I picked up a few books at Barnes and Noble...

Not that I really had the money, but I decided to use a little of our savings to buy some books on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Specifically, I bought books on teaching kids on the Spectrum, which includes dealing with unwanted behaviors (of which my son has plenty!).

The first book I decided to look through is from a really good series of books entitled Topics in Autism. This particular book is called Visual Supports for People with Autism: A Guide for Parents and Professionals.I'm about 40 pages into it, and I have gotten some great ideas on implementing visual supports for things like doing chores, remembering to bring your dirty items down from your room, as well as school-related things like multiplication and labeling parts of a sentence, and using graphic organizers for various things outside of school (like scripting a phone call). It also talks about Video Self Modeling, Social Stories, Thinking Stories and Power Cards; all things that I think could definitely assist my child.

Once I get through the entire book, I will be able to see what will be workable in our school day and what will actually benefit him. I don't want to throw so much at him that I can't tell what's really working and what isn't.

I also got STOP That Seemingly Senseless Behavior! FBA Interventions for People with Autism. This is another in the same series. I've flipped through this one a bit, and I think I need to get the companion book (actually the first of these 2 books), called Functional Behavior Assessment for People with Autism: Making Sense of Seemingly Senseless Behavior. I am actually pretty familiar with Functional Behavior Analysis (or Assessment), but I think it would be an interesting read nonetheless. I may go ahead and purchase the book.

Other books I purchased:
Big Picture Thinking: Using Central Coherence Theory to Support Social Skills, A Book for Students

• This looks like a really good book. It goes through things like Feelings and Emotions, Self-Control, Perspective Taking, Communication, Relationships, Interactions, etc

Putting on the Brakes: Activity Book for Kids with ADD or ADHD

• I haven't gotten a chance to look through this one at length, but the premise seems straight forward. It seems to dovetail with the other books I've gotten

The Parents' Guide to Teaching Kids with Asperger Syndrom and Similar ASDs Real-Life SKILLS for Independence

• Another book I'm not sure about, but it looked interesting on the shelf. This one may be a book for later in the school year.

The PRT Pocket Guide: Pivotal Response Treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorders

• I chose this book because PRT has science behind it, and this book explains what PRT looks like and examples of how to use it. Specifically, this book was of interest because it explains the principles behind:
• motivating children with natural reinforcers
• reducing disruptive behavior
• encouraging communication and social initiations
• developing a challenging curriculum
• assessing children meaningfully in natural environments
• helping families weave interventions into everyday routines
• ensuring that children generalize skills to other setting

 The Survival Guide for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders (and Their Parents)

• I chose this book because it looked very kid-friendly. At first glance, it looks like something that M will choose to read on his own...once we tell him about this newest diagnosis (no, we haven't told him yet...). I think it will be valuable for him to have a resource, other than a parent, that he can go to when he has questions and doesn't want to discuss things with us. What's nice about this book is that it has lots of sections on a variety of topics, including but not restricted to social skills. It goes into things like hygiene, sleeping, stims, eating, etc. 

So I'm starting with the books that I think will help me with school the most. I will update as we get into the school year on what things seem to be working and what things seem to be a waste of time. I'm both looking forward to this and dreading it. On the one hand, if we come across something that works, then YAY! On the other hand, I want to get the most bang for my buck and my time. Gathering all this information is incredibly time consuming, and I haven't even started putting it together with the academic curriculum! I probably should have given myself more than a week....oh well. ADD here too. :P 

Looking forward to the new school year

Starting tomorrow, I'll be spending much of this coming week figuring out what we'll be studying for at least the first half of 6th grade. I know I want to do unit studies, and I have a list of subjects M is interested in. The challenge will be figuring out ways to use those interests across all subjects.

I also need to figure out how to include religion and science in school this year, as well as some exercises I want him to do, sensory activities and social skills. Some of those things will hinge on what services I can get him through the professionals I've contacted, so I don't want to put too much effort into that until I know who will be doing what. But it all still needs to be considered.

What makes all this more difficult is that I have to figure out ways to keep him engaged in what we are doing, or he won't work. That's the major challenge with him...and I don't know that I like what precedent making everything interesting for him sets. But like any other behavior, I think that slowly showing him that he can do something and then starting to lessen the rewards associated with it can work. I just have to figure out the correct timing.

It's all a challenge...even for people who don't have special needs kids. But I think I'm ready for it.