tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17425654.post113803881978005326..comments2024-03-09T01:07:20.958-05:00Comments on Day Sixty-Seven: Is it my imagination, or. ...?Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09687586555108712164noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17425654.post-1138232814346306702006-01-25T18:46:00.000-05:002006-01-25T18:46:00.000-05:00Charlie did a lot of scripting of videos until he ...Charlie did a lot of scripting of videos until he was about 6 and then switched, so to speak, to scripting scenes from his own life: Past experiences, some pleasant and some not. We have always thought his adaptations of Teletubbies or Barney scenes are indeed what they look like: Creative, imaginary play.<BR/><BR/>As he has grown older, I have noted that Charlie's insistence on these scripts has grown more rigid, as has his insistence on not redirecting from the play when I have requested. He can turn anything into a script that has to be exhaustively re-enacted, such as cooking rice in a pot on the stove. And the resulting rigidity does not seem creative at all, but a trap he has got himself stuck in, and we have to show him how to live without that script always being so. <BR/><BR/>Also, Charlie has gotten a bit sick of scripting I sometimes think but cannot stop doing it---that's when we need to intervene. We have just begun to use his "scripting stength" to teach him routines that can last him for the duration---household chores and routines--making a bed over and over the same way is a good thing. (Not all scripts are created equal.)kristinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01104388229716638534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17425654.post-1138148689521931222006-01-24T19:24:00.000-05:002006-01-24T19:24:00.000-05:00Ohhh, poor Oliver :o( Gabe gets that same face whe...Ohhh, poor Oliver :o( Gabe gets that same face when we say no to him watching Nemo day after day. I think it is great that he is "scripting" parts to videos, etc. It is deffinitly imaginative!Is it on the high end of being extremely imaginative with his play? Probably not, but children's play grows and develops as they do. Some catch on quick while others feel the saftey that comes with reenacting things out instead of totally creating their own idea from scratch. Picking items out that represent the things that he is scripting, like a train, but maybe not a THomas the Train, sounds like he is branching out and is on his way!<BR/>Hooray for Oliver!<BR/><BR/>Take Care,<BR/>KristinMom to Mr. Handsomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03664592848896720811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17425654.post-1138146161503206692006-01-24T18:42:00.000-05:002006-01-24T18:42:00.000-05:00Hi Christine,I think this is wonderful and yes, I ...Hi Christine,<BR/><BR/>I think this is wonderful and yes, I see it as "imaginary play." When we look at kids play, we see that they enact first what they see in everyday life, so the question of imagination here is obvious. It's a wonderful start and you might want to think about how you can expand his current play one scene at a time so it doesn't turn into preservative "play." Just my two cents. <BR/><BR/>As for imagination, as a curator and studying autism and art and those who write, I am seeing that imagination is a kind of representation, that I can tell so far. As far as I'm concerned, it's all wonderful. I love to write but I don't think I can (or will) ever author a Harry Potter book.<BR/><BR/>Stay positive on these wonderful steps!!<BR/><BR/>EsteeEstee Klar-Wolfondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04075904929829751057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17425654.post-1138120601937679692006-01-24T11:36:00.000-05:002006-01-24T11:36:00.000-05:00Christine, I've wondered the same thing about Bud....Christine, I've wondered the same thing about Bud. When we were going through the whole diagnosis process I would talk about this scripted pretend play expecting the evaluators to me very impressed, and I'd get an "uh-huh," which I understood to mean "yeah, we see that all the time."<BR/><BR/>But here's what I think about it. I posted a couple of months ago about how the evolution of Bud's drawing has mirrored the evolution of his speech in that when he moved from abtract blobs of color to representational art it was all "scripted" art (i.e., things he has seen Joe draw on Blues Clues that he draws exactly the same way as Joe.) I think that his pretend play has followed the same evolutionary track as well, in that his first "pretend" play was re-enacting the scenes from favorite videos.<BR/><BR/>Here's the thing, though. I just read some great articles on echolalia (one was link that Sal at Octoberbabies posted and the others were from issues of Autism-Aspergers Digest Magazine that I backordered.) The gyst of the articles was that echolalia (or what they call "gestalt language acquisition") is a great prognostic indicator of future language development. The process that it typically follows is: 1) echolalia - use of memorized phrases in their entirety; 2) "mitigated" echolalia - or, chunks of remembered phrases strung together in different order, or with some words switched out to fit the current situation; 3) isolation of single words and morphemes (phrases that the child thinks of as a single "word" or concept, like "all done") and beginning of use of original two-word phrases; 4) generation of more complex sentences. The articles said that when the child progresses into stage 3, it can sometimes look like regression because when he was using memorized phrases they were all gramattically correct, and then suddenly he starts saying things like "Daddy go car now."<BR/><BR/>My theory is that pretend play (and drawing) can follow the same evolutionary pattern, and that the "scripted" re-enactments can evolve into first very simple original "moments" of play, and then into more complex plots and storylines. This is *definitely* what I have seen with Bud.<BR/><BR/>So, this is all my VERY long-winded way of saying that regardless of what the professionals say (and, actually, I have no idea what they say) I think the kind of play that you're seeing from Oliver is FANTASTIC and will be an important stepping stone for him. Whew. Sorry this was so long.<BR/><BR/>P.S. We have re-enacted the Ernie & Bert drum scene at our house as well! :-)Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00871470010300861815noreply@blogger.com