Books and Helpful Materials

Activity Schedules for Children with Autism, Teaching Independent Behavior, by Lynn E. McClannahan, Ph.D. & Patricia J. Krantz, Ph.D.
Here is a book that fully describes, in easy to understand terms, everything you need to know in order to develop successful activity schedules. This book can be used successfully with young children, adolescents, and adults, rewarding them with more control over their lives.  Parents and teachers can both use this book.

Asperger’s and Self-Esteem Insight and Hope Through Famous Role Models, by Norm Ledgin
The author has identified twelve more people from history and recent times, figures who are well known and respected for their achievements despite evidence of traits that scientists now identify with Asperger’s Syndrome.  Each of these people experienced difficulties negotiating everyday life, but each rose above those difficulties to contribute to society in ways that are still being measured.  Most important, each is a model for emulation, for showing just how much one can accomplish, even when affected by the conditions of Asperger’s Syndrome.  Some of the people included in this book are Carl Sagan, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Orson Welles, and Albert Einstein.

Asperger’s Syndrome:  A Guide for Parents and Professionals, by Tony Attwood, forwarded by Lorna Wing
Providing a description and analysis of the unusual characteristics of Asperger’s syndrome, with strategies to reduce those that are most conspicuous and debilitating, this guide brings together the most relevant and useful information on all aspects of the syndrome, from language and social behavior to motor clumsiness.  Incorporating case studies from the author’s own practical experience, the book contains many examples of, and numerous quotations from, people with Asperger’s syndrome.

Asperger Syndrome and Sensory Issues, Practical Solutions for Making Sense of the World, by Brenda Smith Myles, et. al.
“This is an immensely valuable book-filled with practical advice for analyzing sensory processing difficulties…will find this book helpful in designing environmental adaptations and intervention strategies that enable individuals to be more successful.”   Diane Adreon, M.S., associate director, University of Miami – Center for Autism & Related Disabilities.

Asperger Syndrome in the Family:  Redefining Normal, by Liane Holliday Willey, forwarded by Pamela B. Tanguay
Liane Holliday Willey and one of her daughters both have Asperger Syndrome.  In Asperger Syndrome in the Family she looks, with honesty, wisdom and humor, at the implications this has for her family, both the Aspie and the non-Aspie members.  Through personal vignettes, frank discussions and practical suggestions for dealing with everything from major to minor Aspie challenges, Liane, her husband and their three daughters bravely open their home to their readers, inviting them to look behind the curtains at their vision of Aspie life.  Not only does the book underscore the importance of mutual support and respect in the Aspie family—in fact in any family—it offers practical help for families in similar situations.  This is a rich and positive book that will speak to all those whose lives have been affected by Asperger Syndrome.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication:  Management of Severe Communication Disorders in Children and Adults 2nd, by David R. Beukelman, Pat Mirenda
Thorough discussion of how to plan and implement AAC interventions, with in-depth examinations of the communication needs of people in intensive care settings and children and adults with autism, traumatic brain injury, intellectual disabilities, and sensory impairments.

Autism Through a Sister’s Eyes, by Eve B. Band, Emily Hecht
When young people have questions about a brother or sister with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s Syndrome clear answers can be hard to find.  “Why does Daniel do that?” is the question Emily recalled asking her parents as a young child when she first sought to understand her older brother and his differences.  Written by Eve Band, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, and Emily Hecht, this book gives voice to Emily’s actual story:  her questions about her brother, her search for answers about autism, her exploration of her feelings as a sibling of a high-functioning autistic brother.  Told in her voice, Emily’s story is as uplifting as it is filled with valuable information for parents and siblings, or any individual whose life is touched by a person with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s Syndrome.

Because We Can Change the World:  A Practical Guide to Building Cooperation, Inclusion Classroom Communities, by Mara Sapon-Shevin
A resource for preschool through middle school teachers, exploring the many facets of community building and social change and providing practical strategies for creating and maintaining classrooms that support diversity and help students learn to act powerfully.  Each chapter begins with examples of classroom situations, then offers a vision and suggestions and examples for classroom practice, including activities, games, songs, and children’s literature titles.  Activities can be implemented with a minimum of materials and preparation.

