Rating: 
Summary: Excellent reference for parents, concise, clear, readable.
Review: Activity schedules are very useful. They helped our three-year old son (with PDD) talk more appropriately, make choices, become more independent and self-disciplined, engage in less stereotypy, and be meaningfully occupied when he is at home. They are a great complement to a formal behavioral intervention program. The book is great because it explains clearly how to develop them, how to teach them, what to do and what not to do, in plain english. The authors avoided technical jargon without sacrificing the high scientific standards they are respected for. You can use what you have read immediately. A must read, not only for parents of children with autism or PDD, but for special education teachers, therapists and other autism professionals.
Rating:
Summary: Activity Schedules for Children with Autsim
Review: Having a child diagnosed with PDD, I read a lot of books on autism and found few that are as practical as this one. Even though my 5 yr-old is starting to be verbal, he is much more visual and I find this book extremely helpful as it offers concrete things and examples that I can use and apply to my child. I'm buying more copies to give to his teachers and other caregivers to ensure they also do the same things for him when he is in their care.
Rating: 
Summary: Great concrete things I can do for my visual child
Review: Having a child diagnosed with PDD, I read a lot of books on autism and found few that are as practical as this one. Even though my 5 yr-old is starting to be verbal, he is much more visual and I find this book extremely helpful as it offers concrete things and examples that I can use and apply to my child. I'm buying more copies to give to his teachers and other caregivers to ensure they also do the same things for him when he is in their care.
Rating: 
Summary: 'This show stinks.'- Tony Kornheiser
Review: I read this book and became annoyed on two points. The authors incorporate and instruct in using PECS, TEACCH and ABA components throughout the book--yet fail to mention these highly useful and universally known interventions by name. This smells pretty arrogant, considering that originators of and recognized experts in these fields are alive, well---and also Ph.Ds. Two: They malign discrete trial teaching in a businesslike tone, with no proof to back their statement. Their stance: DTT does not build give and take conversation skills. However, I could not find anything in this book indicating their concept had mastered this issue either. Their supposed 'initiated interactions' are still scripted; human interaction has been replaced by reliance on the continuing existence of a picture or word to prompt a response in the form of taking action. So, it's still a duck.The authors also make some big mental leaps from 'because' to 'therefore', in the later chapters. Perhaps they know that many parents want to believe there is something out there JUST THAT EASY, but these implied leaps of faith left me slightly offended. You know about the bridge for sale, right? But wait, the concept does have merit, and could be a godsend for some kids and families. I am inclined to incorporate some of the concept into our own home program for dealing with my son's downtime pacing, but I think my endgoal will be for him to INITIATE a conversation with me starting with, "Mom, what can I do?" If the authors do write a followup to this 1999 version, it would be mighty respectful of their readers and their professional peers to play it straight and help parents learn to use ABA, TEACCH and PECS concepts correctly so as to incorporate Activity Schedules effectively into their children's lives. We have enough to worry about without wondering if we are being bamboozled. ;-)
Rating:
Summary: Not really for verbal children
Review: My five yr old son has w/i the last year become verbal and I can't imagine doing this system w/ him. This would discourage his newly emerging verbal skills. However, I do wish we had done this with him before he became verbal. I can see so many benefits of this system, but I can not figure out how to adapt it to a highly verbal child. If your child is not verbal, get this book and do this system before your child becomes verbal!! Not only for Autistic kids, but for any child w/ low verbal skills and problems with organizational skills.
Rating:
Summary: Not really for verbal children
Review: My five yr old son has w/i the last year become verbal and I can't imagine doing this system w/ him. This would discourage his newly emerging verbal skills. However, I do wish we had done this with him before he became verbal. I can see so many benefits of this system, but I can not figure out how to adapt it to a highly verbal child. If your child is not verbal, get this book and do this system before your child becomes verbal!! Not only for Autistic kids, but for any child w/ low verbal skills and problems with organizational skills.
Rating:
Summary: Appropriate goals.
Review: The goal of raising any child is to guide them into independance, and though many autistic children will never reach complete independance, it remains an important goal. Independance is an important factor in self-esteem and is essential for entering any portion of adult life. I was consistantly frustrated with therapy manuals which required my complete and undivided attention at all times. I'm under no delusion that I will be forever available to my autistic son, and it would be nice for me to feel that he could get up and at least dress himself at some point without my verbally prompting him. The clear instructions and logical directives in "Activity Schedules for Children with Autism" place it on my 'highly recommended' list. While not a book I would recommend for a parent whose child has been newly diagnosed, I certainly recommend it to those parents with other therapeutic programs already in place. The activity schedules are very easily integrated into existing therapies and school environments, greatly boosting their success. I've also implimented an advanced version of activity schedules, verbally explained, with my five-year-old typical daughter - as a result the morning 'dilly-dallies' and afternoon 'hum-drums' have all but disappeared. I would recommend that existing image programs be used whenever possible, only to cut down on the time it takes to prepare the schedules. I use Flash! Pro2, which can be found online, though there are many other graphic programs that could be used as well. (As a webmaster I've found that many of the 'web-ready' image collections contained pictures that were appropriate for this program as well as ABA and DTT programs.) All-in-all, excellent book, flexible program, expertly explained.
Rating:
Summary: Appropriate goals.
Review: The goal of raising any child is to guide them into independance, and though many autistic children will never reach complete independance, it remains an important goal. Independance is an important factor in self-esteem and is essential for entering any portion of adult life. I was consistantly frustrated with therapy manuals which required my complete and undivided attention at all times. I'm under no delusion that I will be forever available to my autistic son, and it would be nice for me to feel that he could get up and at least dress himself at some point without my verbally prompting him. The clear instructions and logical directives in "Activity Schedules for Children with Autism" place it on my 'highly recommended' list. While not a book I would recommend for a parent whose child has been newly diagnosed, I certainly recommend it to those parents with other therapeutic programs already in place. The activity schedules are very easily integrated into existing therapies and school environments, greatly boosting their success. I've also implimented an advanced version of activity schedules, verbally explained, with my five-year-old typical daughter - as a result the morning 'dilly-dallies' and afternoon 'hum-drums' have all but disappeared. I would recommend that existing image programs be used whenever possible, only to cut down on the time it takes to prepare the schedules. I use Flash! Pro2, which can be found online, though there are many other graphic programs that could be used as well. (As a webmaster I've found that many of the 'web-ready' image collections contained pictures that were appropriate for this program as well as ABA and DTT programs.) All-in-all, excellent book, flexible program, expertly explained.
Rating:
Summary: Activity Schedules for Children with Autsim
Review: This book is a "must have" for parents and professionals who work with children with autism. Activity schedules not only enable autistic children to independently play, but also to independently engage in self-care,school, and prevocational tasks. This book describes the prerequisite skills children must have to use activity schedules, methods for teaching these skills, and provides step by step instruction on teaching the use of activity schedules. Examples of how people of various ages use activity schedules to structure play, school, and work tasks are included.
Rating:
Summary: If you want to help your child get this book!! $$ well spent
Review: This book provides great information and detail instruction on how to help your child towards appropriate behavior. Our daughter already is catching on and is doing well. Every parent should have this book.
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