Recommended Reads
A parent’s guide to helping children with autism maximize their potential.
Over a decade ago, an autism diagnosis had confined Lori Ashley Taylor’s daughter Hannah to an inaccessible world. Lori became a tireless researcher, worker, and advocate, and her dedication showed results. There can be progression and shifting on the spectrum, and Hannah has done just that—she has emerged.
Part narrative and part practical guide, Dragonfly provides anecdotal and practical guidance for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. The author discusses intervention strategies, therapies such as Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), and different medical tests. She explains Autism terminology like hyperresponsivesness and stimming. A classroom teacher herself, she recommends educational accommodations and supports. Busy parents can find practical tips on everything from making friends to Sensory Processing Disorder in helpful sidebars in the text. Taylor’s personal experience is supplemented by wisdom from a series of round table discussions featuring other parents of children with autism.
In the summer of 2013, eight-year-old Hannah wrote “Life of a Dragonfly,” a poem with repeated parallel stanzas that used the stages of a dragonfly’s life as a mirror for her own physical and cognitive development. Among its wisdom was: “Hope rises, and I begin to reveal my concealed wings. I begin to understand language and what I am meant to do.”
Taylor has helped her daughter find her wings; in Dragonfly, she gives other parents the tools to do the same.
1001 Great Ideas for Teaching and Raising Children with Autism:
Winner of a Silver medal in the Independent Publishers Book Awards and Learning Magazine‘s Teachers Choice Award, 1001 Great Ideas has been a treasured resource in the autism community since 2004. In this expanded second edition, Ellen Notbohm (best-selling author of the revolutionary book Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew) and Veronica Zysk (award-winning author and former editor of Autism Asperger’s Digest magazine) present parents and educators with over 1800 ideas try-it-now tips, eye-opening advice, and grassroots strategies. More than 600 fresh ideas join tried and true tactics from the original edition, offering modifications for older kids, honing in on Asperger’s challenges, and enhancing already-effective ways to help your child or student achieve success at home, in school, and in the community. This one-stop-shop of solutions, explanations, and strategies guides the reader to quickly find ideas that speak to the variety of developmental levels, learning styles, and abilities inherent in children with autism and Asperger’s.
Autism Every Day: Over 150 Strategies Lived and Learned by a Professional Autism Consultant with 3 Sons on the Spectrum
Stemming from a wealth of both professional and personal experience, this guidebook combines real-life stories of challenges and successes with practical ideas for handling autism, every day. Autism consultant Alyson Beytien outlines over 150 tried-and-true techniques for home, school, and community.
Alyson’s three boys cover the whole spectrum of autism―Asperger’s syndrome, high-functioning autism, and classic autism. She understands the wide range of needs these children have and has discovered what helps and what hinders. Covering a full gamut of issues―from picky-eating and echolalia to IEPs and “The Woes of Walmart”―Alyson’s ideas and interventions will inspire and inform all those who are connected to a person with autism. Alyson believes that each day brings more opportunities to learn, problem-solve, and celebrate the joys that children with autism bring to our world―after all, today’s crisis is tomorrow’s humor. Her family’s motto will soon become your everyday mantra: “Improvise and Overcome!”
The New Social Story Book, Revised and Expanded 15th Anniversary Edition: Over 150 Social Stories that Teach Everyday Social Skills to Children and Adults with Autism and their Peers
Since the early ‘90s, Carol Gray’s world-famous Social Stories™ have helped thousands of children with autism spectrum disorders. This 15th Anniversary Edition of her best-selling book offers ready-to-use stories that parents and educators have depended on for years—with new sections added! Additions include how to most effectively use and apply the stories, how to improve the lives of younger children, and Social Stories™ for teens and adults with autism. Developed through years of experience, these strategically written stories explain social situations in ways children and adults with autism understand while teaching social skills needed to be successful at home, school, work, and in the community.
A Social Story™ accurately describes a context, skill, achievement, or concept according to 10 defining criteria. These criteria guide Story research, development, and implementation to ensure an overall patient and supportive quality, and a format, “voice”, content, and learning experience that is descriptive, meaningful, and physically, socially, and emotionally safe for the child, adolescent, or adult with autism. The criteria define what a Social Story™ is, and the process that researches, writes, and illustrates it.