Beyond the Silence, by Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay
Tito is an 11-year-old boy with autism.  He comes from south India and has a very special talent.  Despite being almost completely non-verbal, Tito successfully communicates his thoughts and feelings through remarkable prose and poetry, written in fluent English.  He explains how he deals with his autism—a hidden disability that shows itself through problems in communication, imagination, and social interaction—and reflects on how it affects his view of the world.

Beyond Discipline:  From Compliance to Community, by Alfie Kohn
Adopting a constructivist approach to discipline and classroom management, Kohn challenges some deeply held basic assumptions about the nature of children, and the widely practiced quick-fix classroom management strategies that have resulted…Kohn’s ideas are similar to the humanistic approaches proposed by Abraham Maslow and Carl R. Rogers.

Beyond the Wall:  Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome, by Stephen Shore
An interesting, well-written and insightful autobiographical account of the life of a person with high functioning autism/Asperger Syndrome.

Children with Autism Diagnosis and Interventions to Meet Their Needs, Second Edition, by Colwyn Trevarthen, Kenneth Aitken, Dwespina Papoudi, & Jaqueline Robarts
This is a completely revised and substantially expanded new edition that embraces new developments in this rapidly developing field.  Updated chapters include a description of the latest information on the findings of brain research, and the contributions of music therapy and psychoanalysis.  There is an enlarged chapter on educational provision for children with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome that provides the latest methods for improving the learning of these children, to give them the best possible preparation for a life of greater autonomy.

Cognitive Counseling & Persons with Special Needs Adapting Behavioral Approaches to the Social Context, by Herbert Lovett
Herbert Lovett shows himself in this book as a masterful teacher.  His message is clear and convincing:  We cannot help others in a meaningful, sustaining way without forming a working relationship with them and, with patience and sensitivity, this can be done also with individuals with profound disabilities who are usually misjudged as unable to communicate.  Even with those that have the most severe disabilities, he is aiming at finding ways of working honestly and respectfully to develop trusting relationships.  Throughout, one finds cautions about mechanistic uses of behavior techniques.   Lovett does not reject Skinner’s research and its usefulness:  he puts its application in perspective with greater emphasis on the individual person than on specific methodology.

Collaborative Teaming, by Martha E. Snell, Johnna Elliot, Rachel Janney, Christine Burton
Teachers who work in inclusive school settings demonstrate how to create a successful collaborative team through building teamwork skills, developing problem solving methods, using collaborative teaching, and improving communication skills among team members.  Includes reproducible forms for planning and implementing inclusion support programs and for organizing information for IEP meetings.

Comic Strip Conversations, by Carol Gray
Helps the child to understand social concepts.  This is an ingenious, insightful, and effective method of improving social understanding for all participants in the Comic Strip Conversation.

Communication Unbound:  How Facilitated Communication is Challenging Traditional Views of Autism and Ability-Disability, by Douglas P. Biklen, Peter Knoblock (Editor)
Anyone who has an interest in the contested territory of Autism should read this book.

Contested Words, Contested Science, by Douglas Biklen, Donald N. Cardinal
Presents new studies providing evidence in support of facilitated communication, a technique that allows persons with autism, Down syndrome, and other pervasive developmental disorders to type their thoughts on a computer keyboard.  Topics include how teachers confirm the authorship of facilitated communication, a controlled study using computer games, and suggested procedures for confirming authorship through research.  For professionals working with people with developmental disorders.

Co-Teaching Students with Autism K-5, by Judy Kinney and Debbie Fisher
Offers a fresh and innovative co-teaching model for successful inclusion of students with autism into the regular education classroom.  Authors Judi Kinney and Debbie Fisher, a special and a regular educator, have been co-teaching for the past six years and have developed a successful program for teaching students with autism.  This book reflects hands-on experiences and innovations in their classroom:  Constant curriculum adaptations, inclusionary activities, discipline, pull-out issues, working with each other’s students equally and more.  Includes numerous reproducibles to allow you to implement their ideas in your classroom.

Creating an Inclusive School, by Richard A. Villa
This book is a comprehensive resource on inclusive schooling—including children and youth with disabilities in general education classrooms.  The editors have gathered experts on inclusion and practitioners in the field to discuss the foundation of inclusion and describe promising practices in K-12 schools.  Contributors show how schools can provide a “least restricted environment” for students with disabilities through inclusive schooling, using such instructional strategies as cooperative learning, teaming, multi-age grouping, multicultural education, social skills training, and educational technology applications.

