One of the many things I'm learning about working with my Autistic children is the ability to do Obstructive Play. The idea is that while interactively playing with my kids I need to watch what they are doing for a bit, then quietly and gently do something different that interrupts how they are playing.
For example, Cyprus loves to line up all the toy vehicles (i.e. trains, cars, trucks, etc.) into one long line trunk to hood. With obstructive play I am supposed to sit with him on the floor and observe his play, then at a quiet moment do something like turn on of the cars sideways, switch two cars' positions, or put my arm down as he is about to line up another car and say "Oh oh. The road is blocked. What are you going to do?" The idea is to trigger the brain to work on problem solving instead of continuing the repetitive play.
Juniper is obsessed with letters and numbers. When you show him a book with pictures he is so focused on the letters he doesn't see anything else on the page. So the play therapist suggested I start taping over the words in simple picture books to get Juniper to focus on what else is there. Or when Juniper is building towers out of his blocks and he is so focused on counting them that I take a moment to stop and observe. Then at a safe/appropriate time I gently knock the tower down and say, "Oh oh, they fell over. What are you going to do?" And then to help Juniper rebuild or whatever choice he comes up with after given the problem.
The overall goal is to mix up their thought processes, to build new connections, to get him to actually interact with others, and to help them learn problem solving skills. Who thought playtime took so much planning & thinking on a parents' part.
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