Developmental-disabilities Books

"Enabling Communication in Children with Autism" is a very practical book which helps teachers ,parents and others working with Autistic childen to provide an environment which will optimise the opportunities for communication to take place. I found the book easy to read in clear "bite sized" chapters with a good mix of case studies and practical examples. As a teacher I found I could apply it well to my own setting.

It does not require expensive resources, or staff to completely re-organise classroom settings. Rather, it emphasises how crucial it is for adults to examine their own communication strategies with childen, and how this can be vital in extending children's own communicative acts.

Two of the main stategies are the use of minimal speech and proximal communication. In applying these approaches described I felt very comfortable, and I have observed positve changes as a result over a period of a few weeks. These ,and other strategies are clearly and easily explained with practical examples. The approaches described fit well with other techniques for teaching children with Autism, eg PECs and TEACCH.

I reference this "manual" a lot and have highlighted the basic techniques to use at the end of the book (keeps me from getting too overwhelmed)...however, it did not address handling when your child gets physical (my doesn't like to be touched, so I had to revise my approach by substituting visual cues instead of the hand-over-hand guiding when teaching cooperation).

I might add that this book is a nice reference for my "typical" 3 year old as well.

This is a great article if you need a reference to help you wade through the autism practices literature. I was glad to find it.

I have been teaching a course on Exceptional Development for a university for about 5 years now, and have used this textbook all the way through. This book is FANTASTIC. It is easy to read, easy to follow, and set up in a logical manner. It gives a nice broad overview of exceptional development, and I recommend my students keep this book to refer to in the futre as well. Highly recommended!

I just finished reading this book, and found it very informative and clearly written. The book begins with the less complex and leads to the very complex in a smooth, precise manner. Recently beginning work in a facility that deals with a clientel prodominately afflicted with CP, I found this book to contain and explain the vital information that I need to do my job as a well-informed dietetic technician. I highly recommend this book to parents and caregivers of the feeding disabled child.

This college-level survey of the status and problems of adults who suffer from mild cognitive limitations continues the dialogue begin in the 'Six-Hour Retarded Child' report, published over 25 years ago by the President's Committee on Mental Retardation. Forgotten Generation surveys the daily challenges these mildly retarded adults face in everyday life, from employment to health and community living. An excellent guide.

The most comprehensive and research-based information relative to individuals with ASD

This book is probably the best book in the matter. I definitely recommend to students, early interventionist, and researchers. The content is vast and complete.

Don't worry about the price. If you are serious about learning about RTI this is a great book with high quality authors and editors. You won't be sorry.

This is a great text for clinicians working with individuals with developmental disabilities. Drs. Razza and Tomasulo provides a great model for helping these individuals see the world through the eyes of other peers.