Posted: December 27 2006 at 10:12am | IP Logged

My son can do all the Thomas and Friends' whistles.  I mean, ear drum breaking whistles!!  Gordon's is a lower tone, while Thomas's is always high pitched & HAPPY.  While playing with his sets, he will go into the stories &  narratives.

It has really made him & his younger brother the best of friends.  Last year my in-laws took us on a train ride on  the Amtrak.  What an unbelievable treat that was!

Posted: December 27 2006 at 12:52pm | IP Logged

Tyler is a fan of Thomas. We have taken him to the Straussburg Rail Road around Lancaster PA three times to actually ride in a coach that was pulled by Thomas. He is cool being there, but a clown who juggles and rides a unicycle around the complex terrifies him. I almost punched the dude out when he would not ride away from my son. I know that this is not an appropriate reaction as the clown probably didn't know at first that Tyler was upset at him but he knew after the first or second pass that the boy was frightened of him.

His latest fasination is GeoTrax. He actually asked Santa for these toys. This is the first things that he actually asked Santa for. He used to bolt at the thought of Santa, now he loves him.

The fact that I work as  Rail Road Signalman for a Class 1 [Big Carrier] Rail Road and can get him into real Locomotives is a nice thing for when he gets a little older. I also have a friend who restores old passenger cars and he has 2 diesel switcher locomotives. Tyler is truly spoiled in this respect.

I would look for the video series,"I Love Toy Trains". These videos have actual footage shot from engines and shots of toy layouts.

Probably the huge size and loud sounds of the trains appeal to our kids.

Posted: December 27 2006 at 1:12pm | IP Logged

Thomas obsession here too! Junior, Fabian, and Kris - all of them!! Kris has the bed because he is the youngest andthe rest share a collection of trains (all types, metal, wood, plastic, bettery, etc.)

We just got Junior the new steam set - It is a pain in the butt for me! Especially when he says "Thomas's Coaches are bumpy, they need water" and he tried to refill it but makes a mess.

Fabian is content with a circular track and having Thomas or Percy running on it constantly - do not date to turn it off

Kris loves the wheels of course

And the movies, they can watch them for hours on end! I have the collections that you can get at Target - they come about 3 or 4 to a pack.

Good luck fellow conductor!!!

Posted: December 27 2006 at 1:21pm | IP Logged

My 4 yo ds likes Thomas alot but is not obsessed.  We fortunately live near a large railway museum and it has tons of real trains you can go in, climb on and ride on.  Thomas also comes there every year for "Day out with Thomas".  DS did not do so well at that event, it's extremely crowded and the lines were very long!  He had a cold too so that made it worse.  Maybe better next year but I don't know if we will even go he had so many meltdowns!

Cat

Posted: January 05 2007 at 3:46am | IP Logged

My oldest son was obsessed with trains from age 1 to 6.  I thought it would be a life-long obsession but he has moved on to Lego Bionicle, and has always had other interests.  My NT son is 5 and has taken over big brother's obsession.  

I eventually got pretty tired of trains in general, but Thomas in particular.  So I'm going to give a few suggestions about non-Thomas videos (btw, "10 Years of Thomas and Friends" features video of real-life kids enjoying Day Out with Thomas):

"The Little Engine That Could" (not the same as the Watty Piper book), MCA Universal

Big Trains, Little Trains - 1994 Sandbox Home Videos

Lots and Lots of Trains - 1998 Superior Promotions, Inc.

The Alphabet Train - 1998 Railway Productions

Kids Love Trains - 1994 Atlas Video Inc 

We have a huge collection of train books, too, if anyone wants some recommendations.  I'll try to gather my list of free online games, too.

Posted: January 05 2007 at 6:08am | IP Logged

An obsession with trains, "Thomas the Train" in particular, in boys can almost be a general screening test for ASD.  Remember, screening tests pick up as many cases of the diagnosis you're screening for as possible, so they will pick up alot of NT children.  The NT kids would be considered false positives.

Anyway, Andrew doesn't love Thomas, but he sure likes trains!

