|
I get paid to play for a living! Ok, some people would call it Speech Pathology, and it does have it's serious side (as do I), but it also has a fun and wild side! Basically, kids who don't know me, often ask, "Why does she have so many games in her office?!" Little do they know I use them in nefarious ways to teach language, pragmatics and sometimes just good ole goofin' around!
I work with language delayed persons who are about 11 -15 years of age and I use an assortment of games to work on all sorts of language issues. Recently, I bought the game Fluxx and have started to incorporate it into my bag of therapy tools.
Why am I using this game in a speech and language setting? I often have kiddos who have trouble with transitions and they stick to the "rules" of their lives with strict adherence. This makes small changes and hiccups in their schedules traumatic. This game allows them to experience with change in a safe place. Afterall, they have follow the "rules", but the rules themselves keep changing! Of course, the best part of this is that the rules are out there for everyone to follow! You know they don't "love" this game the way they love some of the other games in my repetoire, but as they play it, they begin to express less frustration with game changes.
Another type of kiddo has difficulty making friends because he can't just "chill" or spend time with other people without some type of goal. Remember your adolescence? Those endless games of Monopoly where you won, or your friend won, or you just played and played until it was time to clean up and go home for dinner? Maybe the goal is playing and maybe the goal is just hanging out and having a focus. This game can "sucker" these hyper competitive guys into playing, but with the shifting "goal" the end of the game becomes somewhat diffuse, because the winner isn't smarter or even luckier, just the winner, ok, shuffle the deck and play again! Then we can discuss whether it's really important to win or just enjoy playing. This is an excellent game for this, because there is no rhyme or reason as to when the end comes (someone just lays down a goal card and there it is, someone wins).
I've used this with a third type of kiddo and that is the kind who has difficulty reading and understanding instructions. You know, the type of guy/gal who rushes into an assignment without reading what the teacher really wants them to do ( and then they miss an important part and end up with a poor grade)? This game is perfect for them. At first I tell them briefly about the game and read the first card or two, but then I let them go.... and there is alot of reading and figuring to this game! After awhile, I just read their cards (when they play them) to keep them honest... and sometimes I'll ask them what it means and make them explain it to me (I can be sooooo dense sometimes :::wink::::) and maybe argue with them a bit until giving in, but the point is, they have to read and understand the directions the cards. The card are clearly written and the directions are easy enough and yet complex enough. I used to do this with Magic cards, but they just got toooo complex! The best part is that these kiddos don't think they are doing any work, just playing a game!
|
