Tried structured play vs free play with my autistic son and one clearly worked better

For the last 6 months I've been alternating between structured play activities like puzzle games with set rules and letting my 8 year old just do his own thing with his train set. The structured stuff helped him stay focused for about 20 minutes but he'd get frustrated if he couldn't figure it out fast enough. Free play though, he'll spend an hour organizing his trains by color and size without any meltdowns. Has anyone else noticed their kid does better with less structure or am I missing something?

2 comments

2 Comments

ramirez.sage9d ago

That 1 hour of train sorting without meltdowns is pretty telling (you know, the opposite of the 20 minute structured play frustration). Did he show any signs of being overwhelmed during the structured stuff before the frustration hit?

ramirez.sage8d ago

Notices it's almost always the stuff with time limits that pushes him over.