As part of ‘Autism Reimagined: Creative resources for schools and communities’ 2018, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, we have developed a pilot PopPupPod ‘playbox’ suitable for both parents and teachers AVAILABLE NOW (January 2019).
This box opens up to reveal an appealing bespoke hand puppet, ‘Bo’, with tips on how to use Bo effectively to communicate better with an autistic child. Bo can also be used situations that often cause stress (for example, eating, washing or getting dressed). The iA colour coded ‘themes’ of Outer Space, Forest, Underwater, Arctic and Under the City prompt activity suggestions grouped under Puppetry, Play and Senses. With a little imagination, sensitivity to the iA techniques of following the child’s cues, and some cheap easily accessible resources (all clearly explained in the box) any of these environments can easily be adapted to a classroom or a bedroom. The child is enabled to take imaginative journeys alongside you in sensory rich and autistic friendly spaces, whose effectiveness was first demonstrated in our full-size pod. If you are interested in testing and evaluating the PopPupPod for FREE please enquire at imaginingautism@kent.ac.uk.