"Guides for parents of children with autism have tended to focus on educational and social goals, but as the authors of this book point out, practical self-care skills are just as important. Psychologist Anderson, psychologist Amy L. Jablonski, psychologist Marcus L. Thomeer, and behavior analyst Vicki Madaus Knapp--all affiliated with summit Educational Resources in Tonawanda, NY--convincingly make the case that although teaching these children skills for independence is time-consuming and involved, the results in the long run benefit both parents and children. Yes, breaking into steps even the simplest task, such as hand washing, is daunting, but it makes for adults who fit into school and the greater community and experience success in their personal and work lives. Parents will appreciate the authors' patient, encouraging tone, not to mention their comprehensive coverage of eating, toileting, dressing, and personal hygiene. In addition to the illustrative case studies, there are appendixes with data sheets and instruction plans. This latest entry in the publisher's Topics in Autism series is recommended for public and academic libraries with autism collections."
Library Journal, August 2007
"'I can do it myself!' What parent hasn't heard these five words uttered by their child at various ages and stages of growth? Asserting independence is a typical part of development for most kids. However, autism can change all that, and even basic self-help skills like dressing, eating, toileting, and hygiene can be a challenge. Even smart kids with ASD become teens without knowing how to care for themselves. What's a parent to do?
Start now, no matter what you child's age, with this dazzler book as your guide: Self-Help Skills for People with Autism. Cover to cover we loved its systematic, functional approach for teaching self-help skills to spectrum kids, toddlers to teens, nonverbal to verbal. Parents learn to assess their child's functioning levels, set objectives, break skills down into simple tasks, and use step-by-step teaching strategies to help their child become successful and independent. Lots of lists, charts, visuals and question sets take the guess-work out of teaching. (See table 3-3) Valuable information for parents and educators alike."
-Autism Asperger's Digest, May/June 2008
"This is another title in the well-received series Topics in Autism; the publisher, Woodbine House, specializes in books for families with special-needs children. The authors are psychologists and behavior analysts with directly relevant and immediate professional experience; all are staff members with Summit Educational Resources, a facility providing services to developmentally disabled children and young adults.
The focus is, of course, self-help; the activities of daily life and daily self-care that will foster independence as the child grows older. In the first chapters of the book, the authors' teaching process is detailed, from identification of the target skill (dressing, personal hygiene, eating, and toileting) through monitoring progress, through eventual achievement of the goal. Case studies illustrate each of the target skills discussed; and worksheets/checklists are provided for parents and caregivers to use to structure the family's learning experience with a lesson plan, and understand the incremental gains using a task analysis data sheet. Appendices provide a comprehensive self-help inventory, tips for troubleshooting common problems, readiness skills, and education on the writing of instructional plans.
The authors advise that the techniques presented in this book are useful across the age and autism spectrum, including Asperger's, although the specific case studies presented are of children from three to their teens who are individuals with varying degrees of developmental disability in classic autism.
Self-Help Skills uses an engaging format to educate the reader; the text is consumer-friendly and accompanied by easy-to-understand tables, sidebars and many useful worksheets. This reviewer recommends that libraries acquiring this title make sure their photocopiers are in good working order!"
CAPHIS Consumer Connections
"Families often are so focused on teaching communication and social skills to children with autism that they overlook the importance of molding self-help skills. Self-Help Skills for People with Autism, written by Stephen Anderson, Ph.D, BCBA, and three colleagues, assists parents and caregivers in using systematic teaching strategies to train children to utilize these skills. Teachers who have the opportunity to include self-help skills in their curriculum also will find this book helpful.
In the first chapter the authors state why it is important for children with autism to acquire self-help skills and how their independence may be compromised without them. The next two chapters discuss how children with autism learn, the skills that should be taught to them, and the best time to teach them.
Helpful charts, forms and offsets throughout the book explain terminology and offer practical suggestions. Chapters 4 and 5 cover motivation and the importance of sculpting the environment to make it conducive to teaching. In many ways the chapter on motivation is one of the most important chapters in the book, and the authors do a very good job explaining its significance.
Chapter 6 discusses the use of systematic teaching based on applied behavior analysis (ABA). The authors manage to present this teaching method in an understandable and user-friendly manner. Chapter 7 examines the hows and whys of data collection, addresses the evaluation of progress and troubleshooting, and includes a task analysis data sheet.
The next chapter introduces the application of strategies with the teaching of dressing and personal hygiene skills. An instruction plan is illustrated in Table 8-2, and task analyses are presented for other common skills. Chapter 9 examines the skills and physical aspects of eating, as well as food sensitivities and how to increase a child’s food repertoire.
Chapter 10 tackles toileting and presents a data sheet for tracking bowel and bladder elimination. This is an excellent tool to help children with autism attain independence in this area. Families will appreciate the information provided here. Several strategies regarding planning for generalization are discussed in chapter 11.
Families and caregivers will welcome this well-thought-out, evidence-based book."
-ADVANCE for Speech-Language Pathologists & Audiologists, June 23, 2008
