A Parent’s Guide to High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder, Second Edition: How to Meet the Challenges and Help Your Child Thrive (2014) by Dr. Sally Ozonoff, Dr. Geraldine Dawson, and Dr. James MacPartland
An indispensable guide for parents about high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including Asperger syndrome. Leading experts show how you can work with your child’s unique impairments–and harness his or her capabilities. Vivid stories and real-world examples illustrate ways to help kids with ASD relate more comfortably to peers, learn the rules of appropriate behavior, and succeed in school. You’ll learn how ASD is diagnosed and what treatments and educational supports really work. This edition also includes important updates about the latest research and resources, as well as a clear explanation of recent DSM-5 diagnostic changes.
Learning to Live with High Functioning Autism: A Parent’s Guide for Professionals (2000) by Mike Stanton
After his son was diagnosed with autism, Mike Stanton created this book to provide a clear explanation of the autism spectrum and discuss some of the misunderstandings about different aspects of autism. Mr. Stanton details his and other family’s experiences of living with a child with autism to give a clear picture of what daily life is like. This book aims to support families with children on the autism spectrum, as well as provide information and advice for professionals working with children and their families affect by ASD.
MindReading: The Interactive Guide to Emotions (2004) by Dr. Simon Baron Cohen
This book/software provides a way to teach students with high-functioning autism (formerly called Asperger’s Syndrome) better emotional recognition. The interactive software program features actors that act out various emotions (over 400). The program helps the student to focus on the movement of the faces as the actors act out an emotion as well as voice intonation and messages to match the emotion.
The Parents’ Guide to Teaching Kids with Asperger Syndrome and Similar ASDs Real-Life Skills for Independence (2011) by Patricia Romanowski Bashe and Peter Gerhardt
The authors strive to explain current knowledge about Autism Spectrum Disorders from the perspective of both doctors and families. Bashe and Gerhardt use parent-friendly language to present information on how parents can gain access to information, support, and treatment for their child with high-functioning ASD. The authors also offer suggestions for parents on helping their child navigate various social and emotional aspects of their lives, including issues at school and at home.
Teaching Children with Autism to Mind-Read: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Parents (1998) by Dr. Simon Baron Cohen
Many difficulties experienced by children with autism are related to understanding the thoughts, beliefs, and intentions of others (also known as “theory of mind”). This book discusses the “theory of mind” difficulties that children with ASD possess. The authors also examine ways to remediate difficulties in “theory of mind” including: how to interpret facial expressions; how to recognize feelings of anger, sadness, fear and happiness; how feelings are affected by what happens and what is expected to happen; how to see things from another person’s perspective; and how to understand another person’s knowledge and beliefs.
Social Competence Intervention Program (SCIP) by Laura A. Guli , Alison D. Wilkinson and Margaret Semrud-Clikeman
SCIP is a drama-based intervention for youth ages 8-14 on the autism spectrum. It is designed to help students accurately perceive and respond to nonverbal aspects of social interactions, such as facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice. Program sessions are divided into three parts: input, integration, and output.
- Input: the basic perception of social cues
- Integration: how to put social cues together
- Output: how to respond appropriately to others.
Students are asked to participate in process dramas and take on roles that explore various outcomes. During role-plays, students learn to divide complex social interactions into sequential parts, discuss the emotions involved, and act out a variety of possible responses. They also learn practical skills for dealing with teasing and understanding complex social cues.
Social Thinking® Curriculum by Michelle Garcia Winner
The goal of this program is to illuminate the often elusive and intangible world of Social Thinking and develop practical strategies that can be easily used by parents, educators and service providers, across different environments, to teach the Social Thinking required for the development of real social skills. Teaching “social skills” is not enough – individuals with social-cognitive challenges must learn the why and the how of their own and others’ abilities to process social information. The strength of Michelle’s work is that she breaks down the research and abstract concepts and creates concrete ways for this to be done.