 Whether you are a therapist, school counselor, or a parent, it can be difficult to connect to kids with Spectrum Disorders and ADHD. We call this “rapport building”. Often a child will come to my office with some amount of apprehension. Coming to our office involves a new environment and new people, which can add to the stress. Kids who are oppositional or defiant often feel like the “bad kid” and this will set a negative tone to our sessions. In an effort to build rapport, I frequently use these three card games, which cost about $5 each from Target or WalMart. I’m usually pretty flexible with “the rules” and do whatever I can to engage the child at their developmental and emotional level.  Would You Rather? ™ asks a series of questions such as, “Would you rather… Have to wear dishwashing gloves for a year with no explanation -OR- wear a big blue wig with no explanation?” Everyone playing has to make a choice (they can’t answer, “Neither!”) and they have to give a reason. It can be a silly reason or a logical reason, but they need to give a reason. This game works well with any child who is high functioning. I use it most with children with Asperger’s Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as it encourages them to think through cause and effect, consequences, and desirability of actions and choices. I usually let the kid pick the card and the question and have everyone in the session answer, including myself and the parent.  Mad Gab™ Picto-Gabs™ “puts your eyes and ears to the test as you decipher funny word and picture puzzles”. Again this game can be played with an high functioning child, but I like it best for children who are oppositional and/or defiant. As I mentioned they often come in with a Don’t-Tell-Me-What-To-Do, This-Is-NOT-All-My-Fault attitude (which it usually isn’t “all” their fault anyways). This game is silly and engages a different area of the brain than the part of the brain responsible for the negative attitude. It helps shift us away from the “problem child” focus. (Each card has four puzzles, the answers are on the opposite side of each card. The answer to picture/word puzzle shown here is Amazing Grace)  I Spy™ SNAP™ is a card game version of the I Spy™ books. The official “rules” are similar to the card game War or Slap Jack. I usually modify the rules and use this game with lower functioning Autistic or Asperger’s clients. The cards feature different objects, but groups of the same objects. Here are several "matches" each with a duck somewhere on the card. Sometimes, I just hand the child one or two cards and point out what is on them. I have played where I hand a child the entire deck, one card at a time.
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Nikki Schwartz,
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