Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are an alarmingly prevalent topic of
conversation in the news, in pediatrician and therapists' offices, in
classrooms, among concerned parents, and at home, within families. The
rate of diagnoses seems only to rise. It's not surprising that
professionals who work with kids on the autism spectrum are eager for
effective resources on how to help children and their parents or
caregivers manage it. And with this book, readers have a new tool to add
to their arsenal.
Drawing on her work at the Yale Child Study Center, Koenig explains how
critical it is for kids to not simply learn new social skills that fit
their individual needs, but to be able to seamlessly integrate them into
a range of day-to-day situations, from the classroom to the lunchroom to
the dinner table at home. Building their social repertoire in this way,
she argues, is key to effective autism treatment. Unlike other autism
books that tend to be prescriptive in their approach to social skills
training, this one teaches that the best social interventions are
evidence-based, child-specific, and meaningfully integrated.
Guiding readers through the overarching considerations and principles
for designing successful social interventions, Koenig presents a host of
specific techniques--visual strategies and supports, scripts and role
play, developmental play approaches, video modeling, peer mediated
approaches, technology-based instruction, group instruction,
self-monitoring strategies, parent-delivered interventions, and much
more. Case vignettes illustrate how each intervention can be
implemented, and what trouble-shooting techniques can be used when a
child isn't responding well. Koenig also provides advice on how parents
and professionals can work together as a team, how to help kids
"generalize" their newly learned skills across contexts, and how to
measure progress in a sensible way.
With a foreword by renowned child psychiatrist Fred Volkmar, Practical
Social Skills for Autism Spectrum Disorders is sophisticated in its
methodology but highly accessible, hands-on, and user-friendly. An
invaluable manual for clinicians, educators, school counselors and
administrators, parents, and all those who work with kids on the autism
spectrum, it unravels the nuances of effective social skills training by
showing how to really create intervention programs that take kids' own
aptitudes and needs into account. With time, the right teaching, and
compassion, they can achieve a life of full engagement with their
families and communities.
