Book Review: "Jay and Ben"

Publisher's Description:
“Jay and Ben is an interactive book developed for use with children with developmental and learning differences and disabilities, including—but not limited to—autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, and language delays. The book is designed to help educators, parents, and caregivers teach children about language, reading, story comprehension, functional skills, and basic concepts.

Jay can make his own breakfast, dress himself, and play by himself, but sometimes he feels sad and wishes for a friend. When a magical horse appears and befriends Jay, his wish comes true.”

Positively Autism's Review:

Pros:

• Lovely illustrations.
• Simple, yet interesting text.
• Large, sturdy pages.
• Picture sequences can be useful for teaching skill routines, such as getting dressed.
• Free materials are available at the publisher’s website.
• Students can match pictures to the words of the story to aid in literacy and vocabulary development.
• My four-year-old son enjoys the book.

Cons:

• Some of the picture symbols used were a little unclear to me, and I think they might be confusing for some of my students.

The book is available for purchase from Amazon.com. You can access the free printables and resources from the publisher’s website here: http://www.leeandlow.com/p/jayandbenbooks.mhtml

 

Purchase the book from Amazon.com, and Amazon will donate a percentage of the purchase to support Positively Autism and Daily Autsm Freebie. Thanks!

Review of "Outsmarting Explosive Behavior"

Overview

Outsmarting Explosive Behavior: A Visual System of Support and Intervention for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders is a "program is designed to help decrease - and in some cases eliminate - explosive behavior in children with autism spectrum disorders. Tantrums and meltdowns are among the greatest challenges presented by ASD, often leaving parents and educators searching for answers. Outsmarting Explosive Behavior is a visual program, laid out as a fold-out poster, that can be individualized for each user. Four train cars represent the four stages of explosive behavior: Starting Out, Picking up Steam, Point of No Return, and Explosion. By using visuals to appeal to children with ASD, this program makes it easy to help them identify their current state and take steps to decrease the chances of a meltdown."
- Description from the Autism Asperger Publishing website

Pros

• Customizable to reflect your child or student’s particular behaviors and needs.
• Uses a train theme, which is often a special interest area of students with autism.
• Includes both a student workbook and an instructor’s manual.
• The system includes visual supports, a plus since students with autism are generally visual learners.
• Focus on students learning to manage their own behavior, a skill necessary for increased independence.
• The manual includes case study examples, which may be helpful to instructors in implementing the system with their students or children.
• Positive focus that allows the student to maintain a positive self-concept while working on improving his or her behavior. For example, on page 17 of the student work book it states, “Please remind yourself often: I am a good person working on ways to outsmart my explosive behavior.”

Cons

• The positive behavior intervention strategies are written on red stop signs and the negative (not effective) strategies are written on green signs. This may just be my opinion, but this seems like it might be a little bit confusing, as “red” seems to have a negative or “stop” connotation. I would have expected the positive strategies to be on green signs and the others on red.
• The product was slightly difficult to assemble.

Overall

Highly recommended for both parents and teachers. You can read more information about this product in our interview with Judy Endow or by visiting the product’s page on the publisher’s website here: http://www.aapcpublishing.net/book/view/25/outsmarting-explosive-behavior-a-visual-system-of-support-and-intervention-for-individuals-with-autism-spectrum-disorders-

Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes

Positively Autism's recommended children's book after telling your child about his or her autism spectrum diagnosis.

Title: Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes

Author: Jennifer Elder

Publisher (Date): Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2005)

Recommended for: children ages 8 and over.

A (fictional) young boy with autism introduces the book and gives a very brief history of autism. The remainder of the book consists of short biographies of notable people who display various characteristics of autism. Examples include Albert Einstein, Dian Fossey, Issac Newton, and Hans Christian Anderson. Twenty biographies are included in total.

"Different Like Me" is a wonderful book that shows not only the diversity of the autism spectrum, but highlights many positive characteristics as well. The persons portrayed in the book are recognized for their accomplishments due to their different ways of thinking. For example, "the same things that made Glenn [Gould] different also made him great." This book is highly recommended for any child or young adult struggling with feeling "different."

Buy the book from Amazon.com: Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes

Children's Books about Autism

Continuing our children's literature theme this week, here are a few of my favorite children's books about Autism.


Trevor Trevor
by Diane Twachtman-Cullen, Ph.D.



Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes
by Jennifer Elder



My Friend with Autism: A Coloring Book for Peers and Siblings
by Beverly Bishop



I Am Utterly Unique: Celebrating the Strengths of Children with Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism
by Elaine Marie Larson

Book Review: Pedro's Whale

Based on their popular book, “Just Give Him The Whale: 20 Ways to Use Fascinations, Areas of Expertise, and Strengths to Support Students with Autism,” Paula Kluth and Patrick Schwarz have created a new picture book for children. In “Pedro’s Whale,” we find the title character sharing his special interest in whales and looking forward to starting Kindergarten. While not specified in the story of the book, we are to assume that Pedro is on the autism spectrum. When he arrives at school, he is told to put away his toy whale, because toys are not allowed in the classroom. However, his teacher soon realizes that incorporating his special interest into classroom activities is the key to successful learning experiences for Pedro.

According to the preface, “Every child has fascinations, areas of expertise, and passions he or she brings to the school. As teachers, our job is to honor them!” I enjoyed the positive focus of the book and the portrait of a successful inclusion experience where the child on the autism spectrum was a valued member of the classroom community.

The book also includes tips and activities for teachers using the book, as well as illustrations by Justin Canha, an artist who has autism. Overall, this book is relevant for teachers in both inclusive and special education classroom settings. My two-and-a-half year old son also enjoyed the story and pictures and frequently requests to read the book!

View the book at Amazon.com: