1001 Great Ideas for Teaching and Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

As a teacher that works with Autistic students, I bought this book to see if there were any additional strategies or techniques that I could use. Looking at this book in a professional practice and the many years of experience I have I would say this is a beginners book. There is a lot of information in this book but it seemed like out of the 300+ pages that I found 3 things helpful and everything else was talking about stuff with no strategies for implementation. For teachers I would suggest another book to purchase but for parents that are trying to figure out stuff or people that have never worked with Autistic students, this is a good beginner book.

As a teacher of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and Sensory Integration Dysfunction (DSI), I have read nearly ever book written on the subject. Most focus on recognizing, and getting a diagnosis and treatment for, ASDs, or games/activities. This book stands out as one of few that address COPING. It is full of small techniques and tricks to help your child/student cope with the world around them. Some are everyday routine suggestions; others are situational tricks that actually help (I've test-run many). Even if you think you know pretty much everything, there are enough fresh ideas in this book to make it worth the read. I highly recommend it to anyone who works with these special kids.

I have shelves filled with books with 'how to' and I have tried them all. My son, Brian now 14, has severe mental retardation, there are very few books for 'teaching' children like him. I took a chance on this one, and worth it. Thanx to the notes in the book I no longer try and stop him from bitting his hands, but understadning why, all of us at home started to take notes of when and what happened before and now we focus on the what happens before. This is just one excellent example. We had a good summer and he has made great progress because of the book. We did projects with him, set real targets and monitored. My 9 year old daughter who is a part of the team helping her 14 year old sibblings, got ideas of things she could do with him and learnt much about not doing 'for him'. The instructions for action, and this is what the book spurs you to do 'act' are clear and logically. So many times we go on to another 'intervention' and when we read the explanation that leads to the action I hear myself thinking, but you know what that is logical. It may say 'Autism Spectrum', but it is forall of us who has a child/young adult with moderate to severe intellectural disability. I am purchasing two extra copies of the book. One to send to school when he starts in another two weeks, the other to my sister who we plan to visit in December. I also chair the National Advisory Board for Persons with Disability here in Jamaica and I am going to recommending this book to all who will listen.

This book filters through all the technical terms and gives you quick, much needed information for those daily challenges that you definitely will encounter. It deals with so many of the major issues (social, sensory, behavioral, and self-care). It is a must read for anyone that knows or works with an individual on the spectrum.

I have never written an online review in my life. However, as the parent of an autistic child, I felt I had to do this for the benefit of other parents out there that are not sure about buying this book. The bottom line is that you should buy it! All sorts of information and ideas are presented in this ONE book. I've done research on my own and have had to put the pieces together. It was great to see all of my pieces in this book plus so much more. I wish I would have found this book years ago! It would have saved me much time and effort. The other pluses to this book are that it is easy to read and you can easily skip around as needed if you don't have the time to read it cover to cover (which you will find yourself doing because it is written so well). Now, let me be clear. This book by no means covers all ideas in detail after detail in chapter after chapter. Think about this book as Cliff's Notes and as a great way to start thinking out of the box.

I can not tell you how very much this book has helped myself and my 2 children with autism as well as the educators that I entrust with my children. There is something for everyone in this book. There are so many simple answers to big questions, I literally wanted to say "Oh, why didn't I think of that?" The education and guidance that these authors offer us, as parents, is priceless. There are so many books out there. My library of books regarding "our" spectrum grows daily. However, this one book has done more for our "team," we, as parents, and my children's teachers than any other book I can name. I will add, for our children's point of view, I very strongly suggest all books by Temple Grandin. My hope is that any parent/caregiver, anyone who loves a person with an Autism Spectrum Disorder will read this book and contact me, to expand all of our networks of support and love for these incredible people who happen to have ASD's and whom we are blessed to share our lives with. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. Thank you to the authors, the publisher and to all who support this fabulous reference. Thank you.