"Name an animal that is big, has four legs, is gray, has a long nose, and 2 white tusks."

Most children would know the answer.  Elephant. That's easy. The clues easily give it away.

While our son was an early reader and loved to tease, the complexity around dealing with abstract ideas posed a challenge  Frustrated, it prevented him from being able to participate in some children's games that play on words.

Nowadays, things are different -- and it's exciting! With a lot of help from his two sisters, Rebecca and Sabrina, Zachary is learning how to have fun with language, using his imagination to play games that played on words like making riddles.  As his vocabulary expands, the types of clues that he is able to give also show more sophistication.  Now the animal has a "trunk attached to his face". Wow. "Attached." This is a child who only a few years ago had difficulty giving a description comprised of more that a few simple words.

He has become more skillful in working abstractly because our efforts to build on his personal strengths and interests.  As well, we have incorporated much of his learning into incidental activities with his sisters.

In a small group setting, we have played some fun guessing games, recommended by his Speech-Language Pathologist, that work on developing and strengthening his intuitive ability, expressive and reasoning skills.  Best of all, there is no sense that these activities are "work".

One game that we have played involves filling an opaque bag with objects or pictures of objects (Lotto cards, photos) that are already familiar to Zachary.  The objects may be unrelated (for example: cookie, doll, rock) or related by category (Things you eat with: spoon, fork, plate: Things that are round: ball, orange, sun).

The game begins with Rebecca picking one item from the bag, and hiding it from Zachary.  Then Rebecca describes it in simple ways (gives clues).  "This is something in the kitchen that you eat with."  "It is something that is sharp."  "It's something that you cut with."  "You must be careful with it."

If Zac doesn't find the answer, then we would flash the toy knife to sustain his interest and minimize frustration.  Singing out the clues (rhythmic sentences) makes it fun.

Sometimes it is helpful to number and write down the clues for him.  Even drawing pictures as part of the clue works well.

Sometimes he still doesn't get the answer right but that's okay because we can't always win every game that we play.  Other times he gets so silly that the game breaks down. He's even been known to give wrong answers purposely as a way of playing with the rules of the game. (He's such a kid!)

Janis Jaffe-White is the coordinator of the Toronto Family Network, which provides support and information to families who have a member with a disability. She can be reached at 416-484-1536.