heres one I made earlier

Heres one I made earlier...

Give and take
MATERIALS Storylines you will need to invent some of these yourself and get some from local and national newspapers and some from magazines. You are looking for stories that show a polarity of argument, and about which the clients already have opinions. IN PRACTICE (I) Find out what the clients think about the stories, eg. in a story about shoplifting, probably one client will sympathise with the shoplifter and one will be more inclined to support the law. In an environmental story, one client might favour banning private cars, whilst another might put personal freedom first. In an invented story, say about a sibling argument over which film to see at the cinema, a gangstertype movie, or a cartoon, you will probably find a supporter for each side. Other invented MATERIALS * Balloons * A pin * Wide, soft felt tips PREPARATION The first thing to establish is whether any of the participants have a fear of balloons! Quite often people on the autism spectrum worry that a balloon will explode in their face. One thing to try is the controlled pop a way in which they can be in charge of a gentle pop. All you need to do is to blow up an extra balloon, a little softer than its full capacity, and now show the clients how to take the pin, and gently stick it into the wrinkled, slightly thicker area around the knot. The balloon will not explode loudly, but will merely puff and deflate. Once this has been done the clients tend to feel they have control

Alison Roberts with more low-cost, flexible therapy suggestions suitable for a variety of client groups.

Alison Roberts is a speech and language therapist at Ruskin Mill Further Education College in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire. scenarios might include Our College should have a uniform, or All junk food should be banned. The twist is that once you have established who favours which side of the argument, you require them to argue the other persons case. This takes the heat out of the argument, making it into an exercise rather than just a quarrel. It also makes them see the problem from the other persons point of view. As well as the proponents of each side of the argument you need to have a mediator. This figure asks each side in turn to do the following: 1. State their case, and then listen in silence to the statement from the other side. 2. Restate their case, adding anything else in the light of the other persons statement, and listen in silence to the other persons restatement. over the balloons, and are therefore not worried about them any more. Now ask everyone to blow up a balloon, again not too hard. They should draw a face on each balloon with the soft felt tips. IN PRACTICE In the original party games, either the balloon is placed between the foreheads of the partners and the pairs race sideways, or the balloon is passed from one person to the next between the knees. However, for people with autism spectrum disorder, such closeness can be intolerable. In this humorous buffered-contact version, the balloon is sandwiched between the shoulders of two clients who are standing side-byside with the balloons drawn-on face looking forward. Two pairs of clients with their sandwiched bal3. Offer one compromise that the other side might accept, trying to be sure that both sides give some ground. 4. Agree on a course of action. The mediator now reiterates the problem, the compromises, and the conclusion reached. It is wise to begin with distant, theoretical problems, and then gradually work towards problems which the clients might be familiar with. IN PRACTICE (II) If some of the clients are willing, once some hypothetical problems have been negotiated it can be helpful to discuss any real issues that are communication-based, eg. My houseparent often wants me to wash up when its not my turn. In this case the client actually involved in the disagreement should be an onlooker rather than a participant. loons stand opposite each other, and then carefully walk towards each other so that the balloon faces eventually reach conversational distance from each other. If the balloons are still in place by the time the couples meet, they can proceed to the next stage. Now the clients make their balloons have a conversation with each other. The couple who first let their balloon drop are out. They will find that the funnier the chat the more likely the balloons are to fall. Other methods of making the opposite couple drop their balloon are to make comments about something that is either high up, or on the floor. Moving about will risk losing the pressure, and so losing the balloon. The last ones with a balloon are the winners.

A great role-play game for learning negotiation techniques and how to make and accept compromise. There is a difference between negotiating and debating, in that negotiating does not produce one winner - in fact, a win-win situation should be the outcome. You need three clients for each role-play, but it is preferable to have more than that in the group, to ensure that you can find people with opinions about each subject. People with Aspergers Syndrome find this activity very useful.

Cooperation balloons

This fun activity is an adapted classic party game. A biggish group of eight clients is ideal, although it can be done with four. The game helps to establish a mood of cooperation and fun, encourages practice in greetings and social chat, and illustrates the benefits of working with a partner. The partners need to be of roughly equal height.

SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY IN PRACTICE SUMMER 2008