Sitting in a doctor’s office at age 4, CHS9 student Sean Gooden gazed at a portrait of the New York City skyline.

As soon as he got home, Gooden recreated the image with LEGO bricks, from the Empire State Building to the Twin Towers, all from memory.

Gooden’s LEGO brick creations do not stop there: Notre-Dame de Paris, Taj Mahal, the solar system and even a working roller coaster; he is a master builder.

He visits every LEGO store he comes across, has been to LEGOLand in Florida, is a LEGO Insiders VIP and has watched every LEGO movie. With an entire room in his house dedicated to his LEGO collection, Gooden is a true fanatic.

“He is just mad about them,” said Anna Marie Gooden, Sean’s mother.

For Sean, LEGO bricks are more than just toys. Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at age 4, he struggles with maintaining focus. Yet, since childhood, LEGO bricks have served as an outlet for his creativity and ingenuity.

“I’ve seen this child dedicate hours — steady focus, steady determination,” Mrs. Gooden said. “Even with 1,000 scattered pieces on the table, he knows exactly where everything is. He has his own method of incorporating all his LEGOs and builds things to scale in miniature, which is truly incredible to see.”

Sean’s observant nature enables him to absorb his surroundings and replicate them effortlessly through LEGO bricks, such as mapping out a city like Coppell, tracing the length of Denton Tap Road and pinpointing residential areas.

 “He loves the idea of it all,” Mrs. Gooden said. “He’ll say, ‘Look, here is my city, here is my hospital, here’s my police station, here’s my fire station, here’s the main street,’ and he’ll show you exactly how everything works and how everything flows together. From the road systems to the traffic lights to the railways, everything goes smoothly.”

Through teaching his niece, Evie Gooden, how to build with LEGO bricks, Sean discovered a knack for teaching others. So, he decided to part with his old LEGO sets and brought them to school, where he started the LEGO Club.

“He finds joy in seeing others as excited about LEGOs as he is,” Mrs. Gooden said. “When he told me he was going to start a LEGO Club, I was surprised because he is not the kind of kid that just says, ‘I’m going to start a club.”

As a Coppell ISD Transitional Pathway Learner, Sean asked special education teacher Kara Lindquist to sponsor the club. Having seen Sean’s passion for LEGO bricks firsthand while he played with them during school hours, Lindquist was eager to help.

“LEGOs help build communication and add more description for Sean as to what’s happening in his day to day life,” Lindquist said. “I was all for it. One of the big things that I try to push with my learners is to get involved to go out of their comfort zone. For me, this was a 100% yes.”

With a variety of LEGO sets, building competitions and LEGO movies, the LEGO Club provides a comfortable environment for students to unwind during Hour Block Lunch. It has also helped other Transitional Pathway Learners embrace their creativity. 

“We had a challenge where we built a castle, and it was a competition,” CHS9 student Bryson Graves said. “Sean’s lack of criticism was good because it made it more enjoyable to build. I’m definitely looking forward to getting creativity out of the LEGO Club. I have a lot of ideas, but I don’t always know how to put them into place, so the club will really help with that.”

A quiet and reserved student, the LEGO Club has enabled Sean to share his ideas with confidence among his peers. 

“In the beginning of the year, I would say he had a little bit more difficulty with trying to share some of his creations and things he had a direct mind to focus on,” Lindquist said. “Now, he is more open minded about his specific creations and sharing it with others, and assisting others in their creations. Not just ‘How am I building my own skills?,’ but ‘How do I teach others?”

For Sean, LEGO bricks just click. Aspiring to become a Master Builder for LEGO companies in the future, he hopes the LEGO Club inspires other students to become master builders in their own way, sharing his LEGO bricks with everyone.

“For a child on the spectrum, the club has been a big step,” Mrs. Gooden said. “The LEGO Club is teaching Sean about different personalities and how people operate differently — not everyone does things the way he does. These are such valuable social skills he’ll need in life. Working as a team, talking about LEGOs, sharing that passion and developing work ethic — it’s all preparing him for the future.”

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This story was originally published on Coppell Student Media on December 11, 2024.