Social Stories™ may be described as an effective and meaningful approach to support social understanding, but the ultimate and deeper goal is to empower children and older people by enhancing their understanding of social situations and social encounters in their lives, and thereby supporting their ability to be active participants in life’s routines and activities. The effective use of Social Stories™ goes even further—it allows practitioners and parents to build trusting relationships through their support. Ultimately, the overarching goal of Social Stories™ is this: to help people to be self-determined, confident and competent individuals.
A Treasure Chest of Behavioral Strategies for Individuals with Autism
A cornucopia of ideas, strategies, and concepts that will apply to virtually any situation! The authors address sensory, communication, physical, and social-emotional issues by increasing desired behaviors and decreasing unwanted behaviors. You will learn how to
- build sensory diets into everyday activities
- use antecedent control
- teach students to self-regulate
- deal with self-injurious behaviors, physical or verbal aggression
- teach toilet training
- handle obsessive-compulsive behavior and fixations
- deal with crisis/stress/data management
- handle data management
and much more.
Whatever problems you face, you’ll find helpful solutions to them in this book. This book should be on every teacher’s and parent’s bookshelf. Great reference source!
Building Bridges through Sensory Integration, 3rd Edition: Therapy for Children with Autism and Other Pervasive Developmental Disorders
Winner of the Summer 2015 Academics’ Choice Smart Book Award!
Written by three experienced occupational therapists, this book offers a combination of theory and strategies. It is a perfect tool for those working with young children, but also broad enough to be adapted for older children and adults. Building Bridges provides creative techniques and useful tips while offering innovative strategies and practical advice for dealing with everyday challenges, including managing behaviors, improving muscle tone, developing social skills, selecting diets, and more. Part one explains the role of the occupational therapists in treatment and examines sensory integration theories. Part two offers methods of identifying sensory problems in children along with numerous strategies and activities.
Helpful topics include:
- What is Occupational Therapy?
- What is Sensory Integration?
- What are the Sensory Systems?
- Identifying Problems with Sensory Integration Strategies for Challenging Behaviors
- Ideas for Self Care Skills
- Adapting Home, School, and Child Care Settings
Behavior Solutions for the Home and Community: The Newest Companion in the Bestselling Series!
Behavior Solutions for the Home is a tool for parents whose children’s behaviors are impeding their daily life. Once they see a particular behavior, parents can quickly look up an in-the-moment solution and read more about what could be causing that behavior―and more importantly, how to overcome it. This helpful book is intended to provide general, practical solutions for busy (and often overwhelmed) parents who can benefit from a handy reference guide to help them address common behaviors at home and in the community. This book is a must-have for every parent and caregiver working with a child on the autism spectrum!
Little Rainman: Autism–Through the Eyes of a Child
Recommended by world-renowned author and speaker Dr. Temple Grandin, this children’s book paints a picture of what life is like for children with autism. Unique illustrations accompany a child’s voice as he explains the different ways he thinks, sees, hears, and feels. This book is great for reading to children with or without autism to encourage acceptance and understanding. Written by Karen Simmons-Sicoli, mother of a son with autism and the founder of Autism Today, this was one of the first books of its kind and it continues to be a classic in the autism community.
The Spellers Guidebook: Practical Advice for Parents and Students
A means by which thousands, and soon millions, of people are being freed from their lives of silence.
The Spellers Guidebook is the first of its kind—a comprehensive guidebook that every family should take along for their Spelling journey. From the moment you first learn about spelled communication through working with a practitioner, developing fluency, and everything in between, this book serves as a blueprint to follow while you build the skills to spell openly with your child.
The Spellers Guidebook is informative not only for parents and caregivers but for practitioners and professionals as well. It answers questions from the most basic—what to expect during the first spelling session, to more clinical—what is apraxia, and how does it affect my speller? It even discusses the importance of regulation and how the interpersonal dynamic between the speller and their communication partner can impact flow.
The journey toward open communication differs for every family, and this handbook is here to help remove any guesswork. Whether your path seems straight and easy to navigate or the road ahead appears winding and twisting, Dana and DM are here to guide you. If you walk away with nothing more than the confidence that you can do this with your nonspeaker (because you CAN), The Spellers Guidebook has done its job!
Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum
Autism in Heels, an intimate memoir and Wall Street Journal bestseller, reveals the woman inside one of autism’s most prominent figures, Jennifer O’Toole. At the age of thirty-five, Jennifer was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, and for the first time in her life, things made sense.
Jennifer exposes the constant struggle between carefully crafted persona and authentic existence, editing the autism script with wit, candor, passion, and power. Her journey is one of reverse-self-discovery not only as an Aspie but–more importantly–as a thoroughly modern woman.
Beyond being a memoir, Autism in Heels is a love letter to all women. It’s a conversation starter. A game changer. And a firsthand account of what it is to walk in Jennifer’s shoes (especially those iconic red stilettos).
Whether it’s bad perms or body image, sexuality or self-esteem, Jennifer’s is as much a human journey as one on the spectrum. Because autism “looks a bit different in pink,” most girls and women who fit the profile are not identified, facing years of avoidable anxiety, eating disorders, volatile relationships, self-harm, and stunted independence. Jennifer has been there, too. Autism in Heels takes that message to the mainstream.
From her own struggles and self-discovery, she has built an empire of empowerment, inspiring women the world over to realize they aren’t mistakes. They are misunderstood miracles.
101 Tips for the Parents of Girls with Autism: The Most Crucial Things You Need to Know about Diagnosis, Doctors, Schools, Taxes, Vaccinations, Babysitters, Treatment, Food, Self-Care, and More
The latest research shows that as many as 1 in 88 US children now has autism, and the number keeps rising. Parents of these children become full-time researchers, always looking for the latest information on doctors, education, and treatments, and parents of girls with autism face particularly unique challenges. After countless hours of study, Tony Lyons is sharing what he has learned. In 101 Tips for the Parents of Girls with Autism you will learn how to deal with troubling issues such as periods, birth control, and the risks of sexual abuse. Both Mom and Dad will learn which menstrual pads work best and why the ones with wings just are not them. And how exactly do you get your daughter to actually start using them? 101 Tips for the Parents of Girls with Autism has the answer. Other topics include:
How to get the most useful evaluation
Where to find other parents of girls with autism
Getting insurance to cover treatments
Coping with the unique social issues that girls face
Legal issues and Medicaid pros and cons
Maintaining a social life for both you and your daughter
Handling marital stress and divorce
Where to go on vacation
And many more!
From what to do when you first suspect your daughter might have autism, to coping with the first diagnosis, following up with comprehensive evaluation, and pursuing education and treatment, 101 Tips for the Parents of Girls with Autism is the book that every parent of a girl with autism needs.
Underestimated: An Autism Miracle
In Underestimated: An Autism Miracle, Generation Rescue’s cofounder J.B. Handley and his teenage son Jamison tell the remarkable story of Jamison’s journey to find a method of communication that allowed him to show the world that he was a brilliant, wise, generous, and complex individual who had been misunderstood and underestimated by everyone in his life.
Jamison’s emergence at the age of seventeen from his self-described “prison of silence” took place over a profoundly emotional and dramatic twelve-month period that is retold from his father’s perspective. The book reads like a spy thriller while allowing the reader to share in the complex emotions of both exhilaration and anguish that accompany Jamison’s journey for him and his family. Once Jamison’s extraordinary story has been told, Jamison takes over the narrative to share the story from his perspective, allowing the world to hear from someone who many had dismissed and cast aside as incapable.
Jamison’s remarkable transformation challenges the conventional wisdom surrounding autism, a disability impacting 1 in 36 Americans. Many scientists still consider nonspeakers with autism—a full 40 percent of those on the autism spectrum—to be “mentally retarded.” Is it possible that the experts are wrong about several million people? Are all the nonspeakers like Jamison?
Underestimated: An Autism Miracle will touch your heart, inspire you, remind you of the power of love, and ultimately leave you asking tough questions about how many more Jamisons might be waiting for their chance to be freed from their prison of silence, too. And, for the millions of parents of children with autism, the book offers a detailed description of a communication method that may give millions of people with autism back their voice.
