soncouldnd't make an apple out of playdough

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Hi,

me again!

My son's OT said yesterday that J couldn't/wouldn't make an apple out of some playdough. I replied that he probably couldn't see the point of making an apple out of playdough and she said it was because he is very literal.

(I'd prefer he learn something a tad more useful like touch-typing than doing fruit sculptures).

Is it really that important though? Am I missing something here?

Cheers,
Temma

I have to assume that she didn't really want to know, specifically, if your son could make an apple out of Play-Doh, but that it was a simple problem that would represent other, more complex problems. (For example, if I ask you what's 6×9, it's not because I want to know the answer per se, but because I want to know whether you can multiply quickly in your head and/or have memorized your times table.)

I assume that it was a test of his ability to make abstractions (can he go from a real apple to the concept of "apple" and represent that concept in another medium?), or of his motor control abilities (is he physically capable of molding the Play-Doh?), or of how literal he is (a very literal person would say "I can't make an apple out of Play-Doh, apples are made of food and Play-Doh isn't food" or something, I guess), or something else like that. Based on whatever she found out from how he did on that test, she would know what sorts of things he needs to work on in therapy.

very often OTs will use art as a medium for working on fine motor skills~ it sure beats doing the same exercises over and over and over and over again !

Yes, it's really that important. ASD children think literally and therefore get confused in social contexts. Making the apple from play-doh teaches him that apples aren't always apples. It's helping train his mind into non-literal thinking.

Here's an example of what happens without this kind of therapy. When my husband and I first got together, I asked him, "Hey, you wanna run to the store for me on your way home? We need milk." He said no. I was really taken aback because he never says no (he works very near the store, for me it's a haul). What it was is I didn't ask WOULD he go to the store...I asked if he wanted to.

Then there's me, I'm known for answering rhetorical questions because sometimes I just can't tll the difference.

It probably looks to you like some of this therapy they do is pointless, but it truly does have a valid basis, I promise

My fist question for the teacher would be...was there a picture of an apple he could copy.I can't pull pictures out of my head.If I am drawing or sculpting something,I need a 3D or picture to look at and then let my hands begin with that as a frame or reference.It doesnt matter how many times I have seen an apple...I need to see the deminssions to process it.

Also...he may have been afraid that he couldnt make a "good enough one" and would be diappointed by the results.He also may not like the way the dough looks or smells.Did she ask him why he didnt want to do this...we can;t allows verbalize "why" but it doesnt hurt t ask(rather then make assumtions based on our own reality

I also think you are not as likely to get the "trueth" if you give them the answer in the question...ie,

"Johhny,do you not want to do this because it smells bad?"..if I were Johhny and didnt want to do it and some one gave me a reason(that I thought they meant I didnt have to do it)I would probably just say ...yeah.

Also not a good idea to give a list of reasons....ie,

"Johhny,do you just not like the way it feels,or the smell or do you need a picture to help you"...those kind of choices can feel overwhelming to some of us.


Hope that helps.

How about saying, "Ok you don't want to make an apple? How about making something you want?" It would also help to bring insight into how the child is feeling, or what their likes and dislikes are. Like maybe he'd more excited about making a plane, or a truck, or whatever kids are into these days.

He might also have got confused about what colour apple she wanted him to make: given that apples can be yellow, yellow with red streaks, red with pink streaks, pink and green, red, gold, lime green and other combinations, it can be baffling.

Wow! The more time I spend on this site, the more amazed I am about how I'm not the only one who dealt with this kind of things as a kid. Except in this situation, I had the opposite problem: I could make nice drawings or modeling clay sculptures if I made them from memory, and at halfway decent ones if I made them from verbal descriptions. But if I was given an existing object, and told to make a drawing or a sculpture of it, the results would turn out horrible! Not even half of the object would match. I could easily recall a shape in my head, or visualize a shape from spoken words, but completely crashed and burned, so to speak, when working with a physical object.

I was and am like that too. Ask me to follow a recipe or a pattern or copy a picture, and it doesn't tend to work out so well, but if I can think something up, it usually is better.