Educational Resources Store

The award-winning author of Autism Spectrum Disorders presents Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum, a complete guide to the cognitive, emotional, social, and physical needs of preteens and teenagers with autistic disorders, ranging from the relatively mild Asperger's Syndrome to more severe ability impairment. Using clear examples, practical advice, and supportive insights, this book covers:

• Health risks such as seizures and depression
• Treatments, therapies, and teaching strategies
• Teaching skills to cope with puberty, self-care, and social skills
• Teenage emotions, sexuality, appropriate relationships, and dating
• Middle/ High School, & developing an Individual Educational Program
• Preparing for life after high school

Is Asperger syndrome a syndrome in its own right or is it a form of autism?  Sufferers from the syndrome are like autistic individuals in that they show the same kind of impairments from early childhood; yet they are unlike them in being far more verbally articulate and socially adapted.  They can be highly intelligent and reminiscent of eccentrics with their unusual interests, special skills and unworldliness.  In this volume, several of the major experts in the field discuss the diagnostic criteria of the syndrome, named after Hans Asperger who first described the condition in the 1940s, and illustrate their views with case studies drawn from their clinical practice.  These clinical studies are complemented by personal accounts and placed in a new theoretical framework.  Significantly, Uta Frith provides the first insights to reflect a very modern awareness of the broad continuum of autistic disorders.  They also provide surprisingly practical suggestions on the education and management of autistic children.  Current opinion on Asperger syndrome and its relationship to autism is fraught with disagreement and hampered by ignorance.  This book gives the first coherent account of Asperger syndrome as a distinct variant of autism and will undoubtedly cause a good deal of debate.

Pages:  257

This book, written by an international team of experts, features contributions from leading authorities in the clinical and social sciences.  This thoroughly revised and updated new edition reflects the most recent progress in the understanding of autism and related conditions, and offers an international perspective on the present state of the discipline.  Chapters discuss current approaches to definition and diagnosis; prevalence and planning for service delivery; cognitive, genetic, and neurobiological features; and pathophysiological mechanisms.  There is a new chapter covering communication issues.   Interventions reviewed include the pharmacological, behavioral, and educational, and a thoughtful final chapter addresses the nature of the fundamental social disturbance that characterizes autism.

Pages:  356

This book presents a positive and empowering "bill of rights" for every person with autism, regardless of impairment level.  With advice and reflections from autistic adults across the spectrum, as well as Sicile-Kira's own experience as an advocate and parent of an autistic teen, the book covers these ten essential life skills:

• Making Sense of the World
• Communication
• Safety
• Self-Esteem
• Pursuing Interests
• Self-Regulation
• Independence
• Social Relationships
• Self- Advocacy
• Earning a Living

There have been huge advances in diagnosing autism and in the development of effective interventions that can change children's lives.  In this informative book, Lynn Kern Koegel, a leading clinician, researcher, and cofounder of the renowned Autism Research Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara, combines her cutting-edge expertise with the everyday perspectives of Claire LaZebnik, a writer whose experience with a son with autism provides a rare view into the disorder.  Together, they draw on the highly effective "pivotal response" approach developed at the center to provide concrete ways of improving the symptoms of autism and the emotional struggles that surround it.  They remind readers never to lose sight of the humor that lurks in the disability's quirkiness or the importance of enjoying your child.  From the shock of diagnosis to the step-by-step work with verbal communication, social interaction, self-stimulation, meltdowns, fears, and more, the answers are here-in a book that is as warm and nurturing as it is authoritative.

For children with sensory integration issues, including those who have difficulty processing everyday sensations and exhibit unusual behaviors such as avoiding or seeking out touch, movement, sounds, and sights, this book is an invaluable resource.  Long thought to affect only autistic children, or mistaken for ADHD, SI dysfunction is finally being recognized as a separate condition.  Coauthored by a pediatric occupational therapist and a parent of a child with SI dysfunction, Raising a Sensory Smart Child is as warm and accessible as it is authoritative and detailed and is an indispensable guide for parents, therapists, and teachers who will turn to it again and again.

It's possible that this child is having sensory processing problems.  You can help children with these problems.  Sensory Integration helps you identify children who have difficulties with sensory processing, and it offers easy solutions to support the sensory needs of young children in the preschool classroom.  Easily implemented solutions include adaptations and activities for children with different types of Sensory Processing Disorder.  This book also contains a bonus chapter with instructions for creating inexpensive items to help children with sensory issues.

Preschool can be overwhelming for children with autism.  Autism affects how a child behaves, communicates, and relates to others.  Teachers need to know how they can get children with autism to achieve their full potential.  This book is a straightforward, easy-to-understand guide to working with children who have autism.  It explains the main characteristics associated with autism and helps teachers understand the ways children with autism relate to the world.  Each chapter offers detailed strategies for teachers to use, including setting up a proactive preschool environment, helping children learn life skills, managing behavior, helping children with autism communicate, encourage children with autism to play, helping them to get along with others, and working with families.  Teaching Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder helps teachers bond with all children in meaningful ways, allowing children with autism to learn and grow.

Pages:  224

This book has answers to more than one hundred of the most frequently asked questions about autism, a disease that affects an estimated one in 250 children.

Dawn Ham-Kucharski's son, Alex, was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, and she was given little hope that he would ever express himself verbally or to communicate meaningfully with others.  But, now at the age of six, Alex is an inspiring autism success story, due to his mother's tireless efforts to seek out an effective treatment program, educational plan, and socialization strategy.

In The Autism Book, health and parenting journalist S. Jhoanna Robledo and Ham-Kucharski, a passionate advocate for educational opportunity for autistic children, use their hard-earned knowledge and experience to objectively and compassionately answer the most urgent questions of parents and educators of autistic children.  The authors offer comprehensive information on diagnoses, causes, manifestations, treatment options, managing emotions, family relationships, parenting and lifestyle issues, education, and common worries.

Three years ago, magazine editor Denise Brodey's precocious four-year-old son, Toby, was diagnosed with a combination of sensory integration dysfunction and childhood depression.  Struggling to make sense of her new, often chaotic, often lonely world, the thing she found most comforting was talking with other, hopeful, and insightful parents of kids with special needs, and learning how they coped with the feelings they encountered throughout the day.  In The Elephant in the Playroom, parents from across the country write in an honest and intimate way about the joyful highs and disordered lows of raising children who are "not quite normal".  Laying bare the emotional, medical, and social challenges they face, these stories address issues ranging from if and when to medicate a child, to how to get a child who is overly sensitive to the texture of food to eat lunch.  Eloquent and honest, the voices in this collection will provide solace and support for the millions of parents whose kids struggle with ADD, ADHD, sensory disorders, childhood depression, Asperger's syndrome, and autism, as well as the many kids who fall between diagnoses.