Emergence:Labeled Autistic by Temple Grandin, Margaret M. Scariano
A true story that is both uniquely moving and exceptionally inspiring.  As a child, Temple Grandin was forced to leave her “normal” school and enroll in a school for autistic children.  This searingly honest account captures the isolation and fears suffered by autistics and their families and the quiet strength of one woman who insisted on a miracle.

The Differentiated Classroom Responding to the Needs of All Learners, by Carol Ann Tomlinson
Drawing on nearly three decades of experience, author Carol Ann Tomlinson describes a way of thinking about teaching and learning that will change all aspects of how you approach students and your classroom.  She looks to the latest research on learning, education, and change for the theoretical basis of differentiated instruction and why it’s so important to today’s children. 

I Don’t Want to Be Inside Me Anymore:  Messages from an Autistic Mind, by Birgir Sellin, Anthea Bell (Translator)
Born in Germany in 1973, Sellin was a happy child, but shortly before turning two, he suddenly grew terrified of other children, stopped talking and retreated into a dark and lonely world for the next 16 years.  Although autistic, he taught himself to read and then began to type—he was now able to express himself and he developed increased control.   This book is a firsthand account of rare eloquence & immediacy, a remarkable story of raw human courage and—ultimately—indomitable hope.  Birger has broken through a wall between unbearable worlds, and what he has written is nothing other than the poetry of the human soul.  Texts of a bizarre beauty. 

Including Students with Severe and Multiple Disabilities in Typical Classrooms:   Practical Strategies for Teachers, by June Downing
Find answers to these complex questions.  How can you create teaching strategies that reach students with and without disabilities?  How can you adapt curricula and instructional techniques for students with significant challenges?   What roles do peers and adults play in the inclusion process? 

Inclusive Programming for Middle School Students with Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome, by Sheila Wagner, M. Ed.
In this book for the middle school, the author documents suggestions, strategies and lessons learned regarding inclusion.  This manual is not designed to set up demonstration programs but does present different issues and perspectives. 

Learning to Listen, Positive Approaches and People with Difficult Behavior, by Herbert Lovett
Quotes about this book include:  “a comprehensible, readable, and humorous critique of standard behavioral techniques which seek to control instead of understand” (Community Resources), “In this ground-breaking book, Lovett shares the importance of meeting the person with challenging behaviors on a human level” (Disability Solutions). (3 copies) 

Movement Differences and Diversity in Autism/Mental Retardation Appreciating and Accommodating People with Communication and Behavior Challenges, by Anne m. Donnellan, PhD and Martha R. Leary, MA. CCC-SLP (4 copies) every team received a copy of this book at the summer institute .
Appreciating and accommodating persons with communication and behavior challenges.  The book that started the revolution. 

Navigating the Social World A Curriculum for Individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome, High Functioning Autism and Related Disorders, by Jeanette McAfee, M.D.
Dr. McAfee is a pediatrician and the mother of a child with high functioning autism.  She combined her knowledge with the knowledge of parents, teachers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and applied behavioral therapists to write social, behavioral and abstract thinking skills programs for her daughter.  These programs later became the foundation of this book.  The book contains handouts, worksheets and tracking forms that provide a structured, logical and progressive approach.  There are clear explanations of the relevant issues for each goal and the activities are consistent with the theoretical models of autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.

New Social Stories (2nd Edition Illustrated), by Carol Gray
This is a direct and effective way to improve social understanding between the child with autism and those who care for them and work on their behalf. 

Nobody Nowhere: The Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic, by Donna Williams
A challenging, wrenching, and disturbing memoir.  Williams is attached to the outside world firmly enough to evoke for the reader the disjointed, phantasmagoric, yet intensely vivid nature of her experiences as an autistic.  Labeled deaf, retarded, disturbed, and insane, Donna Williams lived in a world of her own.  Alternating between rigid hostility and extroversion, she waged what she termed her war against “the world.”  She lived in a dreamlike state, withdrawn, viewing her incomprehensible surroundings from the security of a “world under glass,” parroting the voices of those around her in the hope that they would leave her alone. 