Autism and Tomorrow: The Complete Guide to Helping Your Child Thrive in the Real World
Looking Ahead to the Future of Autism Study and Care
Autism and Tomorrow is a comprehensive resource that addresses many parents’ questions pertaining to their child with autism, such as financial planning, long-term care, employment options, and employer relationships, community resources, education, bullying, puberty, doctor visits, sex, nutrition, fitness, family relationships, and more.
Karen L. Simmons, the founder and CEO of Autism Today, and Bill Davis, author of Breaking Autism’s Barriers, offer sound, expert advice derived from their own experiences. Both Simmons and Davis are parents of children with autism; consequently, Autism and Tomorrow is as much an autobiography as it is a reference book.
Both authors draw inspiration directly from their own lives and apply their expertise to the general study of the subject. By doing so, Simmons and Davis hope to help other parents, caretakers, relatives, and friends improve both their knowledge of autism, and as a result, the lives of those affected by it.
The Autism Full Employment Act: The Next Stage of Jobs for Adults with Autism, ADHD, and Other Learning and Mental Health Differences
Impactful and integral to our economic recovery after the pandemic, The Autism Full Employment Act will rebuild and improve autism employment programs.
Employment remains the issue today for many adults with autism. During the pandemic of 2020, authors Michael Bernick and Dr. Lou Vismara, along with other adults with autism, practitioners, and advocates, set out to develop an Autism Full Employment Act. At the time, the national economy was decimated, and it was clear that it would need to be rebuilt, starting in 2021 and beyond. The Act is an attempt not only to rebuild autism employment programs, but also to address the limitations and shortcomings of the current system.
The Autism Full Employment Act shows how there can be a place in the job world for the wide range of adults with autism, ADHD, and other learning and mental health differences—many of whom are not employed today. Bernick and Dr. Vismara review the autism employment initiatives in recent years among major employers, state and local governments, autism-focused businesses, and autism transition programs, and present strategies to build on these initiatives. They set out more fully the meanings of “autism talent advantage,” “autism friendly workplace,” and “employment for the more severely impacted.”
Six broad strategy areas are explored. Interspersed with these six strategy areas are notes on related issues of “professionalizing the direct support workforce,” “transitions,” and “comorbidities.” Bernick and Dr. Vismara end by considering why no government action or program can replace the employment journey of each adult with autism, but how instead the Act can hasten these journeys.
Temple Grandin: Voice for the Voiceless
Since Temple Grandin’s life story was told in the 15 x Emmy-nominated film Temple Grandin, and since her heartwarming speech at the award ceremony, she has become one of the world’s most well-known members of its community.
In this fascinating biography, Annette Wood delves deep into Grandin’s life from childhood to adulthood. Wood tells of the trials and tribulations of the icon: What difficulties Grandin struggled with and how she’s become a hero for the autistic community. She also tells what Temple has done since the movie came out, where she is today, what kind of difference she’s made, and what her future holds.
For the 22 million people worldwide afflicted by autism and the countless friends and family members who support them, this brilliant portrait presents an up-close look at the disorder and renewed hope for what the future could bring for those on all levels of the spectrum.
The Autism Job Club: The Neurodiverse Workforce in the New Normal of Employment
The Autism Job Club is a groundbreaking book for bringing adults with autism and other neuro-diverse conditions into the work world.
The book has its basis in the autism job club that the authors have been part of in the San Francisco Bay Area, the job-creation and job-placement efforts the club has undertaken, and similar efforts throughout the United States.
The authors review the high unemployment rates among adults with autism and other neuro- diverse conditions more than two decades after the ADA. National data on autism employment and unemployment with the individual employment searches of job club members.
Bernick and Holden also outline and explain six strategies that, taken together, will reshape employment for adults with autism:
*The art of the autism job coach.
*The autism advantage in technology employment.
*Autism employment and the internet economy.
*Autism employment and the practical/craft economy.
*Autism and extra-governmental job networks.
*Autism and public service employment.
The Autism Job Club will be a vital resource for adults with autism, their families, and advocates who are committed to neuro-diverse employment, not unemployment. But it will also speak to a far broader audience interested in how to carve out a place for themselves or others in an increasingly competitive job world.
