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Had a young visitor this weekend with Asperger's Syndrome. The O gauge trains got him literally very excited. He stood on the balls of his feet and kept bouncing up and down while waving his arms. At first the whole layout was overwhelming and the noise of the trains on the Fastrack put him off. But as he got used to it he fixated on a particular crossing gate, then a crane car, then a group of people, then blowing the whistles. Mostly he liked moving things. I let him control the speed and reverse the trains and he was very good. His attention was intense and constant. I had a student in my class once, different kid now, (junior high) with autism and he, characteristically, connected very little with me or any of his fellow students. But when he saw a train magazine on my desk one day he began stopping every day before class to ask me a question related specifically to the running of these model trains. He was very bright.

 

Getting back to my visitor and train buddy, I finally conceded to let him take some sections of older Lionel 3 rail track and a few cars down to the living room floor to couple the cars and roll them back and forth a bit. After about 1/2 a day he tired of that and completely abandoned interest in favor of watching the lights of a railroad crossing warning light. In the end, he seemed to really enjoy himself, his parents were delighted at his interest and nothing got damaged.

 

Makes me wonder if these train we collect and run might not some times be good therapy.

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Great post Michael. I would agree that the trains are excellent therapy. When I say this, I would expand upon your meaning. Indeed they are good therapy for folks who may have developmental disabilities, but for all of us who actively participate in this hobby. I think back to the days when I spent to much time in airports and on planes and how good it was to have something to read about trains that really interested me. This sure got me through many long days.

 

Good for you in sharing your hobby with this young man!!!!

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At our club there's a woman that would bring her autistic son to come watch the trains.  He would be there fixated for sometimes hours.  Frequently he would block his peripheral vision by getting as close to the action as possible and put the palm of his hand against the side of his face so he could concentrate on the trains going by.  She's told us that he has trains of his own at home, and he treats them very carefully; I seem to recall her saying once trains are only thing he's deliberately careful with & not break or destroy.  I haven't run at the club in quite some time due to other obligations so I'm not sure if they still visit, but it was always a pleasure to see him get so much enjoyment from it.

Its neat how trains seem to calm children with autism. We have a few people that have become customers since their children have autism. I have one great child who can name each style of locomotive dead on. Plus he just lovs to watch them run. We even now sponser him in his autism walk. But it seems mechanical things really stimulate or intrige them. Its great to be able to share something that can be good for a child..

Great topic guys. I have an interesting perspective on this. My wife works at a center for children with autism. We are currently working on setting up a time to bring in a few of the new Lionel Thomas sets with the new remote system. For some children the trains are great stimulation, for others it is very overwhelming. The interesting thing about autism is that there is not a defined set of characteristics, every one of them is different in terms of what stimulates, excites, scares, and interests them. Once we get things set up and we take the trains to show off I'll let you know how it goes. I do agree that trains have some great potential to be a beneficial hobby for some of these children.

Originally Posted by Gilly@N&W:

Neil Young's son Ben is autistic. His interest in trains prompted Neil to work to develop ways that his son could run trains. This lead to Neil's financial backing of Lionel's development of TMCC.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...ster_Command_Control

 

It is important to note that there are varying degrees of function within this disorder.

 

Gilly

I understood that Ben has cerebral palsy like Neil's other son Zeke has, not autism.

The Lionel Collectors Club of America (LCCA) is presently working with local groups of families with Austistic children in various cities around the country for Special Events involving Lionel Trains.  We are working on a November 9 event in the Chattanooga TN Area.  Here is a recap of an event we had in Chattanooga during our 43rd Annual Convention.  

 

 

 

"Autism Speaks Day at LCCA Convention"

The Lionel Collectors Club of America (LCCA) along with Autism Speaks organization of Georgia is proud to have hosted a "Autism Speaks Day At The LCCA Convention" Special event on Thursday July 18, 2013  at  9:30 AM in the beautiful lobby of the historic  Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel in Chattanooga TN.  As part of the LCCA's 43 Annual Convention being held at the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel, the LCCA made arrangements with Lionel LLC to bring their massive operating toy train layout and display.   6 Autistic children and their families from  the Autistic Speaks organization traveled in from the Chattanooga TN surrounding area to be the "Honorary Engineers"  for the day as they each took the Lionel Legacy Hand Held Command Control Units to run the Lionel trains on this spectacular Lionel Layout.  Lionel's J. Don Reece provide a private tour and demonstration of this Lionel layout.

Lionel's 18' X 40'  layout which was designed and built by TW TrainWorx of Dallas TX demonstrates current Lionel train products in operation as well as several interactive buttons that operate Lionel animated Accessories.  Various levels of modeling skills and scenery techniques are featured in the different areas of this vast layout.   The kids and their families just loved this event!