A Parent’s Guide to Autism:  Answers to the Most Common Questions, by Charles Hart
Despite the tremendous need for parents of autistic children to learn as much as they can about treatments, life choices, and possible cures, there has never been a broad subject survey or a complete examination of the anecdotal evidence until now.  Includes the success rate of the best-known treatments and more.

People with Disabilities Who Challenge the System, by Donna H. Lehr (Editor), Fredda Brown (Editor)
This exceptional book demonstrates how to build supports to surmount the unique challenges of including people who are deaf-blind, have severe cognitive disabilities, or have serious behavior problems in school, the workplace, and the community.  Compelling case examples and practical text not only promote self-determination, but also identify ways to overcome barriers to meaningful inclusion.  For human services professionals, program staff trainers, and graduate students who are studying the education of individuals with severe disabilities, this comprehensive book offers a clearer understanding of the common issues individuals of all ages with the most severe disabilities face in their day-to-day interactions at school, at work, and at home. 

Pretending to be Normal: Living with Asperger’s Syndrome, by Liane Holliday Willey, forwarded by Tony Attwood
Pretending to be Normal tells the story of a woman who, after years of self-doubt and self-denial, learned to embrace her Asperger’s Syndrome traits with thanksgiving and joy.  Chronicling her life from her earliest memories through her life as a university lecturer, writer, wife and mother, Liane Holliday Willey shares, with insight and warmth, the daily struggles and challenges that face many of those who have Asperger’s Syndrome.  Pretending to be Normal invites its readers to welcome the Asperger community with open acceptance, for it makes it clear that, more often than not, they are capable, viable, interesting and kind people who simply find unique ways to exhibit those qualities.  The last part of the book consists of a series of substantial appendices which provide helpful coping strategies and guidance, based on the author’s own experience, for  range of situations. 

Restructuring High Schools for All Students:  Taking Inclusion to the Next Level, by Cheryl M. Jorgenson
This unique resource asserts—and demonstrates—that all students benefit from the social opportunities and academic expectations of high school. Restructuring High Schools for All Students provides numerous strategies that readers can apply in their own schools—concrete information on creating a collaborative environment, rethinking staff roles, and designing an inclusive curriculum.  And, using real-life examples, it shows how self-determination, transition planning, and other special education practices can be broadened to work in general education settings.

Speechless:  Facilitating Communication for People without Voices, Rosemary Crossley
Twenty years ago Crossley developed the technique by which people who cannot speak because of neurological or other disorders can communicate by typing on a keyboard with the assistance of a facilitator.  Here she chronicles her struggle to get the approach accepted and used.  Among other stories, she recounts that of teenager Annie MacDonald, who later wrote “Annie’s Coming Out.”   

Through the Eyes of Aliens:  A book about Autistic People, by Jasmine Lee O’Neill
Written in a down to earth, easy to understand manner Jasmine Lee O’Neill’s—Through the Eyes of Aliens gives parents the information they truly need the most.  The author leaves no stone unturned covering all the most important issues from sensory to social issues and more.  A major point that she makes better than anyone is that autistic people have the capability of making their lives beautiful, if they are only allowed to be what they are.  For those involved with autistic people, or those who simply want to know more about this misunderstood disability, Jasmine’s book is required reading. 

Transition Time:  Let’s Do Something Different!, by Jean Feldman
Over 400 ideas and activities for making transitions smooth, meaningful, and fun.  Periods of time between planned activities become teachable moments using this invaluable resource with its many games, songs, chants, and language and movement activities.  Written for preschool educators, this book is used widely by K—2 teachers. 

Visual Strategies For Improving Communication, Practical Supports for School and Home, by Linda A. Hodgdon, M. ED., CCC-SLP
“This is an immensely valuable book filled with practical advice for analyzing sensory processing difficulties…will find this book helpful in designing environmental adaptations and intervention strategies that enable individuals to be more successful.”   Diane Adreon, M.S., associate director, University of Miami – Center for Autism & Related Disabilities.

Barron & Barron (1992). There's a boy in here. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Williams, D.  (1998).  Autism and sensing: The Unlost instinct.  Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley