Visual Supports for People with Autism: A Guide for Parents and Professionals (Topics in Autism)

Marlene J. Cohen; Donna L. Sloan

ISBN 10: 189062747X / ISBN 13: 9781890627478

Published by Woodbine House, 2007

Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G189062747XI5N00

Synopsis:

A practical guide to using visual supports – activity schedules, graphic organizers, color highlighting and coding, Social Stories, flip books, photographs, calendars and more – to improve academic performance, behavior, social interactions and self-help skills in people with autism. The authors explain how visual supports can be effective in making learning easier for children with autism in areas where they may have particular difficulty, such as language learning, (understanding idioms, word order and conversational skills), memory, attending to a task, temporal-sequential skills, motivation, and social skills. There are general tips on what to consider when making supports: durability, portability, age appropriateness, ease of use and more. A chapter also discusses how to gradually wean students from the supports and work toward greated independence. Dozens of black & white photos and an 8 page color insert illustrate how simple these visual aids are to use and create.

Synopsis: Most of us use visual supports in our daily lives - for example, a shopping list, calendar, or a roadmap. Visual supports are particularly beneficial to people with autism because they help make abstract concepts concrete and capitalise on the user's inherent visual learning strengths. "Visual Supports for People with Autism" shows parents and educators how incorporating these aids while teaching can improve academic performance, behaviour, interaction with others, and self-help skills. In a friendly, conversational-style, the authors, both certified behaviour analysts, describe the deficits typical of autism - language, memory, temporal sequential skills, attention, motivation, and social skills - and present strategies to use visual supports to address those issues at school and home. This guide presents an abundance of examples, illustrated by dozens of black and white and colour photos. Visual Supports also explains considerations such as portability, durability, preferences, age appropriateness, and effectiveness. While visual supports can enhance learning, they should, however, eventually be eliminated to avoid over-dependence on them.

An entire chapter describes different ways to fade visual supports. With this book, there's no limit to what can be taught, from fostering social interaction by using a graphic organiser of conversational talking points to learning to put away toys from video modelling. Most of the visual supports presented in this book are low-tech and easy-to-use, making it simple for parents and professionals to create their own, suited to the needs of their students. Inspiring success stories will further motivate parents and professionals to get started.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Visual Supports for People with Autism: A ...
Publisher: Woodbine House
Publication Date: 2007
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Fair
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket