LEGO®-BASED SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THERAPY

Have you often felt that your child is unable to make and sustain lasting friendships? Does your child have difficulties or awkwardness in social situations?

The goal of LEGO® therapy is to improve Social Competence (SC), which has three components: 1) motivation to initiate social contact with peers; 2) ability to sustain interaction with peers for a period of time; and 3) overcoming symptoms of aloofness and rigidity (seen often in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders or Asperger Syndrome.)

The CNNH offers a group-based social skill development program utilizing the LEGO® play system. Dr. Daniel LeGoff, a child psychologist and neuropsychologist who specializes in the assessment and treatment of childhood autism and related disorders, developed this innovative and proven therapeutic program, and has published research showing that children who go through this program have much improved social interactions. The methodology capitalizes on the inherent interest and popularity of the LEGO® toy system, providing a context for working on social and communication skills. Children are seen in groups of five or six, led by trained peer helpers and supervised by Dr. Dan. The groups are focused on collaborative LEGO® projects, arranged by age and according to developmental level, and require close interaction and communication among group members.

LEGO® products have a long history of being used for educational purposes, including large research studies on educational impact, but have not been used as a remedial tool to date. This innovative use of LEGO® has been systematically evaluated in three recent research studies. The results indicated that this format for social skills building was highly effective in increasing self-initiated social contact, and duration of social interaction, in school settings. A long term study found that LEGO® social skills groups were more effective than traditional therapy groups in improving overall social adaptation, and decreasing inappropriate social behaviors.

This unique social skills program is available for children with Asperger Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders and other neurological or behavioral disorders causing impairments in social development or social skills. Potential group members are now being interviewed for groups with ages ranging from 5 to 18 years. The groups will be 60 minutes long, and will run at various times during the week in the LEGO® Room at The CNNH, 1001 Laurel Oak Road, Suite E-2, Voorhees, New Jersey 08043.

Interested parties should call: (856) 346-0005