Some useful books (ASD related) that I own/ have read and have found useful and helpful

[westie]

I have a book called "Aspergers - what does it mean to me?" it is a workbook explaining self awareness and life lessons to the child or youth with high functioning autism or aspergers. It is fairly expensive but has lots of chapters, including ways of thinking, people, understanding, thoughts, communication, school, friends, feeling upset to name a few. You can pick and choose which bits are relevant to your son. Each chapter has a number of worksheets for the child to complete to help them understand things, and explain how they feel. At the end of each chapter is a section with info. for the caregiver, which explains purpose of each chapter and how to use the info.

 

In the "friends" section for example, it has a part on how to be a good sport, teams, a friend coming to my house, getting along with a friendplaying with friends, pretend play, playing outside. It has info and pictures and parts to complete to make it relevant to them.

 

In the introduction section it has sections called "autism is another thing about me", what is autism, and why do I have autism, and was I born with autism. They may help you to explain to your child

 

The professional at the Elizabeth Newson Centre recommended that I look at particular chapters with J, to help him in certain areas he was struggling with (though she knows he has PDA not Asperger syndrome)

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In terms of helping J to manage his anger I bought a good book called "Anger Management, a practical guide for Teachers, parents and carers" which had some worksheets at the back and I managed to sit down with my son and do at a rate of about one a week.

 

They are staged, so first one looks at what makes you angry - is a list then space to write down other things your child may feel angry about. Next worksheet is "how do you feel when you are angry" - again a list and space to add your own things to. Next worksheet looks at particular scenarios, and what thoughts about them would make you angry, then other ways to think about it that would not make you angry - for example teacher ignores you when you ask something - angry thoughts would be "she hates me" or things on those lines, non angry feelings are that "she is distracted by something else", "she did not hear me" - again there is list of scenarios, a couple of completed examples and then others are for you to discuss with the child. Then next worksheet are looking at things you can do when you are angry (obviously that are acceptable/ do not hurt others) - again it is a couple of suggestions then space so you and yr child can discuss. Next sheet looks at the last time your child got mad. It has questions to complete, what happened, what did you do well? What did not go so well? What could you do next time?

 

I did one each week, it was quite hard as he hates talking about things like this but we did perservere and I think it helped him to get thinking about it and has helped some. There is lots of other info in the book, its for older children about 8 plus I would say in terms of the worksheets, but there are tips for anger in preschoolers, primary age and teenage children.

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If you/ anyone want anger worksheets for younger children there is a book called "a volcano in my tummy" that has similar type worksheets but for children a bit younger up to about 10 I think - the format of this book implies more for a school/ group discussion but I think they could be used for 1:1 work, or perhaps complete with a sibling/ friend if the sibling is similar age??

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There are also some "siblings" booklets by Julie Davies which can be bought from Elizabeth Newson Centre in Nottingham. They have separate booklets which explain autism and aspergers and PDA; and these may help siblings and other family members to better understand your childs diagnosis and how it may affect them. I have the one about PDA (i think its really good!) which I got from the Elizabeth Newson centre after J's assessment and diagnosis. Link below is to full list of publications from the centre.

 

http://www.sutherlandhouse.org.uk/child_pub5.htm

 

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I have loaned a good book from my local library called ?How to Help Your Autistic Spectrum Child ? practical ways to make family life run smoothly?, by Jackie Brealy and Beverly Davis. Jackie is a parent of a child with Asperger syndrome, and a special needs teaching assistant. The book is easy to read and gives some useful advice and web addresses/ other sources of help. I found some useful info in there. They mention a website about nutrition called www.nutritionfirst.co.uk so I am going to look at that.

 

There are other sections such as how ASD affects the family, getting organised to save your sanity!, strategies for dealing with day to day difficulties, behaviour, eating, coping emotionally and getting support to name a few. You can tell that it is written by a parent who has been there, and its easier to relate to than some other books I have read.

 

some other parents have contributed, and in the section about home educating the parent who is discussing her experiences says that her sons needs are compounded by fact that he has PDA as well as Aspergers (does not go into detail about what PDA is though )

 

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Another book I loaned from the library (but think I will actually buy) is called

 

Encouraging appropriate behaviour for children on the autistic spectrum (Frequently asked questions) by Shira Richman

 

There are answers to 100 different real questions from parents, covering all sorts of topics such as toileting, social skills, bevaviour, communication etc. The author is a behaviour therapy consultant who has worked with autistic children using ABA (applied behaviour analysis)

 

Some examples of the questions answered in the book are:

 

a) how can I avoid unwanted behaviours before the spiral out of control and need intervention?

