set rules.

 The engineer gives verbal descriptions of the pieces

needed and directions for assembling them
The builder follows his directions, collects and puts
the pieces together
There is much checking back and forth between the
plan and the creation
Roles are then switched so they both have a chance
to be engineer and builder

The engineer describes the instructions

The supplier finds the correct pieces
The builder put the pieces together
After a time, they swap roles

This division of labour with a

common purpose allows children
to practice joint attention, turn
taking, sharing, joint problem
solving, listening and general
social communication skills.

LEGO Club Rules

Build things together!
If you break it you have to fix it or ask for help to
fix it.
If someone else is using it, dont take it - ask first.
Use indoor voices - no yelling.
Keep your hands and feet to yourself.

Use polite words.

Clean up and put things back where they came from.
Dont put LEGO bricks in your mouth.

The therapists role is not to point out specific

social problems or give solutions to social
difficulties, rather to highlight the presence of
a problem and help children to come up with
their own solutions.
Solutions that children have come up with are
practised until they can do it, and the therapist
can remind children of strategies in the future
if similar difficulties arise.

Skill Levels
LEGO Helpers are able to find bricks and
sort them into their correct colours.

LEGO Builders are able to build models in

a group and design freestyle models with
adult help.
LEGO Creators are able to build models in
groups and design freestyle models in pairs
without adult help.

Skill Certificates
Once children can demonstrate skills at a particular
level, they are given a certificate to reward their
achievement in front of all the children at the end
of the therapy session (e.g. when they build in a
group successfully for the first time, they are given
a LEGO Builder certificate). Children are awarded
certificates on an individual rather than a group
basis and are highly motivated to participate socially
and build models together so that they can move up
to the next level.

 LEGO Therapy has proved effective for children

with high functioning autism (HFA), Asperger
Syndrome (AS), or pervasive developmental
disorder - not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).
It can also be effective for children with anxiety
disorders (especially social phobia), depression, or
adjustment difficulties manifesting as depression
or anxiety.
Including children with behavior disorders, such as
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), or other
externalizing disorders, who also have social skill
problems, is not productive.

LEGO
Education
WeDo

LEGO
MINDSTORMS
Education

The builder collects and puts the pieces

together
The programmer creates a control program
for the LEGO WeDo or MINDSTORMS model
Roles are then switched so they both have a
chance to be builder and programmer

Sources of Information
LeGoff, D. B. (2004). Use of LEGO as a therapeutic medium for
improving social competence. Journal of Autism and Developmental
Disorders, 34(5), 557571.
LeGoff, D. B., & Sherman, M. (2006). Long-term outcome of social
skills intervention based on interactive LEGO play. Autism,
10(4), 317329.
Owens, G., Granader, Y., Humphrey, A. & Baron-Cohen, S. (2008).
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), 19441957.

In Press
LEGO THERAPY
A MANUAL FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LEGO-BASED SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT THERAPY FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISIC SPECTRUM
DISORDERS.

Daniel B. LeGoff
Gina Gmez de la Cuesta

www.autismresearchcentre.com