Positively Autism ~ Lunch and Recess Social and Recreational Programs ~ January/February, 2010

Lunch and Recess Social and Recreational Programs
Volume 5, Issue 1 ~ January/February 2010

Social Skill Recreational Interventions: Finding the Balance
by Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed.

From almost the moment we wake up in the morning social skills play a vital role in our lives, from ordering your morning coffee, greeting others at school or work, ordering dinner, to calling the electric company. As social skills are often a challenge for many individuals with Autism, schools, treatment centers, and families are increasingly addressing this topic in their educational programming. Regardless of the methods or strategies used, there are several things to keep in mind when developing social skill intervention programs for the recreational time periods of school lunch and recess.

In the book, “Overcoming Autism,” (which I consider an excellent guide for parents and educators), the authors state that, “there’s a tendency for people to view outdoor time as ‘free time…’ so an adult may take the opportunity to relax and just let the kid roam around.” The argument for implementing social skills interventions during this time of the school day is that it may be one of the few times that children with Autism have to be around their peers in a social setting. The authors go on to say, “letting them [students with autism] roam free can actually be damaging to their social growth.” This is a compelling argument for schools and treatment centers to put some sort of social intervention in place for recess, which I certainly support. However, a balanced approach to these intervention programmed is needed.

I think that there is a belief that if you aren’t surrounded by friends, you’re lonely. Some individuals with Autism are genuinely happy to do things alone at times. This is not to say that many people with Autism would not welcome the opportunity to develop skills that lead to friendship, because many certainly do. However, I believe that, in our educational programming, we need to keep socialization time in balance with a student’s desire for independence. Many students view school “break” times as just that: breaks from work that is often difficult. School can be a difficult place for students with Autism, perhaps even more so than typically-developing students, so they need “break time” just as much as other students do. The following article will describe ways to develop and implement social skills programs that respect students’ individuality and preferences.

Selecting Activities for a Lunch or Recess Social Skill Program

When selecting activities for a lunch or recess social skill program, I believe that one of the best approaches is to use a group, as opposed to an individual, intervention. For example, instead of attempting to make a student with Autism play with a peer, an educator might have a game that the entire class of children can participate in together. This way, it looks like the teachers have planned a fun activity for the class, verses a teacher trying to place a student with Autism into another student’s play activity.

There are various elements that I would consider when planning a lunch or recess social skills intervention program for students with Autism.

Using the student’s interest. A teacher could plan games about dinosaurs, fire trucks, or rocket ships, or any special interest the student has.
Pick games that all children will enjoy. It is important to incorporate the interests of the student with Autism, but make sure that the game or activity will appeal to their peers as well.
Consider the staff you have available. Choose simple, less complex activities if there is limited staff available. It is better to have a short and simple activity go well that a large-scale game go poorly.
Start with short, simple activities to give students the opportunity to get used to the idea of doing activities during recess. For example, I once had a student who enjoyed collecting rocks and putting them in a pile during recess. He had no interest in the other children, except to make sure that they didn’t disturb his rock pile. So, at first I gave rocks to other students and asked them to give them to the student with Autism. While this intervention did single the student out, it was no secret among the children at recess that he liked to sit there and collect rocks. I wanted him to associate the other students with something positive, not as potential threats to his rock pile. The next step in the plan would be to develop some simple games that involved the rocks.
Allow some of the recess time for all students to be unstructured, free time. Even planning just one or two games per week can be beneficial.

Possible Activities for Recess

Group sports, such as kickball and basketball,
Group outdoor games, including hopscotch and tag,
Craft projects using items found outside, such as pine cones or sticks.

Possible Activities for Lunch

Question of the Day: provide a question of the day that students must talk about with others at their table.
Riddle of the Day: provide a riddle that students must answer each day at lunch.
Fun Fact of the Day: provide a daily trivia fact or allow students to bring one from home that can be read aloud and shared during lunch.

More information about these activities can be found here.

Preparing the Student with Autism for the Intervention

A variety of methods may be used to help prepare the student with Autism for the intervention program. Select the methods which best meet your student’s needs.

Picture Schedule: use a sequence of pictures to indicate the sequence of steps in the activity, and possibly including what will happen before and after the activity.
First/Then Chart: a smaller version of the picture schedule, with two pictures: one that shows the teacher’s group activity, and one that shows one of the student's preferred activities. This shows the student that he will first participate in the group activity, and then he will get to do something he prefers. This may be helpful if the student is not motivated to participate in the activity.
Social Story: write a brief story, with pictures if possible, that describes the activity and what the student will need to do to participate. This could be read at school before the activity, or at home the night before.
Tokens/Rewards for Participating: if motivation is a problem, give the student rewards or tokens/points on a point card frequently during the activity. When the student fills the entire card with points, he or she receives a bigger reward.
Priming: have the student play the game or activity in advance at school or home.
Instruction Sheet: provide the student with an instruction sheet with rules and expectations for playing the game or activity.
Direct Instruction: give direct instruction to the student in advance on game playing skills such as taking turns and good sportsmanship.
Prepare Other Students: remind other students that the purpose of the game for everyone to have fun together. It is my opinion it is okay to tell other students ways they can help the student with Autism to participate, as long as it does not seem like the activity was created specifically for the student with Autism.
Communicate: teachers can let parents know what sports, games, or activities that they will be doing so they can prepare the student at home. If parents are working on social skills at home, they can let the school know what skills they are working on so that the school can incorporate them into the student’s school day when possible.

To Sum Up...

As parents and educators, we need to find a balance between increasing the socialization opportunities for students with Autism and respecting their right to individuality. We can do this by incorporating their interests into games and activities that their classroom peers could also enjoy. We can also allow them to have breaks from socialization if this is something they need. A variety of strategies can be implemented to help facilitate successful participation in group activities by all students. More information about the recommended strategies can be found in past issues of Positively Autism or through other online sources.

Reference

Koegel, L.K. and LaZebnik, C. (2004). Overcoming autism: Finding the answers, strategies, and hope that can transform a child's life. Penguin Books: New York, New York.