Teaching Children with Autism: Strategies to Enhance Communication and Socialization

Rating:
Summary: Easy to implement methods for enhancing play skills
Review: There are so many books on autism and not all are applicable to our family's situation. I tend to read a library copy before purchasing. When it came time to return this book, I decided that this was one for our personal library. It's easy to read and I will refer to it over and over. Methods are easy to understand and implement. As a parent of an autistic child, it's one of the few books I've felt that will be invaluable.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous book for anyone working with children with autism
Review: This book is a wonderful resource for learning how to approach children with autism. It is very easy to read and deals with a variety of different methods that can be used to deal with just about any level on the autistic spectrum. As a speech therapist working with variety of children with autism, I continually return to this resource to help plan my assessments and intervention. It is an excellent resource that addresses communication, play, pragmatics, parent desires, and self-control at a variety of levels. The chapters that deal with specific areas, such as enhancing social communicative interactions, often provide you with the necessary paperwork for assessment and/or intervention in the appendix. This is a must buy book! I would highly recommend this book to anyone working with children with autism.

Rating:
Summary: Essential for all educators of children with PDD
Review: This book provides clear, easy to use strategies for teaching and communicating with children on the autism spectrum. The author's contend that behavioral problems exhibited by children with autism are most often the result of frustration that comes from their inability to communicate effectively. Behavioral problems can be successfuly addressed by focusing on what the child is trying to communicate. Rationale for the strategies suggested is provided. I recommend this book for educators and parents.

Rating:
Summary: Most useful book if you are working with a child with Autism
Review: This is the best book to own if you are working with a child with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder(ASD). It is amazing how much the editors fit into this little book. The overall philosophy of the book is towards an eclectic approach to ASD. It presents many different ideas from different people, all of which could be added to a program, method, approach for a particular child. If you are dogmatic about one method, this is not the book for you. The book starts out with several chapters looking into what we know about autism, a Temple Grandin chapter on what it is like to have autism and a Charles Hart chapter on what parents want (required reading for educators!). Then there are chapters on enhancing communication in nonverbal children, echolalic, and verbal children. These chapter are by Prizant, Rydell, Twachtman . Then there are a bunch of chapters on strategies for social stuff. Carol Gray wrote one chapter on social stories. This book is readable, full of ideas. I hope the authors plan to keep the book fresh with a new edition in a few years. As a parent of a child with ASD, I own two copies, and lend out the second to others who work with my son.