Thomas the Tank Engine and Autism: Share Your Experience
Tuesday October 7, 2008
A while back, I wrote an article about using Thomas the Tank Engine as a teaching tool for kids with autism. I wrote it, in part, because I had just started homeschooling my autistic son - and found Thomas to be a terrific way to engage him in reading... fine motor planning... storytelling... and much more.
There's no doubt that many, many children with autism are bananas about Thomas the Tank Engine. No one really knows why - but there are many theories. Now, a British student of music and drama (and parent of a child with autism) is actually writing a dissertation on the subject. She just wrote me with this query:
I am a student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. I am also the mother of an autistic boy. I am in my final year of study and have chosen to do dissertation on Thomas the Tank Engine and it's effect on autistic children. I am looking for examples of this in action, places that use Thomas, examples of how it has helped people (I wouldn't ask for personal details of course). I would also be grateful if you could suggest other people I might contact who might have information on this. I am particularly interested in people who use Thomas the Tank engine as a teaching tool for autistic children, and the result that it has.Can you provide any insights to this researcher? Are you a therapist or teacher who uses Thomas to reach and teach children with autism? Are you a parent or an adult with autism who can speak to Thomas's appeal and significance? Add your thoughts here! (I'd be glad to pass along the name and email address of the research if you email me directly at autism.guide@about.com.)
Comments
Thomas the Tank Engine is a great resource because you have the animation where the trains’ faces show their emotions very clearly; that and the fact that my son loves the crash scenes. The actual toys are very attractive to kids in the spectrum even if their pretend play skills are not stellar. They’ll enjoy manipulating the trains on the tracks or re-enacting the video scenes, and the parent can try and expand the play repertoire by making voices and new stories. The Thomas website also has the “Emotions” game where the child has to say which train was sad, scared, happy, or surprised. On YouTube you can also find a variety of homemade videos using Thomas trains.
It’s also easy to find Thomas coloring books if you want to encourage your autistic child to improve his coloring skills. The story books may have a little too much language for the younger ones, but you can always simplify the story when reading it to your child.
Thomas also shows consequences, even little engines can be naughty and Sir Topham Hat comes to have his little ‘talks’. Some times the trains are ‘grounded’ to the sheds. This of all the great things about Thomas is importnt, the stories that they tell.
My son was certainly addicted to Thomas trains when he was younger and it was the only thing that gained his attention. I bought books and magnet books to teach colors (he already knew his numbers) shapes and so on. Trains and cars serves the purpose for lining up, and the faces on them were not so ever changing as real people. This can also cause trouble as well, like when you need to vacuum and your kid remembers the exact track that was set up and no way can you duplicate that track from memory as he can, nor could he make it himself due to fine motor issues.
My Son has Autism and is completely obsessed with Thomas, we actually used Thomas to get him to begin to speak. He was almost non-verbal, other than his own little made up language and babble, before we started using Thomas as a motivator to develop language. If he wanted Thomas he first would have to say Choo-Choo, then Choo-Choo-Train, then Choo-Choo Train Please, and so on. Eventually he got to the point where he could name all the different names of the characters on the show; Thomas and Friends. He would say Thomas Please if he wanted to play with the small toy Thomas, or James Please if he wanted to play with the Red Engine named James. The basic requesting has really given us a boost when it comes to language development, it has led to the phrases “More Please”, “Cookie Please”, “Apple Juice Please”. He still hand-leads you to where the desired item is, but now you can ask him “What do you want” and he can say the item followed by a please. The first bit of language was the hardest to get out of him, but since it seems that it’s a snowball effect. Once he could appropriately request, we started to work on saying thank you after getting the desired item. We believe since Autism is at its core a social deficiency illness that being able to have “manner words” is important, even if they have no meaning to the individual. He also attends a pre-school for children on the Autism Spectrum, it’s an ABA pre-school that also has typically developing peers as peer-models. Thomas is used as a reinforcer for good behavior or language. If he masters a task or stays on task, during play time he can play with Thomas. Since he is so captivated by Thomas it was also really easy to teach colors, even though he has a hard time with the pronounciation of the colors red and green, he has problems with the “g” and “r” sounds, he know which are which consistently. One problem with Thomas now is that it sometimes gets in the way of learning. Thomas can be a real big distraction in many cases. We found that rotating preferred toys throughout the month keeps him from obsessing over Thomas, so actual learning can happen.
