Everyday Education: Visual Support For Children With Autism

Description:
Visual support aids can be highly effective tools for increasing levels of communication and independence in children with autism, who often have difficulty interpreting spoken language and non-verbal facial expressions. Fully illustrated with inspiring examples, 'Everyday Education' provides a wealth of ideas for creating visual support aids for children on the autism spectrum. Photographs and clear, practical explanations describe how these tools can be arranged helpfully around the home for the child to use. The authors describe how visual support aids can be used in all kinds of everyday situations, from labelling - for example, sticking a picture of a dinner plate with a knife and fork to the chair in which the child sits at meal times - to putting together a pictorial activities schedule for the child to refer to. This fun and encouraging book will be a valuable source of ideas for parents of children with autism and professionals working with them.

Review:
''These are my signs! Before I got my signs all I could do was cry.' - Dicte, a 7-year-old with infantile autism'

Table of Contents:
Contents: Foreword. Preface. Introduction. 1. The physical arrangements. 2. Daily schedule. 3. Preparing for special occasions. 4. Support for learning new skills. 5. Structured activities. 6. Visual support for communication. 7. Visual support for social interaction. 8. Practical information. References.

Author Biography:
Pernille Dyrbjerg is the mother of Dicte, who has been diagnosed with infantile autism. She is a teacher at a specialist school for autistic children in the Copenhagen area. Maria Vedel is a hearing and speech therapist. She has worked for a number of years as an adviser for parents with autistic children and with professionals who work with autistic children. Through the years, the authors have worked together giving seminars at the Centre for Autism, Copenhagen, where they both teach.