'They definitely light up' - Lego being utilised in New Zealand schools to help teachers help autistic students

As 1 NEWS’ Laura Twyman reports, they’re already seeing great results.

A new course is training teachers on how they can use Lego as a way of helping autistic students.

Lego clubs are already run in some schools and communities across the country, with the groups aiding development of social skills.

"The Lego group has three different roles, there's the builder who puts all the bricks together, there's another who's the engineer, and the engineer reads the instructions, and the supplier is the person who finds the right bricks and gives them to the builder," says Autism New Zealand Education and Training Director Neil Stuart.

"Lots of children with autism really respond well to that structure and to systems," he said.

He's running the new courses for teachers and says the first session filled up only days after it was advertised.

"We now have lots of schools on our wait list," he said.

Mele Wilson, a teacher aide from South Auckland, has been running a group at her school for two years and says, "100 per cent I would recommend it to any school to start a Lego club".

She's seen encouraging changes in the kids in her group.

"They become really verbal, quite expressive… they definitely light up and they find their way around the school a lot better like they find their niche and where they belong," she said.

And Autism New Zealand says that's a result seen in research too.

"Outside of the group, we see more interactions in the playground," said Mr Stuart.

Twelve-year-old Keir Wesley is a huge Lego club fan.

His family have seen him become calmer and more confident since he joined the Christchurch group three years ago.

Keir told 1 NEWS it's taught him "how to communicate and be social".

His Mum Amanda Redmayne says, "The focus is all about what they’re creating and it takes away the stress and anxiety of communicating with each other".

"For us as a family - it's given Keir some really good communication skills - so when working with his brother and sister - it's given him some really good skills of how to talk with them and how to interact with them and work as part of a team."

She said it's "amazingly awesome" that there's now Lego club training available for teachers.

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