Autism The Eighth Colour Of The Rainbow

Stone shows how shared meanings can be learnt and expressed between autistic and non-autistic individuals, though they experience different perceptions of reality. She presents ways of creating autistic-friendly environments, modifying traditional responses to autistic behaviour and using literal learning, providing useful examples and exercises.

Through her questioning of traditional approaches regarding autism, and with determination and patience, Florica Stone has been able to develop a satisfying and supportive two-way channel of communication with her autistic son. In Autism - The Eighth Colour of the Rainbow Florica shows how shared meanings can be learnt and expressed between autistic and non-autistic individuals, though they experience radically different perceptions of reality. Through interacting with and listening to her autistic friends and son, she began to understand the autistic learning style and to decipher the various behavioural needs that arise from their particular sensory processing. In this inspiring, much-needed practical guide she presents ways of creating autistic-friendly environments, modifying habitual or traditional responses to autistic behaviour, using forms of literal learning, and provides many useful examples and exercises. This book will help parents, teachers and professionals to learn how to interact positively with autistic children and bring about long-lasting changes.

Providing a theoretical foundation for understanding communication and language impairments specific to autism, Olga Bogdashina explores the effects of different perceptual and cognitive styles on the communication and language development of autistic children. She stresses the importance of identifying each autistic individual's nonverbal language - which can be visual, tactile, kinaesthetic, auditory, olfactory or gustatory - with a view to establish a shared means of verbal communication. She offers an explanation of why certain approaches, for example PECS, might work with some autistic children but not others. Offering real insights, the `What They Say' sections enable the reader to see through the eyes of autistic individuals and to understand their language differences first hand. `What We Can Do to Help' sections throughout the book give practical recommendations on what to do in order to help autistic individuals use their natural mechanisms to learn and develop social and communicative skills. The final chapters are devoted to assessment and intervention issues with practical recommendations for selecting appropriate methods and techniques to enhance communication, based on the specific mode of communication a person uses.

The use of music therapy is long established with people with Autistic Spectrum Conditions. The combination of using music and relationship work in person-centred approaches supports the three main areas of difficulty people with autism often experience; social interaction, communication and imagination. Current research supports the positive psychological benefits of music therapy when people with autism spectrum conditions engage with music therapy. This book celebrates the richness of music therapy approaches and brings together the voices of practitioners in the UK. With a strong focus on practice-based evidence it showcases clinicians, researchers and educators working in a variety of settings across the lifespan.

People with severe autism experience the sensory information they receive from the world completely differently to those not on the spectrum. They feel cut off and overwhelmed, and their behaviour can become very distressed. This handbook shows how we can engage with people who are non-verbal or semi-verbal and sometimes even those who have speech but lose the power to process it when they are in crisis. We can help them to make sense of the world. Intensive Interaction uses a person’s own body language to make contact with them and Sensory Integration develops the capacity of an individual to receive, process and apply meaning to information provided by the senses through targeted physical activities. These techniques can be used to develop an environment tailored to the particular sensory needs of the person with severe autism, reducing factors that cause distress. With illustrations, case examples and a wide range of tried-and-tested techniques, this practical guide provides indispensable tools for parents, carers and other professionals supporting people with severe autism and other learning disabilities.

Annotation - Professional but readable overview of an early years class for children with autism- Provides both teacher's viewpoint and parents' perspectives- Celebrates the personalities of children with autism.

This book contains a wide spectrum of topics organized within a relatively fixed framework of Applied Linguistics theory and practice, revolving around the concepts of stability and variability that capture the dynamic nature of the phenomena characterizing language, learning and teaching. The primary strength of individual chapters lies in the fact that the vast majority report original empirical studies carried out in diverse second/foreign language learning contexts – investigating interesting issues across various nationalities, ages, educational and professional groups of language learners, and teachers. The issues under scrutiny entail the ‘classic’ recurrent topics related to language learning and teaching, such as communicative competence, input, orality and literacy, learner characteristics and strategies, and teacher development – to mention just a few. In addition, ‘recent arrivals,’ to borrow a marketing metaphor, are also present, as the authors consider learning and teaching implications resulting from the status of English as a language of international communication, and discuss related concepts of intercultural competence along with language learners’ identity and creativity. The multilingual and multicultural contributors to the present volume are researchers – foreign and second language learners and teachers themselves – who offer the reader a range of methodological designs that have been successfully used in Applied Linguistics research. The framework of stability and variability suggests that changes leading to progress and development derive from stable foundations that account for the sense of continuity and belonging in applied linguists’ communities of practice.

I am the mother of an Autistic child in America. It took me years to speak those words without crumbling into tears. I now see past the tears and embrace my roll as the mother of my Michael. The sweet little Autistic boy who loves the color red and Santa Claus. As parents we are teachers to our children. I have learned the most valuable lesson of all. My Autistic son is also a teacher. I now know that I am his student. Michael has taught me to look and to focus on details around me. It is the way I can relate to him. Color is all around us. I now understand what colors can truly mean to a person and how they have shaped our Michael. I have learned to look at the colors of my life and embrace them. It has never been more clear and bright and until now it had no real meaning to me. It was just color. I took the colors of my life for granted. I like anyone else gave little thought to Autism until it knocked at my front door one day, came in, and will be living with us forever. This book is for those who have had this similar knock at their door. It is for those who only receive it as a visiting guest from time to time. It is also for those who know someone who is living with Autism. This is our story. The Color Red. We received the knock at our door five and a half years ago. We are opening our doors to you. It is important for many living and dealing with Autism to know "what goes on behind closed doors" for a family living with Autism.