Autism Cook Islands’ LEGO programme, “We do Lego”, designed to encourage student interaction, was launched in Aitutaki for the first time at Apii Vaitau Primary School Hall last Friday.

Speaking to Cook Islands News, Autism Cook Islands (ACI) programme manager, Kat Jensen, said the Aitutaki LEGO programme is led by Oa Mati, an autism outreach coordinator.

Mati travelled to Aitutaki with her trainer, Lani Vano, a fellow autism outreach coordinator, and an ACI student, Aporo Vano, who is an intern at Ministry of Education and a LEGO programme volunteer.

Vano, who runs the LEGO programme in Rarotonga, mentored Mati at Studio Blue for a week to prepare for the Aitutaki launch.

Seven children were registered for the programme. According to Jensen, the launch went well, with parents, children and volunteers present.

The “We Do LEGO” is a programme where students interact with each other using LEGOs.

Jensen said: “It encourages them to socially interact without them actually realising that they’re doing it.”

The programme consisted of two sessions, one with the volunteers and the other with the students. It started at 2pm with Mati and Vano setting up the first session, a half-hour session with the volunteers, followed by a one-hour session with the students.

“The ‘We Do Lego’ has 27 builds, each takes about 45 minutes so it’s one build per session,” Jensen explained.

The plan is to run a full-time programme, starting in Term 2 for eight weeks, on Wednesdays after school at Apii Vaitau.

According to Jensen, about 18 months ago, they identified a need for more support in the outer islands.

Based on figures provided by the Ministry of Education (MOE), ACI identified 15 students in Aitutaki diagnosed with autism, as well as a number of students in Atiu.

In 2022/2023, Jensen and Vano travelled to Aitutaki to conduct two workshops on sensory and managing challenging behaviour with previous MOE inclusive education advisor, Andre Hansen.

They also travelled to Atiu to conduct a LEGO programme as well as personal development sessions with teacher aids on the island.

In Atiu, they learned that there were around five or six children with autism. However, due to the larger student population in Aitutaki, they planned to organise a LEGO programme there first.

Jensen thanked Tower Insurance Cook Islands and its executives for their support of the Aitutaki programme. They provided three iPads to facilitate the LEGO programme on the island.

Jensen would also like to thank Air Rarotonga for sponsoring flights, CIC Ltd for accommodation and a vehicle in Aitutaki and Apii Vaitau principal Eve for allowing ACI to run their LEGO programme in the school hall.