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.
The word moot is an archaic term meaning "argue, debate, discuss." In early English history, a moot was a meeting to discuss local affairs. Moot comes from the Old English gemot, meaning "meeting."
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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:
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?
ReplyDeleteThomas the Tank really is 'big' with kids with autism...I enjoyed reading the article about WHY. Thanks for posting the link.
Judy
Judy-
ReplyDeleteI 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.