Friday, April 8, 2011
Point to Happy: For Children on the Autism Spectrum
Conceived of, written, and designed for children on the autism spectrum, Point to Happy combines a picture book and a pointer to create a breakthrough in reaching children who communicate best through pictures. Ingenious in its simplicity, it was created by a grandmother, Miriam Smith, and mother, Afton Fraser, for Ms Fraser’s son, a young boy on the autism spectrum.
Point to happy. Point to sad. Point to hug. Give me a hug. The parent reads, the child points. It turns reading into a joyful, shared experience. Dozens of friendly photographs are compelling to look at and easy to understand. The text is clear and direct. By pointing to the pictures in the book—moods, activities, everyday objects, the rituals of going to bed and getting ready in the morning—children will learn to convey their wants and needs, their experiences and, most importantly, their feelings.
The simple device of the pointer, with its soft, molded hand on a wand—safety-tested and 100 percent nontoxic and PVC-and phthalate-free—begs to be held and used. And using it—the motor task of holding and pointing, again and again—is an effective tool to help a child focus.
About the Author
Miriam Smith, a consultant at CUNY Media Relations and former magazine writer and designer, is a doting grandmother of seven. She lives in Northport, New York.
Margo Smithwick, daughter of Miriam and sister of Afton, is a professional photographer.
Toni Giannone, who consulted on the book, is a Communication Disorders Specialist CCC/SLP, and founder of The Speech Academy.
Afton Fraser, daughter of Miriam Smith, is a writer, actress, and mother of three, one of whom has autism. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Paraprofessional's Handbook for Effective Support in Inclusive Classrooms By Julie Causton-Theoharis
The Paraprofessional's Handbook for Effective Support in Inclusive Classrooms
By Julie Causton-Theoharis, Ph.D.
"Excellent ... clarifies the important roles that paraprofessionals can take in the classroom—and provides a myriad of ideas and suggestions for helping educators meet the needs of students with disabilities in effective and enlightened ways." —Kimber Malmgren, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-MadisonWhat does a great paraprofessional need to know and do? Find out in this handy survival guide, equally useful for the brand-new paraprofessional or the 20-year classroom veteran. Packed with friendly guidance, practical tips, and relatable first-person stories, this book reveals the best ways to provide effective, respectful services to students in inclusive classrooms.
"A book that everyone associated with inclusive education will want to read and talk about ... Parents, teachers, and school leaders alike will surely count it among their most valued resources." —Douglas Biklen, Ph.D., Dean of Education, Syracuse University
Julie Causton-Theoharis, a teacher, professor, and educational consultant with more than 10 years of experience as a paraprofessional instructor, knows exactly how to help readers stop feeling overwhelmed so they can start making a difference. She answers all the urgent questions paraprofessionals have as they navigate their complex job in the inclusive classroom, showing readers how to:
- provide skillful and subtle support to students while encouraging their independence
- resolve challenging behavior in gentle and positive ways
- find students' strengths and match support practices to them
- fade their support
- make informed decisions about content-specific accommodations, modifications, and adaptations
- presume competence and keep expectations high
- facilitate peer supports and friendships
- partner with teachers, SLPs, psychologists, families, and other members of the educational team
- relieve their own stress and avoid burnout
The essential guide for every paraprofessional—and a must-have for the educators and other professionals who support them—this empowering book takes the guesswork out of a critical classroom role and helps students with disabilities reach their full potential.
The Paraprofessional's Handbook for Effective Support in Inclusive Classrooms
Table of Contents
About the Author
Foreword
Paula Kluth
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. The Paraprofessional
2. Special Education
3. Inclusive Education
4. Collaborating with Others: Working within a Team
5. Rethinking Students: Presuming Competence
6. Providing Social Supports: Standing Back
7. Providing Academic Support
8. Providing Behavioral Supports
9. Supporting You Supporting Them: Self-Care
Appendix: Useful Web Sites and Resources for Assistive Technology
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Shut Up About...Your Perfect Kid!
From trips to self-centered therapists, to mothers experimenting with Ritalin, to the harsh reality of school calls (no good can come from them), Shut Up About . . Your Perfect Kid! bravely ventures where other books haven't, featuring humorous, heartwarming stories from a wide range of parents of "imperfect" children. Narrated by two "imperfect" sisters and mothers of children with Asperger's syndrome and bipolar disorder, the book features a compilation of stories that demonstrate the sheer humor and absurdity of raising imperfect children in a perfection-preoccupied world. It will have virtually any parent laughing out loud and appreciating the gifts and beauty that every child has to offer (yes, even imperfect ones).
