Autism With Severe Learning Difficulties

This book is aimed at those who care for and/or educate the large group of individuals with autism who also have severe learning difficulties. Its main focus is children and young people but also applies to adults too.

Autism can exist with any level of general ability, but it often occurs with additional severe learning difficulties. Rita Jordan has a lifetime of experience of working with individuals with autism and in this practical guide she uses techniques from a variety of programmes to outline how to develop the strengths of individual children while reducing problem behaviour. Covering topics such as the implications of the dual diagnosis, characteristic behaviour and development, fostering social interaction, understanding, preventing and managing challenging behaviour as well as how to support parents and how to deal with sexuality and the transition to adulthood this is a complete guide. This book will be invaluable to parents and key workers.

This book shows parents how to nurture the learning and development of their child with autism by adapting different educational strategies. Parents will learn how to motivate play, encourage communication, stimulate cognitive development, and teach important everyday life skills, while growing in a loving relationship with their child.

This updated edition of the Handbook of Autism explores and expands on the practical and jargon free information of the best-selling first edition. The authors dispel many of the myths surrounding this puzzling and complex disorder. They provide practical information that makes sense, covering both medical and educational issues. Revised research and new case-studies, including follow-ups to the case-studies featured in the first edition reflect the developments made over the last eight years both in the understanding and management of autism. A list of contacts and services at the back of the book underlines its practical approach.

Your blueprint for building structure, consistency, and accountability year-round! This must-have guide provides special education teachers with a solid, workable action plan to manage the classroom and ensure student success. Learn instructional strategies to: Support all students with special needs, including those with more severe disabilities Organize your classroom, materials, and staff and student schedules Plan and assess standards-based lessons, annual IEP’s, behavioral interventions, and more Foster parent communication and staff collaboration Packed with real-world examples, free tools to use and share, a list of resources and a helpful glossary, this dynamic resource will inspire you, develop your teacher toolbox, and ensure your students are on the path to achievement!

When his son, Matthew, was finally diagnosed with autism at 12 years old, Mike Stanton thought the diagnosis marked the end of their troubles. In fact, despite the increase in reported levels of autism, appropriate support and clear information were hard to find. Mike had to teach himself and then attempt to pass on his knowledge and understanding to those who worked with his son. But because Matthew has high functioning autism his obvious abilities helped to disguise his more fundamental autistic spectrum disorder. As a consequence, Mike found that his efforts were not always appreciated. Like many parents, who ought to be a valuable source of information and help to busy professionals, he was sometimes made to feel as though it was him and not his son's autism that was the problem. So he wrote this accessible, informative book which provides a clear explanation of the autistic spectrum and dissects and dispels some of the myths about autistic behaviour and the various types of autism. Intended for the professionals who work with autistic people and their families and friends, Learning to Live with High Functioning Autism draws on the Stanton family's experience, and compares it with the experiences of others, to offer an honest portrayal of what living with autism is actually like for all of those involved. It offers an insight into the world of autistic children and the problems that they and their families face. It provides support and encouragement for families of children with autism, as well as being an invaluable source of information and advice for professionals working with autistic children and their families. Most important of all, it argues convincingly that learning to live with autism is a two-way process. We have to reject all models of intervention based upon coercion and compliance in order to work in partnership with young people with autism.

Children and young people with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (CLDD) have co-existing and overlapping conditions which can manifest in complex learning patterns, extreme behaviours and a range of socio-medical needs which are new and unfamiliar to many educators. Their combination of issues and layered needs – mental health, relationship, behavioural, physical, medical, sensory, communication and cognitive – mean they often disengage from learning and challenge even our most experienced teachers. This book provides school practitioners and leaders with an approach and resources to engage this often disenfranchized group of children in learning. The Engagement for Learning Framework has been developed and trialled by over 100 educational settings (both special and mainstream) with learners from early years to post-16. It gives practitioners from a range of disciplines a shared means of assessing, recording and developing personalized learning pathways and demonstrating progression for these children. The focus on inquiry means that however complex a young person’s needs, educators will be able to apply the approach. This practical and engaging book provides literature, tools and case study examples outlining who children and young people with CLDD are, why their engagement for learning is important and how the Engagement for Learning Framework can be used effectively by teachers and other professionals to ensure the best possible outcomes for these children.

