Amid a bewildering range of treatments that promise to alleviate or even cure autism, even the leading researchers can’t predict what will work for your child. As a parent, you are in a unique position to become the practical expert on your child’s needs and strengths. Parenting Your Child with Autism will equip you with family-tested and science-based approaches for meeting the challenges ahead. You’ll learn how to get a diagnosis and navigate the health care and educational systems, make sense of your child’s treatment options, and tap into expert opinions and your own observations to find a treatment program that works. Perhaps most importantly, you will learn how to become your child’s best advocate, and build a better life for your child. This book focuses on the processes and decisions parents of children with autism face every day. To help you build an everyday life that works for your child with autism and other family members, this book shares suggestions that range from practical and educational to philosophical, closing with some personal and professional advice for your journey ahead.
In a readable and highly accessible ethnographic account that is shaped by the stories of families and the voices of parents, De Wolfe examines how parents of children with autism navigate the educational and medical systems, understand their own and their children's bodies, and support and educate one another.
Discovering that a family member is on the autism spectrum is an experience that affects the entire family, and can particularly disrupt the family when it is a parent receiving the diagnosis. The situation can be difficult to explain to children, especially if a parent has not fully grasped the implication themselves, and any adult facing this challenge will be in need of a helping hand. The workbook has been designed with precisely this purpose in mind. It will strengthen relationships between parents with ASDs and their children by facilitating understanding of behaviour and situations that all the family will previously have noticed but not understood, and shows how to develop effective problem solving strategies. Chapters cover everything from dealing with the initial diagnosis to understanding special interests, difficulties with social skills and figures of speech, and the need for rules and routines. Every chapter concludes with a worksheet for parent and child to complete together, which encourages mutual understanding and fosters healthy relationships. This book will an essential tool for any family with a parent on the autistic spectrum, and is equally suitable for children and teens who are on the autistic spectrum and those who are not. It will also be of interest to professionals and anyone else working with a family dealing with autism.
When you are starting to learn about autism, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. You might have heard negative things about autism, or feel worried about your child's future. But it is going to be okay. Your kid is still the same kid they were before you knew they were autistic. All the things you love about them haven't changed. Now that you know that they are autistic, you are going to be able to understand them better. That's what this booklet is for. We'll tell you the facts about autism. We'll talk about how to find good services, and about your kid's rights in school. Most importantly, we'll talk about how to support your autistic child as they learn and grow.
A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Autism is a collection of inspiring true stories that relates the strength, love, and devotion families like yours draw on daily. These heartwarming tales will connect you to other devoted and courageous parents, while giving light to your blessing-your child. You will share the power of a family's love with parents such as: Karen, who fears that her son with autism will be labeled "the Weird Kid," but instead watches as his peers accept him on the field and in the classroom Kathryn, a divorcee who must explain to her teen with autism the abstract concept of love when his father decides to remarry It's tough being a parent. But A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Autism lets you know that you are not facing this challenge alone.
A growing body of evidence supports the benefits of high-quality parent interventions for building social and communication skills in 0- to 5-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). How can clinicians coach parents to effectively incorporate learning opportunities into daily routines at home? From preeminent experts, this practical book explores the role of the coach and reviews the "whats," "whys," and "how-tos" of successful collaboration with parents. Topics include structuring coaching sessions, identifying children's needs, facilitating playful engagement, and deepening parents' understanding of how they can boost skills development during everyday activities. Seventeen reproducible handouts and forms include the multipage P-ESDM Infant–Toddler Curriculum Checklist, ideal for use in telehealth assessments. Purchasers get access to a webpage where they can download and print the reproducible materials in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.
This positive, straightforward book offers kids with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) their own comprehensive resource for both understanding their condition and finding tools to cope with the challenges they face every day. Some children with ASDs are gifted; others struggle academically. Some are more introverted, while others try to be social. Some get "stuck" on things, have limited interests, or experience repeated motor movements like flapping or pacing ("stims"). The Survival Guide for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders covers all of these areas, with an emphasis on helping children gain new self-understanding and self-acceptance. Meant to be read with a parent, the book addresses questions ("What’s an ASD?" "Why me?") and provides strategies for communicating, making and keeping friends, and succeeding in school. Body and brain basics highlight symptom management, exercise, diet, hygiene, relaxation, sleep, and toileting. Emphasis is placed on helping kids handle intense emotions and behaviors and get support from family and their team of helpers when needed. The book includes stories from real kids, fact boxes, helpful checklists, resources, and a glossary. Sections for parents offer more detailed information.
Autism is a developmental disorder that affects a child's communication, behavior, and social skills. This new edition has been updated to reflect current trends and technologies used in diagnosing and treating autism. Parents will find balanced and up-to-date information on therapy, education, health care, and other areas. Books in Barron's easy-to-read series of Parenting Keys contain advice and information on a wide range of child-related subjects, written by experts in psychology, physical health, education, and social and personal development. Parenting Keys help parents raise healthy, happy, productive, and well-adjusted children in the demanding contemporary environment.
How parents can appreciate their autistic children prevent them from being pathologized, over-medicated, and marginalized In this groundbreaking book, William Stillman, an expert and passionate advocate on behalf of those with autism, offers a commonsense guide for parenting children with autism. He gives mothers and fathers, caregivers, and teachers the information they need to recognize the child with autism's unique personality, passions, and intellect and therefore liberate them from today's culture of fear. He shows why the current conventional incentive and reward systems send the wrong message to kids with autism and just don't work. This book offers a sensible ten-step guide for enriching relationships with kids with autism through a belief in their essential competence. Includes information that liberates parents from the culture of fear surrounding autism Explains how kids with autism are intelligent but may have unconventional methods of communication that need to be understood and appreciated Shows why your child doesn't need traditional therapy or medication to "treat" autism Written by an acclaimed expert on the topic of autism, who is himself an adult with Asperger's Syndrome
Autism is a word most of us are familiar with. But do we really know what it means? Children with autism are challenged by the most essential human behaviors. They have difficulty interacting with other people-often failing to see people as people rather than simply objects in their environment. They cannot easily communicate ideas and feelings, have great trouble imagining what others think or feel, and in some cases spend their lives speechless. They frequently find it hard to make friends or even bond with family members. Their behavior can seem bizarre. Education is the primary form of treatment for this mysterious condition. This means that we place important responsibilities on schools, teachers and children's parents, as well as the other professionals who work with children with autism. With the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1975, we accepted responsibility for educating children who face special challenges like autism. While we have since amassed a substantial body of research, researchers have not adequately communicated with one another, and their findings have not been integrated into a proven curriculum. Educating Children with Autism outlines an interdisciplinary approach to education for children with autism. The committee explores what makes education effective for the child with autism and identifies specific characteristics of programs that work. Recommendations are offered for choosing educational content and strategies, introducing interaction with other children, and other key areas. This book examines some fundamental issues, including: How children's specific diagnoses should affect educational assessment and planning How we can support the families of children with autism Features of effective instructional and comprehensive programs and strategies How we can better prepare teachers, school staffs, professionals, and parents to educate children with autism What policies at the federal, state, and local levels will best ensure appropriate education, examining strategies and resources needed to address the rights of children with autism to appropriate education. Children with autism present educators with one of their most difficult challenges. Through a comprehensive examination of the scientific knowledge underlying educational practices, programs, and strategies, Educating Children with Autism presents valuable information for parents, administrators, advocates, researchers, and policy makers.