How can we get our daughter to sleep past 4am?

c) My son is scared of the shower, how can I get him to wash?

d) My son is toilet trained but I always have to remind him to pull his pants up, flush and wash his hands. How can I get him to be more independent?

e) How do I help my son, who has asperger syndrome, through puberty?

f) Is there a way to teach the art of chit chat?

g) My son has trouble following the rules of games, how can we teach him some simple games he can play with his family?

h) Our daughter stares into space for long periods of time. How can I increase her ability to focus?

i) My son, diagnosed with PDD, is a sore loser to the point where his siblings no longer include him when they play together. How do I teach him to lose gracefully

j) my child is terrified of haircuts. Is there anything I can do to reduce his anxiety?

k) We would love to be able to go out to dinner as a family but my daughter with autism turns us into a spectacle at the restaurant. How can we make going out to eat pleasant again?

l) I feel that I am constantly making excuses for my child. Is there a was to avoid this?

 

These are examples, there is so much more but I would be typing all day to list them all!

 

The things she suggests to me seem logical and sensible approaches and there are a number of things I have read that I am going to try, and I would like my own copy to refer back to as you can't work on everything at one time! (and my sons are different ages but I think the questions cover a whole range of ages and also for children on different ends of the spectrum, i.e. in answering some questions she gives advice and then also slight variations in technique for if your child is non verbal for example.

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Thats all for now, will add if I find any more books that I think others may find useful!!! (I have posted these reviews on another forum and it is likely that I may have recommended one or more of these books on other threads on this forum so apologies if you have read the info before!)

Edited March 7, 2009 by westie

[Special_talent123]

has any one got the girls growing up on the Autism Spectrum, if so can u let me know what its like im thinking about buying it also the aspergers and anxiety

[westie]

I bought the following booklet about special educational needs from the National Autistic Society Bookshop, for about £4 I think.

 

Booklet Title/ Author: Special Educational Needs, A guide for parents and carers of children with autistic spectrum disorders, by Carolyn Waterhouse and the NAS Advocacy for Education Team (National Autistic Society)

 

It is a really useful introduction to most aspects of SEN. It gives example letters to write at different stages when you are trying to get your child help at school, and it gives recommendations that will help you; such as keeping copies of letters, noting times/ dates of phone calls, checking to see that a statement is not too ambiguous and that is reflects your child’s needs and adequately details the help your child should receive.It also gives suggestions about what a child with autisms needs might be, although of course it’s a guide and not all the suggestions may apply to your child.

 

It explains about School Action, School Action +, Individual Education Plan’s and the Assessment and Statementing process, annual reviews and appealing to tribunal.

[westie]

Another useful book, for looking at and dealing with behaviour (it says AS but I think it is equally relevant to PDA or others on the autistic spectrum who show these sort of behaviours) is called:

 

Asperger Syndrome and Difficult Moments, Practical Solutions for Tantrums, Rage and Meltdowns, by Brenda Smith Myles and Jack Southwick

 

It has information about the characteristics of "AS" and how they might impact behaviour (cognition, language, sensory issues, socialisation etc) and then it has chapters discussing tantrums, rage and meltdown, and it describes what they term the “rage cycle” – rumbling stage, rage stage, recovery stage .Then the following chapters go into more detail about techniques to identify and describe behaviour, and then develop a behaviour plan including chapters where they look at various techniques (self awareness, self calming and self management) to try and help the child to become more aware and control behaviour. It mentions/ gives descriptions about social stories social scripts, self esteem building, visual schedules/ supports and graphic organisers/ maps, circle of friends, using the stress thermometers (like in the “when my worries gets too big” book) or stress tracking charts; and planning effectively to prepare/ reduce meltdowns.

 

It has a lot of information, and a lot of the strategies it describes seem to be applied to a classroom situation so perhaps it would be useful for teachers or teaching assistants, but there are some chapters/ information for parents as well which is not quite as “in depth”.

 

It seems to pull together bits I have seen in other books for managing behaviour. The description of the rage cycle is really interesting and useful in itself (to a parent or a teacher/ professional – it describes how the child may look/ talk/ behave at each stage; and about effective and ineffective ways for the adult to behave at different stages of the cycle – e.g. is says that at the rumbling stage effective interventions may include touch control, diffusing tension through humour, redirecting, acknowledging student difficulties and it describes what exactly is involved in “diffusing tension through humour” for example.

 

It also details what adult behaviours may escalate a crisis at the “rage” stage of the cycle – some examples are: raising your voice, saying “im the boss here”, nagging, holding a grudge, mimicking the child or youth, making comparisons with siblings/ other students, rewarding for unacceptable behaviour.

[Kazzen161]

Asperger Syndrome and Difficult Moments, Practical Solutions for Tantrums, Rage and Meltdowns, by Brenda Smith Myles and Jack Southwick

 

I agree, it explains the rage cycle very well.

[Karen A]

Hi.I have recently found a book that is new in print this year.

''Making the move A guide for schools and parents on the Transfer of pupils with Autism Sperctrum Disorders [ASDs] from Primary to Secondary School.

By K.I. Al -Ghani and Lynda Kenward. [JKP pub].

I think it is very good. Had to wait for it to come out as previously I could not find much on transition.Karen.