Wooden Blocks
Wooden blocks, much like plastic eggs, were another great tool I used in working with Zachary.
It seems to be human nature that when we are given a bunch of wooden blocks, we normally want to make a pyramid out of them or some kind of precise "stack". I found this to be true for Zachary also. But, again, for Zachary, my goal was to increase his flexibility, to allow for the unusual or the "non-perfect order" and to break the "all or none" need.
Note: Right mouse click on the image below and select "View Image" to enlarge...make sure you read notes below pictures, too!
Note that I did not stacking the blocks in perfect order. I always create "odd piles"... and I always made sure I left a few blocks off to the side, either in a smaller pile, or as a totally separate, single block on the floor, close to the "main pile". Note also that the blocks were arranged in random order, some upside down, some right side up, etc. and that the "vertical stacks" or the highest part of the stack was "staggered" (see pictures 1 and 2 above). I had lone blocks, angled blocks, upside down blocks. I then added in "other objects" that did not belong, like a plastic egg or coins (again, as mentioned under the section on plastic eggs, I no longer used coins due to their potential hazard - there were plenty of other items around the house that could be more safely used).
For Zachary, it was always important to make sure he "perceived" the objects belonged together... if they were scattered all about, he did not "perceive" the need for grouping them as strongly. But, blocks arranged as above, with a few "stragglers" definitely made frustration surface! Having worked with Zachary on the "wooden blocks" exercises for about a month, I was already beginning to see small coping mechanisms set in. For example, Zachary now referred to piles as shown above as "smokestacks" (I did not know where he learned that word, but he was using it) to cope with the "lack of order"... he was associating what he saw with something similar in "real life"... and that was good, but there was also the issue of creating a "new entity" of my tools, too (see coping mechanisms).
Note that, if left to do as he pleased, Zachary preferred to make something that had a semblance of order... as in picture 1... it was not perfect, but very close. There were still no pieces "outside of the whole" however... he did not leave one piece "by itself" on the floor... everything was part of the whole... as was always the way things were with Zachary. Also, note especially in picture 2... how Zachary enjoyed "going over" his perfect pile... not one block was disturbed as he did this. Fascination with order... and the whole... again! Note also that the actual "order" of the blocks in terms of whether or not they were upside down did not seem to matter. It was the fact that they were "part of a whole" that mattered!
