Lego Social Skills Club

One fun way to model and strengthen social skills for students- especially for those with Autism- is by facilitating a Lego Social Skills Club. Most people enjoy Legos, and this is even more true for many people young and old with Autism. Autistic people like to line things up, like things in order, like to focus on one thing; Legos easily fit that.

Social skills are an area of difficulty for Autistic individuals. What Lego Social Skills Club aims to do is fill the need of teaching social skills without the individuals even knowing that it is occurring. Students are placed in groups of three at a table with Legos and an project direction booklet. Each person is given a job; Student 1 is the Lego Finder, Student 2 is the Direction Giver, and Student 3 is the Builder. The students have to work together on the task to build the final product. Without forcing social skills or interactions, the students each have their job to do, communicate at their own level, and interact as they can to hopefully successfully build their project successfully. The group will feel good about their contribution, as well as their group work. The group does this three times, with jobs rotated so each student can be a direction giver, a brick finder and a builder. All of this is important, as the love of Legos and their drive to build a project helps them overcome any social skill issues they may have such as hesitation of communication, being near others, etc.

This model of Social Skill Group has proven successful at Autistic Centers such as Eastern Michigan University, studies have been done and books have been written on how to facilitate the system. I believe it would transfer successfully to GenEd students as well, as Legos are a universal tool of friendship and communication. Here's to Legos!