Life with Aspergers

Social Engagement & the Steps to Being Social: A Practical Guide for Teaching Social Skills to Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder by Kathleen Mo Taylor, OTR/L and Marci Laurel, MA CCC I was quite looking forward to reading this book, assuming from the title that it would be a handbook. As it turns out, it's a textbook which means that it targets a very different audience. As a textbook, the material is not aimed at parents and aides but rather, at academia. It's a well written book which covers a lot of ground in terms of establishing and improving social contact between people on the autism spectrum and others. The early chapters cover topics including the getting and retention of attention. There are also some exercises which are designed to increase attention span. The four sections of social learning are; Self Regulation Shared Space Shared Focus Shared Pleasure These categories contain many sub-categories which move your child from noticing th...

Stressed Out! For Parents: How to Be Calm, Confident & Focused by Dr Ben Bernstein with Michelle Packard, author of Family Ever After.  Stressed out is a bit different to the books that I normally review on Life with Aspergers, particularly because it has no direct connection to autism. Nevertheless, stress is something that most parents are very familiar with, particularly parents with children on the spectrum. Stress is also something that people with Autism, Aspergers or Anxiety experience a great deal. Throughout the book, it sets up scenes of parental stress ranging from bad behaviour to unmet expectations and full-on family disputes. In those early chapters, I kept expecting the information on calming down to be followed by alternate and workable solutions. There are no solutions to parenting problems in this book. It's simply “not that kind of book”. This book aims to make you a better parent but not because of solutions to specific problems. Like the serenit...