LEGO -Based Therapy : How to Build Social Competence Through LEGO -Based Clubs for Children With Autism and Related Conditions

This complete guide to LEGO® Therapy contains everything you need to know in order to set up and run a LEGO® Club for children with autism spectrum disorders or related social communication difficulties and anxiety conditions.

By providing a joint interest and goal, LEGO® building can become a medium for social development such as sharing, turn-taking, making eye-contact, and following social rules. This book outlines the theory and research base of the approach and gives advice on all practical considerations including space, the physical layout of the room and choosing and maintaining materials, as well as strategies for managing behaviour, further skill development, and how to assess progress.

Written by the pioneer of the approach alongside those who helped form it through their research and evaluation, this evidence-based manual is essential reading for professionals working with autism who are interested in running a LEGO® Club or learning more about the therapy.

Simon Baron-Cohen is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Trinity College. He is also Director of the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge, and runs a clinic for adults with Asperger Syndrome.

Gina Gómez de la Cuesta completed her PhD in 2008 at the Cambridge University Autism Research Centre, running and evaluating LEGO® therapy under the supervision of Daniel LeGoff, Simon Baron-Cohen and Ayla Humphrey. She is a trained teacher and has worked at the National Autistic Society as Action Research Leader. She runs training for professionals interested in LEGO® Therapy when she can and has run LEGO® Clubs in schools and clinical settings. She is now in her second year of Clinical Psychology training at the University of East Anglia.

Daniel B. LeGoff is a licensed and board-certified pediatric neuropsychologist, and the pioneer of LEGO® Therapy. A psychology graduate of the University of Winnipeg, Canada, Dr LeGoff received Master's and Doctorate degrees in clinical psychology from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia. He then completed residency and post-doctoral training at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, and the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu. He specializes in the assessment and treatment of neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral conditions in infants, children, and adolescents. He can be contacted at dlegoff1@hotmail.com.

GW Krauss completed his graduate training at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and the Widener University Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology. Dr Krauss has provided play and group therapy for children and adults with social and neurodevelopmental deficits since 1995. He has worked on the development and implementation LEGO® Therapy with Dr LeGoff for the past six years. Dr Krauss integrates the approach into the social learning programming for students with autism and related conditions at the Y.A.L.E. School and Clinic in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA where he is a licensed clinical neuropsychologist.