More Than Words

I have always been pleased with resources from Hanen and this book is no exception. As both a pediatric speech-language pathologist and a mother of a wonderful toddler with autism I highly recommend this cutting edge, informative book. I love that the book takes our children's sensory preferences and interests into major consideration during interactions. The book is clear and simple to follow. The information on the internet regarding autism can be overwhelming and complex, even for the rare parent like myself who has been in the field for several years. The More Than Words program makes language and social skills acquisition enjoyable and manageable for parent and child. The parent does not need to add daily therapy to their already long "to do" list. Therapy is ongoing from morning till night during all of your interactions with your child. We should always have goals in mind, but the therapy is constant as long as the outlined principles in More Than Words are followed. Similar to a sensory diet. This is our children's communication diet. I also like that the pictures in the book are emotionally uplifting. It is not easy having a child with ASD but this book offers the parent a feeling of wellbeing and hope as they help their child climb the developmental ladder of language acquisition and social skills. Horray for Hanen. You've done it again!

No dogma, no "one-size-fits-all" program - just a lot of playful but powerful techniques to help build a child's communication and social skills in the context of everyday life. Unlike many books on autism, this one is jargon-free and easy for an exhausted parent or teacher to read. It doesn't dumb its ideas down, but presents them clearly and memorably (with charming illustrations). I work with kids with autism, and lend out a lot of books to people looking for more information - time and time again, this is the one I've seen people grab onto as a lifeline.

I would recommend this to anyone who's child is having a hard time learning speech, whether they have autism or not. From this book, I have picked up several wonderful new ways to interact, as well as insights into the way a child thinks, and how to get a child's attention. The book breaks things down in such a way that you can easily pick out which things will and won't work with your child and develop your own plan on what is best. As a side note, the illustrations are very enjoyable and cute.

This book was recommended to me by my son's speech therapist. This book was easy to understand and use. Best of all, it offered ideas and solutions that cost little or no money to try, just the time and effort to play with your child and observe the tools effectiveness. It has helped a lot with helping my son to develop a working vocabulary.

This book provides a very neccessary complement to speech therapy for children with autism and related disorders. The presentation is lively, easy to read, jargon-free, respectful of children and families, and clearly laid out. Most importantly, this book helps parents and professionals identify a child's communication level, select relevant goals, and plan effective interventions. This will be an integral part of our collaboration with families.