Now that you have read our “A Guide to Symbolic Play” blog http://www.autismspot.com/blog/Guide-Symbolic-Play and you have assessed your child’s symbolic play skills, it’s time to get busy and start playing! We have included some ideas on two separate symbolic play activities: one for beginner symbolic play skills and one for more advanced skills.
Beginner Symbolic Play Skills

“Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you're needed by someone.”
-Martina Navratilova

Last fall, my friend Jennifer Dodson started a fantastic series for us about how acting and drama have positively influenced her son with Asperger’s Syndrome. This final entry is packed with great information about programs and even a book recommendation for utilizing drama and acting in the lives of children with autism. If you missed the first few posts in the series, I encourage you to read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 as well. My sincere thanks, again, to Jennifer for taking the time and effort to pen this encouraging and informative series for us! Enjoy, ~Leigh
Professional Acting with Asperger’s Syndrome: Part 4
By Jennifer Dodson
The journey for our son who is a professional actor with Asperger Syndrome has been very rewarding. We have watched our son's social skills blossom and his self-confidence soar. For our son, acting has opened up his world in ways we didn't know were possible.

Symbolic play refers to using objects or toys to represent something else within play. For example, a baby doll represents a real baby. We rock it to sleep, give it a bath and even feed it when it’s hungry. A toy cow comes to life mooing and eating hay while he chases the farmer’s tractor. A kitty cat mask transforms us into a four legged animal, meowing and searching for milk. A child is not born with symbolic play skills; in fact, these skills develop as part of a hierarchy of skills that are mastered over time.

This subject is one near and dear to me as I have been using Craniosacral Therapy (CST) for many years now and I have seen how life changing it can truly be for families. When parents go searching for information I am not sure they get a true understanding of what this is and I would like to take some time to share with you the basics.

Product Name: Wiggly Jiggly Ball
Recommended Age: Ages 12 Months & Up
Company Name: Achievement Products
Company Website: www.achievement-products.com
Company Phone Number: 1-800-373-4699

Rock bottom for me is when I find myself sitting in my car eating a Cinnabon. I am likely wearing jeans that I have not washed in two weeks to keep up the facade that I have not gained the holiday weight, and I am drinking a Diet Coke, of course.
It is time for me to get serious about eating healthy again, which means no more sweets and no more Diet Coke. It has been 525,600 minutes, exactly one year, since I had this same conversation with myself. I guess I will add it to my list of New Year’s Resolutions again.
Having the same goal over and over each year can become demoralizing at the very least. Whether it is a small issue like losing a few pounds, or an enormous issue like a goal that my child with autism never masters, it takes all the willpower I have to not throw in the towel and just accept life as “good enough.”

The following is a true story, when I was working as a TSS (Therapeutic Staff Support) worker in a public school outside Philadelphia in the late 1990's. It was my first work experience, having graduated with my undergraduate degree just a few months earlier.
“He’s the devil – just a bad seed,” said Daniel’s 2nd grade teacher, a seasoned “professional” with over thirty years of classroom experience. “I’d love to see where he’ll wind up ten or twenty years from now. He’ll be locked up by the time he’s 20. The kid will be a lifer.”