A fun way to teach important skills to children with Autism (ASD) would be through games with peers. With Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Therapy, skills are broken down according to the child's skill level.
Simon Says - This game works on the child's attention and ability to follow instructions. It also targets observational learning where the child has to watch the leader and mimic what the leader is doing.
Board Games - Using board games, the child can learn turn taking and competition skills. When the child is able to be competitive, a further skill would be to respond appropriately when winning and losing.
Police and Thieves - This game is a more sophisticated version of playing tag. This game increases the child's awareness one own's role (Police - chase, Thief - run away). Police and Thieves also works on listening and complying to directions.
Treasure Hunt - This is a great way to promote communication between peers and to learn how to work together in a team when searching for items. Treasure hunts also increases attentiveness and helps the child learn how to scan for items in different environments.
Dance and Freeze - This is a fun and interactive way for the child to work on attention and listening skills (dance when the music is playing and freeze when the music stops).
Obstacle course - An obstacle course not only builds gross motor skills but teaches a child how to follow directions and learn important observational learning skills. This activity can also work on the child's ability to remember sequences of actions being performed.
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