My grandson, Mason is on the autism spectrum and he is a Thomas fanatic. He knows every engine, their number, their color, has all the movies, he talks to the program and has learned so much from Thomas. We have taken him to ride Thomas and to see Thomas on stage. Just yesterday, Mason had to have some oral surgery and he was not doing well at all waiting for his time, you know our children do not like to wait, and he had brought along his newest train, Stanley. He wanted the nurse to check Stanley’s teeth! I held Stanley up and said Mason, does Stanley have a round face or a square face? He answered, Arch face, now that’s real obvservance because Stanley does have an arch shaped face! Yes, our children are learning alot from Thomas. Hooray for Thomas the Train!
I believe that Thomas the Tank Engine can be considered a sub-text of the ASD language in many respects. I have only met ONE other family that did not have a Thomas-obssessed child on the spectrum in the almost 7 years since my own son was diagnosed. And now, his little brother might be following in his footsteps–in more ways than one. My youngest does NOT watch TV, at all. He wants it on in the background like white noise and will respond to certain jingles, voices and such. However, Thomas is the ONLY show he will watch, albeit for 3-5 minutes at a time. It has also helped with his ST since he will say, “Thomas” now and this is a child with limited vocabulary. He sways to the music, watches the trains, and sometimes kisses the TV when Thomas is on. How can you underestimate the value of Thomas for a child with ASD when it can engage them in such a manner? I don’t know if there is any evidence that would back-up why Thomas and his train buddies can engage a child with ASD; but I commend this person for noting the value of it. I spent a small fortune on Thomas related gear, books, videos and visits to ride the “real” Thomas on family trips. And now, it appears, we will be continuing that tradition. (I just wish I could buy stock in the company.) Yet, I wouldn’t have it any other way. For my older son, Thomas was the “friend” he didn’t have in real life–safe, fun, and always there. He taught some wonderful lessons and was a means to actively involve my son in academics when his teachers would incorporate Thomas in lessons. We even did a Positive Behavior Intervention Strategy (PBIS) with my older son based on Thomas and whethr he was finished all his jobs and made it back to the shed. Some of my most cherished memories of my son’s childhood are connected to the little blue engine that always tries to be “really useful.” Isn’t that all we want for our children–that they feel they are able to try their best and learn along the way? Rev. W. Awdry, the original creator of the Thomas stories, and Brit Alcroft, creator of the animated series, may never realize the joy and “really useful” tool they have provided parents of children with ASD through the little engine; but I hope that in some way, they do.
My now 7 yr old son, Nicholas was diagnosed at 2 yrs old on the spectrum and was introduced to Thomas during his therapy sessions. For a long while, it was an obsession with him. On the weekend, he can spend 8 hours in his PJ’s playing and watching Thomas movies. Many many tantrums appeared because “it was time to put the trains away”. For years, he would just push them along on the track without saying a word. You don’t know the happiness that filled my heart when he actually started to act out and narrate stories while playing !!He is more into Power Rangers now. He really only asks for them when he needs some sort of comfort.
Thomas was amazing in his development !!
The only shows my almost 3 ASD son will watch is Thomas.
He calls Thomas “Dootz”, and don’t try to change that.
We have our own reportoire of sayings from the shows, such as I’ll say “HELP, cried the engines from the shed” to which he’ll reply “I CAN’T” (him saying Cranky’s line).
When I say to him “peeep, peeeep” (cried Peter Sam), he gets so excited, he doesn’t know where to put himself.
He also doesn’t know where to put himself when Miss Jenny makes a solo appearance on the screen.
When Percy gets sprayed with that green stuff from squished fruit, he will be in the other room a few scenes before saying “over, over” (I take it he obviously doesn’t like the squished fruit scene).
ONLY when he thinks nobody is around, will he say the names at the ending scenes when they flash the trains and their names.
He also loves when Sir Topham Hat says “bother, BOTHER!”
This is so amazing,my son with ASD who is so crazy about thomas,from having his cups,bedroom sets, toys, cloths and you name it. Sometimes i see thomas all day long that my son almost looks like him. I wish though they could make the shows a liitle bit educational such as the alphabets, puzzles and other materials. Does anyone have any ideas? Please suggest anything that can help my five year old son learn something before kinda.