Posted: January 05 2007 at 8:33am | IP Logged

Aside from the obvious choice (www.thomasandfriends.com), here's a list of the online train games, etc. that we sometimes visit.

http://www.askability.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=trains5-2-08 - train story written in PECS.

http://www.freeaddictinggames.com/game/arcade-games/gem-mani a.html
The train gets longer and longer as you pick up the gems.  Small graphics.

http://www.lego.com/eng/trains/recreationstation/legoexpress /legoexpress.asp?x=x
Interactive story with good graphics.  Read aloud to your child if s/he can't yet read.

http://www.lego.com/eng/trains/recreationstation/signalswitc h.asp
Remember and repeat the signal light sequence.  Even the easy level was too hard for my 5 year old.

http://www.lego.com/eng/preschool/games/games.asp?id=27

A Lego game for preschoolers.

http://pbskids.org/barney/children/storytime/trains1.html
Barney's Book of Trains.  Read aloud to your child if s/he can't yet read.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/funandgames/clickapics/choocho otrain.shtml
Roll over with your mouse for graphics and train sounds.  Great for little ones who haven't learned to mouse click yet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/tikkabilla/window/
BBC kids video, "How Trains Are Made"

http://www.tvokids.com/framesets/play.html?game=153
"Choo-choo choices".  Interactive video with the concepts care, share, help
and be mean.  Good audio and graphics

http://www.uptoten.com/kids/coloringpage-pim-coloring-wagon. html
Super easy online coloring page.  When you're done, your train speeds off!

http://www.uptoten.com/kids/kidsgames-puzzles-wagonpuzzle.ht ml
25 piece train puzzle.

http://afunk.com/trains/
Printable coloring pages.

http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/train/default.htm
Shapes and color train game.  No time limit, and when you're done,
your train speeds off.  Motivational!

http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/games/pawpark/pawpark.html
Big and small letter game.  Roller coaster cars (not train)

http://www.oli.org/safetyville/safetyville.html
Drive the train around Safetyville.  Pictures, video, game, etc.

http://polarexpressmovie.warnerbros.com/  - The official website for the Polar Express film

www.transporters.tv - An emotions video with quiz specifically designed for autistic kids, with trains and vehicles that have real human faces.

http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/decimals/ - A Cyberchase game where you repair gaps in the tracks.  Fairly difficult, so it's best the kids can add (preferably familiar with decimals).

www.youtube.com - You can find lots of fun train videos here.  Start by searching on "Lego trains" or "Tomy Thomas" and browse from there.

http://adisney.go.com/disneychannel/playhouse/choochoosoul/ - Disney's "Choo-Choo Soul website.  There are 4 coloring pages and 4 online videos (including "ABC" and "123").

http://www.kneebouncers.com/kneebouncers.html - Click on the train icon for the game "All Aboard."  This game is perfect for those who lack mouse skills.  Just press any key and see what happens.

http://www.storyplace.org/preschool/preschool.asp?themeID=20 - This one has an online train book and an online game for kids to practice figuring out which is bigger.

http://www.woodlandwideweb.the-office.org.uk/play_train/inde x.html - A math train game for older kids.  Select the right combination of numbers for 8 train cars, so they add up to the correct number of passengers.

http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/videos/character.aspx?pre set=thomas - Thomas the Tank Engine at PBS Kids Sprout site.  Has online videos, games, etc.

http://visual.merriam-webster.com/transport-machinery/rail-t ransport.php - free online visual dictionary with train vocabulary.

Have fun!

Posted: January 05 2007 at 8:44am | IP Logged

Karolysgirl wrote: Common obsession- and I don't have any good videos to recommend.  But I thought I would share research from the New England Center for Children that suggests that autists who obsess about lining things up, looking at things in a linear way, and trains, etc, tend to have talents with reading.  I don't have a link to share, but I heard this at a conference a couple of years ago.

I find this VERY interesting since my ds loves lining up his cars and trucks.  Any idea how I could find out more info on this?