Do you have a LEGO® or brick building club in your setting?
All children need opportunities to play, make friends and feel accepted. Autistic and neurodivergent children can experience high levels of exclusion and may not have access to the same opportunities to socialise in ways that are supportive and accepting. It has never been more important to actively support them with their social, emotional and communication needs.
Dr Gina Gómez de la Cuesta, Clinical Psychologist and Director of Play Included, joins Dale for the first time on The SENDcast to talk about ‘LEGO® play – social and emotional wellbeing’. Gina highlights the importance of learning through play, following a child-led approach and the ways in which the Brick-by-Brick® programme positively impacts the development of children’s social and communication skills and their emotional wellbeing.
Listen to hear how LEGO® play supports children to communicate, collaborate and connect. Gina also takes us through what running a brick club looks like, from what the role of the adult/teacher is in facilitating the sessions, to the top 5 things you should and shouldn’t be doing.
Useful Links
LEGO-Based Therapy: How to build social competence through LEGO-Based Clubs for children with autism and related conditions – Daniel B LeGoff, Gina Gomez de la Cuesta, GW Krauss and Simon Baron-Cohen
About Dr Gina Gómez de la Cuesta
Gina is a Clinical Psychologist and founded Play Included® (formerly Bricks for Autism) in 2018. Gina studied LEGO® based therapy for her PhD at Cambridge University Autism Research Centre and is co-author of the LEGO based therapy manual. Gina has published several academic papers on LEGO based therapy, including the I-SOCIALISE randomised control trial. Play Included’s Brick-by-Brick® programme is the latest update to LEGO based therapy and the only programme of its kind to be endorsed by the LEGO Foundation.
Contact Dr Gina Gómez de la Cuesta
Be the first to hear when new podcasts go live!
The SENDcast is powered by B Squared
We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals – which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.
Introducing SENDcast Sessions
SENDcast Sessions are a new way for schools to access high quality CPD from SEND experts brought to you by the SENDcast. It’s the same great guests featured on our weekly podcast, delivering focused 1-hour online training sessions on a wide range of SEND topics.
SENDcast Sessions provide schools with in depth content that can be accessed forever. Build a library of online CPD that your school can continue to use in the future – choose from over 90 training sessions!