Author of Could It Be Autism? A Parent's Guide to the First Signs and Next Steps Voices from the Spectrum is a compelling collection of personal accounts from people on the autism spectrum and those who care for them, including professionals, friends and family members. The essays in this collection tell of both the positive and negative effects of autism on individuals and families, and pose the question: is a diagnosis on the autism spectrum a puzzle to be solved, or something to be embraced and accepted? The broad scope of this book presents insights into the autism spectrum from many different perspectives - from first-hand accounts of the autistic child's school and childhood experiences to parents' and grandparents' reactions to a diagnosis. A number of chapters written by professionals explain their motivations for working with autistic people and reveal what they have learned from their work and how it has affected their lives. The contributors describe experiences of autism from the mildest to the most severe case, and share their methods of adapting to life on the spectrum. Voices from the Spectrum will appeal to a wide readership of adults and younger people on the autism spectrum, their families and friends, as well as practitioners.

At age 3, Marla Comm was professionally diagnosed with autism but felt to have intellectual potential. Both parents had socially-conformist values, so that Marla's anti-social behavior was unacceptable. Verbally abused by her parents, she was disciplined to become a normal child. It was never to be; her rigid, dysfunctional personality was not susceptible to change. Now age 50, Marla's lack of social feeling, rigid routines, problematic language, poor imagination, inflexibility, repetitive tendencies, and ritualistic behaviors - are lifelong traits consistent with autism. Anxiety, one of her most debilitating symptoms, has left her unable to achieve conscious relaxation or put aside life's inevitable problems. Daily chores frustrate Marla; however, it is nothing in comparison to the anger and self-mutilation she suffers when preparing meals in the kitchen. Montreal is totally wrong for Marla. Years of struggling in the mainstream, with little or no support, have resulted in a condition of burnout, symptomatic of mental and physical exhaustion. By having a personality complex with multiple co-morbidities, Montreal's environment worsens her misery by failing to meet her needs for affordable healthful food, human civility, supportive psychiatry, and adequate social services. Inclement weather - half the year - prevents daily exercise. For Marla, it means countless days of suffering that only a loss of consciousness can relieve: call it a daytime oblivion of deep sleep, made possible with cheap wine and knock-out pills. Gifted with a keen, long-term memory and intent on learning more about her neurological disorders, she has done extensive reading, in bits-and-pieces, over the years. The reader will experience the life story of a highly intelligent autistic woman, consumed with dysfunctional behavior; the very same Marla who - in the next breath - can discuss with professional expertise the nuances of her mental disorders. The hardcover version of this title is available for order now from Amazon: Severe Autism, Denied Support: Struggling to Survive in the Mainstream

One of the largest and most complex human services systems in history has evolved to address the needs of people with autism and intellectual disabilities, yet important questions remain for many professionals, administrators, and parents. What approaches to early intervention, education, treatment, therapy, and remediation really help those with autism and other intellectual disabilities improve their functioning and adaptation? Alternatively, what approaches represent wastes of time, effort, and resources? Controversial Therapies for Autism and Intellectual Disabilities, 2nd Edition brings together leading behavioral scientists and practitioners to shed much-needed light on the major controversies surrounding these questions. Expert authors review the origins, perpetuation, and resistance to scrutiny of questionable practices, and offer a clear rationale for appraising the quality of various services. The second edition of Controversial Therapies for Autism and Intellectual Disabilities has been fully revised and updated and includes entirely new chapters on psychology fads, why applied behavioral analysis is not a fad, rapid prompting, relationship therapies, the gluten-free, casein-free diet, evidence based practices, state government regulation of behavioral treatment, teaching ethics, and a parents’ primer for autism treatments.