I had always wondered why Julianna loved trains so much, especially Thomas the train engines. My in-laws bought her the Fisher-Price Geotrax train set one Christmas but it didn't have the same effect on her. Julianna is your typical 5 year old, she loves the Disney princesses and all other pink and fluffy girly stuff. Of all her toys though, her Thomas the tank engines keep her the busiest for the longest time. I know it has been said before that children with autism love trains. I chanced upon this article on the net one day, and it talked about why children on the autism spectrum love trains (especially the ones with faces like Thomas).
According to this article, because autism involves a disabling difficulty in dealing with the social world because it is always changing unpredictably and is different every time;
children with autism are fascinated by trains because compared to people who appear very unpredictable to them, these engines have very predictable motion. The faces on the engines also help them understand emotions better.
Keeping this in mind, as soon as Julianna said she was bored, I played her favorite Thomas the Train DVD, and took out her Thomas the Train toys. It took her an hour to build the track in the picture above, and another hour or two playing with the trains on it. I was so happy because I had to catch up on cleaning the house! Thank you, Thomas! You really are a very useful engine!
Julianna and her trains
Gordon unloading at the Quarry Loader with Ariel onboard :)
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