Medical and Research Publications - Journal of Neurology and Psychology

SCHUBERT, R. - Building Bridges, Scenarios, Worlds of Possibilities - The Use of Lego as a Therapeutic Resource with Autistic Children. MAR Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychology,  United Kingdom, March 2024

 

 

Building Bridges, Scenarios, Worlds of Possibilities - The Use of Lego as A Therapeutic Resource with Autistic Children

I bring up this subject because I regularly use Lego in my consulting room, mainly in child psychodiagnosis and play therapy. The people who have shown me this over the years have mainly been patients with autism spectrum disorder. Something about Lego always attracted them more than other toys: the colours, the shapes, the possibility of organising, segmenting, systematising - and then moving on to something deeper and more therapeutic: building scenes, creating characters, relating characters, naming emotions and beliefs.

As a psychotherapist who works with children, I have a toy room inside my consulting room with various games and toys. I use Lego, Playmobil, various dolls, sets, graphic and craft materials, board and card games, books, magazines, in short, play materials that arouse children's interest and that stimulate and allow the manifestation of fantasy, affective and bodily expression, and creativity.  I consider Lego to be a fantastic playful representative of human adult reality. It's a powerful ally in helping children make the transition from the world and imagination/fantasy of childhood to the world and reality of adulthood - or to understand and express them. Learning, through play, rules and limits, both for themselves and for others. Developing logical reasoning, creativity, abstraction, among others, through playful language.

Lego has many qualities and possibilities in its favour as a toy. By joining together multicoloured geometric pieces, you can build a pot, a wall, a car, an aeroplane, a tower, an entire city, a scene of struggle and domination, a scene of abuse, a happy, fun scene, a scene of meeting and reconciliation, romance or adventure... it all depends on the availability of this material in the consulting room, the attitude of the psychotherapy professional, the child's trust in the space for expression, the will, the goal, the skills and creativity with this toy.

In my opinion, several aspects count in favour of this toy: the aesthetics and shape it has and can take; the colourfulness of its pieces; the infinite possibilities for construction, joining and creation; characters with various facial and body expressions; construction of 3D scenes; various characters from the world of children, games, cinema, comics and books; the personification of fantasy; the use of creativity and logic; patience and tolerance of frustration; co-operation and exchange; expression and communication; playful elaboration; construction and deconstruction; meaning, re-signification and emotional discharge; skills that develop in contact with toys and by the playing.

I can see the importance of play and this toy in various clinical situations in the consulting room but, as many professionals have expressed in a series of studies and research, Lego can be very specific in the care of children on the autistic spectrum. And indeed, this toy is proving to be a differential in establishing bonds and exchanges with children with this clinical condition. Here I'll give some examples of these theories and their possibilities in the clinical psychology context.

Continues at:  https://medicalandresearch.com/current_issue/1948

 

 

 

Article written by brasiliean psychologist René Schubert and published in the book: Um Amor Azul – Os desafios e o caminho para lidar com a pessoa autista. Coordenação de Neia Martins e Viviane Oliveira, Editora Conquista, São Paulo, November 2023