Information for Teaching and Playing with Leelo Rosenberg

 

Leelo is a 3 ½ year old child with autism.  The following information will be helpful in guiding and teaching him, and also in helping other children to be successful in playing with him.

 

Leelo has a “shadow”, Therapist F, who will be helping him to participate as fully as possible in the Iron Gate program.   Therapist F is a therapist with expertise in applied behavior analysis and in facilitating classroom learning for children with autism.  She will attend Iron Gate with Leelo, and is available to parents and staff, as well as to Leelo and his classmates, for a variety of supportive roles, including:

v     providing information

v     facilitating Leelo’s play and participation in groups

v     fostering peer understanding of and skill in playing with Leelo

v     assisting in classroom activities as needed

 

To the greatest extent possible, parents, staff and children should interact with Leelo as you do with the other children.   While Therapist F will likely play a heavy role in helping Leelo in the beginning, the ultimate goal is for her to fade back so that the typical classroom people, activities, and instruction guide Leelo as they do other children.

 

So, please go ahead and interact directly with Leelo, and seek out Therapist F for questions and support as you need.

 

When talking with Leelo or giving him directions, parents, staff and children should:

v     Secure his attention first.  Call him by his name, and if necessary, ask him “look at me.”

v     Use short, clear phrases (3 to 5 word phrases work well.) For example “Leelo, come here”  “Sit at the table”, etc. 

 

Other children may express curiousity and ask questions about Leelo and Therapist F.  His mother typically responds by talking about how all children have something that they are learning or need help with, and Leelo needs extra help learning to talk and play.  As the school year progresses and as any need for information becomes clearer, his educational team (parents, teachers, therapists) will further develop a process for helping children to understand about Leelo and autism.

 

There are two books in the Iron Gate library that deal specifically with autism, Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin, and Let Me Hear Your Voice by Catherine Maurice. Both are wonderful reads They also describe Leelo’s program and situation nicely.