Friday, July 27, 2007

Thomas the Tank Engine

Having enjoyed books with autistic children at school over the years, I thought this article, "Autism group probes why children love Thomas the Tank Engine," was extremely interesting:

Among autistic children, who often have a narrow range of behaviours, Thomas-related play was often their favourite activity, with children repeatedly watching the videos and reenacting whole scenes, including dialogue, with the toys.

"Thomas & Friends is 100 per cent responsible for getting him talking. Thomas was his life," said one parent of a nine-year-old, according to the NAS survey.

2 comments:

Judy said...

I found your blog through a search for 'autism' and am interested in your connection to it. Have not been able to locate your bio, but I guess you are a librarian? In school, or public?

Thomas the Tank really is 'big' with kids with autism...I enjoyed reading the article about WHY. Thanks for posting the link.

Judy

Camille said...

Judy-
I am a long time school librarian currently working as a substitute librarian. School is going to restart soon and my dance card is already filling up.

I loved working with these students who were often dedicated to working through a particular section of the library. Whether the subject was cars or bats or natural phenomena such as tornadoes, I found their enthusiasm inspiring and challenging as I strove to have books and materials to feed their interests.