Shut Up About...Your Perfect Kid! (Shut Up About. . .)
Amazon Reviews
"Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid! has it all. Humor, practical, advice, and inspiration. Most of all, it is a heartfelt outpouring of love from two mothers with special children who discovered themselves along the way. Read this book and you too will discover yourself." -- V. John Alexandrov, best-selling author of Your Spiritual Gold Mind, Affirmations of Wealth, and The Money Chi
"A book of hilarious, imperfect proportions. You'll laugh, you'll cry, but mostly you'll breathe a deep sigh of relief when you read about all the other parents with wonderfully, extraordinary imperfect kids just like yours." -- Deb DiSandro, founder and president of Slightlyoff.com and author of Tales of a Slightly Off Supermom: Fighting for Truth, Justice, and Clean Underwear
"Instead of emphasizing the problems they face, Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid! celebrates the strength of children with disabilities and their families. [It] illustrates wonderfully the power of humor as a tool for coping with the challenges facing children with disabilities and those who love them.
The combination of warmth and hilarity evident in the stories in this book will help parents of children with disabilities maintain a healthy perfpective on the joys and pains they face every day. The honesty, openness, and self-deprecating humor of the mothers who wrote this book -- and the children who let them write it -- provide many valuable and hilarious lessons that will be appreciated by any parent of a child with special needs." -- Deirdre Logan, Ph.D. Children's Hospital Boston, Assistant Professor of Pscyhology, Harvard Medical School
"Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid! is a delightful compilation of anecdotes from the real lives of sisters, Patty and Gina Terrasi, who parent their children with unconditional humor and do so with resounding success. Their ability to make the oridinary family one of extraordinary poignancy, by honoring the humanity in each of their special children, is a blessing for all parents who struggle with their own family issues of acceptance, expectation, and authority. As an educator and psychotherapist, I am struck by the humility and forthrightness of these authors as they present a long-overdue look at the lives of special families who must contend with a society that emulates perfection. Above and beyond the contagious humor within this book is the caveat it contains for all of us: open your eyes to the gifts that each and every one of us bears -- young or old, large or small, abled or challenged -- you may miss the most brilliant gems in life if you merely scan the surface of human existence." -- Sally McCue, LICSW
"Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid! provides an articulate, hilarious, and compelling perspective on raising a special child. It should be mandated reading for every parent of a child with special needs and offers parents a welcome respite from the barrage of confusing and sometiimes contradictory self-help books usually recommended." -- Leslie Spieth, Ph.D. clinical child psychologist
Instead of emphasizing the problems they face, Shut Up About. . . Your Perfect Kid! celebrates the strengths of children with disabilities and their families. It illustrates wonderfully the power of humor as a tool for coping with the challenges raising children with disabilities and those who love them. The combination of warmth and hilarity evident in the stories in this book will help parents of children with disabilities find new ways to maintain a healthy perspective on the joys and pains they face every day. The honesty, openness, and self-deprecating humor of the mothers who wrote this book -- and the children who let them write it -- provide many valuable and hilarious lessons that will be appreciated by any parent of a child with special needs. --Deirdre Logan, Ph.D., Psychologist, Children's Hospital Boston
Shut Up About . . Your Perfect Kid! has it all; humor, practical advice and inspiration. Most of all, it is a heartfelt outpouring of love from two mothers with special children who discovered themselves along the way. Read this book and you, too, will discover yourself. --John Alexandrov, best-selling author of Your Spiritual Gold Mind, Affirmations of Wealth, and The Money Chi
Shut Up About . . Your Perfect Kid! is a delightful compilation of anecdotes from the real lives of sisters who parent their children with unconditional humor and do so with resounding success. Their ability to make the ordinary family experience one of extraordinary poignancy, by honoring the humanity in each of their special children, is a blessing for all parents who struggle with their own family issues of acceptance, expectation, and authority... Above and beyond the contagious humor within this book is the caveat that it contains for all of us: open your eyes to the gifts that each and every one of us bear -- young or old, large or small, abled, or challenged -- you may miss the most brilliant gems in life if you merely scan the surface of human existence. --Sally McCue, LISCW
Shut Up About...Your Perfect Kid! (Shut Up About. . .)
- Paperback: 172 pages
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0979071305
- ISBN-13: 978-0979071300
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