Penina Rybak
Products, Therapy Tips 
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19 Toys & Apps that can help develop Language and Social Skills in Children with Autism
The holiday season is in full swing, and that means new toys and learning opportunities for children. Children with Autism and special needs in particular, respond well to structured, repeated, developmentally appropriate “teachable moments” that account for their mental age (not chronological age), sensory needs, and differing attention span. It’s always a challenge matching the child’s learning style to the lesson materials available, even more so when well meaning family members and friends contribute to the gift pile, and social media hype further muddies the water.Include your child's teachers and therapists in the gift discussion
At this time of year, I usually recommend that parents and teachers/therapists have an honest conversation via phone, Email, written note, or in person, re: which gifts can be the most meaningful and thus have the greatest impact at this time, for this particular child. My two decades “in the trenches” have taught me the importance of team collaboration that can help plan and execute an effective and enjoyable “teachable moment”. If done right, integrating toys & tech can help facilitate cognition and self regulation. Here is my list of toys and how it can benefit a child with autism. You can use these toys as the guidelines or actual basis for your planned “teachable moment”. Good Luck!1. Object Function Comprehension
Children first need to understand the vocabulary of their environment i.e. how their world “works”. That involves learning to identify basic objects by their appearance, texture, sound, and function. This can be done with various toys including chunky puzzles, picture books, dolls and accessories, matching objects, matching photos, and these materials:Recommended Toys:
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2. Categorization: What goes together (Inclusion & Exclusion)
Children begin to master orientation to person/place/time when they can group alike/unalike objects/photos into categories and explain why. This skills helps develop higher level social skills and Executive Functioning skills which are needed later for self regulation and literacy skills. Categorization is the precursor to developing the ability to ask and answer why? questions can help a child with special needs learn problem solving skills when things don't go as planned and improvisation/adjustment is needed. This is the point in time that I introduce humor into the interaction by purposely grouping items that “don’t fit” and help the child see why that’s funny. This is also the juncture in time I introduce more picture board style games into the repertoire:Recommended Toys:
- Ravensberger What Goes Together?
- Carson-Dellosa Publishing Opposites Attract
- Webber "What Doesn't Belong?"
- Photo Card Deck from Super Duper
3. Sequencing
Children learn to sequence a pattern, oral directions, or events in a story after they learn about object function and how to categorize the vocabulary and images in their memory banks. This skill is a later one to emerge, and is essentially the bridge between language and social skills. It can thus take the longest to develop and requires mastery of the first two skills mentioned above. Sequencing is the gateway to mastering literacy and problem solving, as well as math concepts and self regulation (following a schedule, tolerating changes in routine/transitions, accepting delayed gratification). Sequencing is where “whole body” learning really counts; where the child reenacts and explains the order of what he/she is doing while doing it, building “muscle” memory and episodic memory for later scaffolded learning:Recommended Toys:
- Childcraft Attribute Beads and Activity Cards
- Learning Journey Sequencing Cards
- Melissa & Doug Wooden Bear Family Dress-Up Puzzle
