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Candy land board games autism12/8/2022 Eventually he even joined a chess club at our local library for a while. With each game, Bulldozer seemed more and more confident with his ability to handle a game, even if he lost, because he knew he was doing his best and could try again. When Grandpa Ron came to visit, they’d play for hours. The two began playing on a regular basis. My husband read a “How to Play Chess” book aloud with Bulldozer so they could both learn the game. A grandparent had introduced the game to Bulldozer and he was very interested. Our first move was teaching him how to play chess. Games of chance just weren’t going to work. In order to help Bulldozer, we knew our best bet was to introduce him to board games of strategy. With Bulldozer’s competitive nature, he and board games were not meshing. No matter how many losses you face, if you stick with it, you will win the game. In a video game, you can work hard and continue to try, try again, to master each level. When I compared board games to video games, I could definitely see where he was struggling. He was still super intense as he played for a while, but over time he was able to relax and become a leader, helping his peers.īulldozer loves video games. To help Dinomite be successful we turned to cooperative board games like Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle Cooperative Deck Building Game, where he could feel more in control and always win when he worked together with his playmates. Every time he felt that loss of control, he melted down. He was always worried about what would happen on his next turn that would ruin things for him. Solution Option #1: Cooperative Board Gamesĭinomite couldn’t handle losing one more time. Add them all together and we had definitely created a recipe for disaster EVERY TIME. Each autistic kiddo was struggling with something different. It’s no wonder board game experiences were as devastating as they were. Sunshine wasn’t able to express her feelings in words. It just becomes so frustrating that he doesn’t like trying anymore.īulldozer shared that he feels he’s made a bad choice when something negative happens on his turn, even when it was just luck of the draw, and especially when he loses. She does not like being corrected or given help if she doesn’t do something correctly.Īfter I observed each of my kiddos, I decided to just come out and ask them why they struggled so much when playing board games.ĭinomite expressed that no matter how hard he tries, no matter what “good stuff” happens, he always loses. So much frustration comes from her inability to understand and perform at the level of her siblings. Sunshine learns at a slower pace than her peers and siblings. During her turn, she would become extremely frustrated if things didn’t go exactly as she wanted them to. She was still trying to understand taking turns. Sunshine struggled with multiple aspects of playing board games. Once he discovered that he couldn’t fix things, he was devastated. When what was expected didn’t happen, he couldn’t handle it and wanted to try again. He was stuck in the “If I do this, then this will happen” mentality. When things didn’t go as he had hoped, he was devastated.īulldozer could not grasp the concept of chance. His fear of the unknown and anxieties were really getting the best of him. Thankfully, my husband was more than willing to play board games with them so that I could do this.ĭinomite struggled when unexpected events occurred while playing each game. My first step was to observe my autistic kids as they attempted to play board games and failed. Knowing the method has always worked for me in the past, I took a Montessori approach to the situation. There just had to be a way that I could help my autistic kiddos be successful at playing board games. I went through my 24 hours of sulking and then went to work. How do you help your autistic child play board games successfully?Īfter so many negative experiences, I was ready to throw in the towel, sell every board game we had, and surrender to the idea that board games just weren’t going to be possible.įortunately I’m me, and giving up is not in my nature.
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