The entire Autism Speaks' family members enjoyed running trains on the Lionel/LCCA FasTrack modular railroad system layout set up by TW TrainWorx of Dallas TX.   This new national standard modular layout in intended to introduce the magic of Lionel trains to families all over the country.  Anyone can build a section and then bring it to an event where others bring their own individual module sections.   They can connect their module section together with other people's modules so they can then make a larger, full loop of Lionel's patented FasTrack sectional track pieces.  Once linked, they all can then run their trains on this larger group layout.   There are multiple configurations these new Lionel/LCCA Modular Railroad Layouts can be configured.  It does not have to be a simple oval.  With this new concept, one does not have to have a large space to enjoy running O-gauge Lionel Trains,

Some of the younger children enjoyed the battery powered Lionel Lines sets running on the floor.   The somewhat older ones enjoyed operating Lionel's new LionChief Remote Controlled Thomas the Tank Train set.   You wouldn't believe the joy in the children's eyes when they operated the Lionel trains with this new hand-held controller.  The older teenagers especially enjoyed running the Lionel Legacy controlled trains on TW TrainWorx's  Lionel/LCCA FasTrack Modular Railroad layout.  TW TrainWorx brought in this layout from Dallas TX.   TW TrainWorx's and LCCA member, George Watson was seen running all of his state of Texas road name Lionel trains all week long.    All of the kids and their family members enjoyed this hands-on event.   Everyone, even the parents had an opportunity to enjoy and run the Lionel trains.

Thanks to the Autism Speaks organization and families for participating in this fun event.   We are so grateful you came to the Choo Choo hotel and experienced the magic of Lionel Trains.  You made this LCCA Special event even more Special.   Thank you!

Sincerely

Al Kolis
LCCA Immediate Past President & Special Events Manager

 

My daughter is a Special Education teacher. She almost did her exit paper on this topic!  While at college she would attend the train show there with me. She saw a number of kids she had seen in her clinicals.  One pre-teen guy had a nice layout he had done on his own. Buildings were household boxes covered with colored paper and he had added toys of different types to the display. But she noted how focused and calm he was compared to the way he was in the clinic.   Other kids were drawn to the many displays....not unusual for kids in general but for kids with behavioral concerns it was a big difference. To this day she thinks there is a connection between all kids and trains with a emphasis on special needs kids.

 

I told her to get a grant to study it for real and I'd be her model train ad visor and primary procurer!    

 

PS....just linked that to my daughter to read.....thanks Al.....

Originally Posted by John Korling:
Originally Posted by Gilly@N&W:

Neil Young's son Ben is autistic. His interest in trains prompted Neil to work to develop ways that his son could run trains. This lead to Neil's financial backing of Lionel's development of TMCC.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...ster_Command_Control

 

It is important to note that there are varying degrees of function within this disorder.

 

Gilly

I understood that Ben has cerebral palsy like Neil's other son Zeke has, not autism.

You are correct, sir. My mistake.

Originally Posted by John Korling:

At our club there's a woman that would bring her autistic son to come watch the trains.  He would be there fixated for sometimes hours.  Frequently he would block his peripheral vision by getting as close to the action as possible and put the palm of his hand against the side of his face so he could concentrate on the trains going by.  She's told us that he has trains of his own at home, and he treats them very carefully; I seem to recall her saying once trains are only thing he's deliberately careful with & not break or destroy.  I haven't run at the club in quite some time due to other obligations so I'm not sure if they still visit, but it was always a pleasure to see him get so much enjoyment from it.

if you are speaking of Jake or Dylan they both still come by every chance they get.

Originally Posted by AMCDave:

My daughter is a Special Education teacher. She almost did her exit paper on this topic!  While at college she would attend the train show there with me. She saw a number of kids she had seen in her clinicals.  One pre-teen guy had a nice layout he had done on his own. Buildings were household boxes covered with colored paper and he had added toys of different types to the display. But she noted how focused and calm he was compared to the way he was in the clinic.   Other kids were drawn to the many displays....not unusual for kids in general but for kids with behavioral concerns it was a big difference. To this day she thinks there is a connection between all kids and trains with a emphasis on special needs kids.

 

I told her to get a grant to study it for real and I'd be her model train ad visor and primary procurer!    

 

PS....just linked that to my daughter to read.....thanks Al.....

If you daughter wants to work on LCCA /Autism Special Event together, have her call me at 248 709-4137 to discuss.  I think it is a win, win,win situation, for the children, parents and the hobby.

 

Al Kolis 

Originally Posted by rattler21:

I am a Railroad Merit Badge counselor for the Boy Scouts.  A few of the requirements may be met using a model railroad. A scout called for an appointment and after we decided on a time/date, his father came on the phone and shared that his son had autism.

That young man did more work and had a better presentation than any scout

I have ever signed off for the merit badge.  He knew the requirements, had an

organized presentation which was very neat.  I am sure his parents guided

him at home, but that is not unusual for any of the merit badges.

It was a pleasure to work with him and an honor two years later to receive

an invitation to his Eagle Scout Court of Honor.

John

Great involvement John, Thank you,  I'm a cycling merit badge counselor, we spend a lot of time on rail trails. Amazing what happens to these young men in a few short years.   Mike

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