General Interventions for Home and at School
The Syracuse Community-Referenced Curriculum Guide For Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities. By Alison Ford, Ph.D., Roberta Schnorr, M.S., Luanna Meyer, Ph.D., Linda Davern, M.S., (Syracuse University), Jim Black, M.S., and Patrick Dempsey (Syracuse City School District. Paul H. Brooks. (1989).
A collaborative effort between clinicians and educators. Excellent curriculum guide. Includes many easy-to-reference charts, specific goals, specific teaching strategies. Social skills is one of many areas covered. Developmentally sound, very useful for school-aged children, adolescents, and adults.
Baker, B.L., & Brightman, A.J. (1997). Steps to independence: Teaching everyday skills to children with special needs. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
Bender, M., Valletutti, P.J., & Baglin, C. A. (1998). A functional curriculum for teaching students with disabilities. Volumes 1-5. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed. (There are 5 volumes, each covering a different curricular area, such as “Interpersonal, Competitive Job-Finding, and Leisure Time Skills”)
Gray, C. (1992). The curriculum system: Success as an educational outcome. Jenison, MI: Jenison Public Schools. (available at the Autism Society of America bookstore website at asa.org)
Mannix, D. (1992). Life skills activities for special children. New York: Center for Applied Research in Education
Wehman, P., & Schleien, Stuart, J. (1981). Leisure programs for handicapped persons. Baltimore: University Park Press.
Transitions Curriculum. Published by James Stanfield (1-800-421-6534). Designed for adolescents and young adults, covers interpersonal skills, decision-making, life management, pre-vocational, and vocational skills. Best for high school teachers. Publisher also has various videos and other curricula of interest to those parenting or teaching adolescents. See “stanfield.com”; publisher has won awards for materials.
Social Stories and Narrative Approaches
Comic Book Conversations: Colorful, insightful interactions with students with autism and related disorders. By Carol Gray (1994) Arlington, TX: Future Education.
The Original Social Stories Book. Edited by Carol Gray. Western Psychological Services (WPS). 1-800-648-8857. Written for parents, teachers, and therapists. Provides over 200 stories and guidelines for writing your own.
The Right Book, The Right Time: Helping Children Cope. By Martha Grindler, Beverly Stratton, and Michael McKenna. Allyn and Bacon, 1997.
An excellent resource for children’s books that are therapeutic. Provides a large bibliography topic (ex: friendhip) and includes software so that you can search the current database and customize your own.
www.Childswork.com: A website full of games and activities for teaching social skills. Also publish a catalog, available by calling: 1-800-962-1141.
Communication and Language
PECS: The Picture Exchange Communication System Training Manual. By Lori Frost, M.S., CCC-SLP and Andrew Bondy, Ph.D. Pyramid Educational Consultants, New Jersey: 1994.
Teach Me Language: A Language Manual for Children with Autism, Asperger Syndrome and Related Developmental Disorders. By Sabrina Freeman, Ph.D., and Lorelei Dake, B.A. SKF Books, 1996.
Excellent resource for individual and group work focusing upon social use of language. Includes lesson plans, teaching activities, worksheets, assessment tools and intervention techniques. Designed for children using functional language (either speech or augmentative).
Teaching Children with Autism: Strategies to Enhance Communication and Socialization. Edited by Kathleen Ann Quill, Ed.D. Delmar Publishers, 1995.
Written by several area experts for teachers, therapists, and parents. Appropriate for children of various behavioral styles and developmental ages. Strongest in area of social communication.
Visual Strategies for Improving Communication. By Linda A. Hodgon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP. Western Psychological Services (WPS). 1-800-648-8857.
Written for parents, teachers, and therapists. Provides an overview and specific examples of numerous techniques for capitalizing on visual strengths of many persons with autism.
Hodgon, Linda A., M.ED., CCC-SLP. Visual Strategies for Improving Communication: Volume 1: Practical Supports for School and Home. Quick Roberts Publishing, Troy, Michigan: 1995.
Occupational Therapy
Video: Henry OT (Occupational Therapy Services, INC.). Tools for Students: OT Activities for Classroom and Home. Youngstown AZ.This
excellent, professionally produced tape shows snippets from real classrooms in which a daily routine provides students with useful sensory and motor input to support sustained attention to school tasks. To order a copy, write to : P.O. Box 145, Youngtown AZ, 85363; Telephone (602) 371-1204; Fax (602) 997-5466 or email dhenry@amug.org.
Organizations
TASH (The Association of Persons with Severe Handicaps)
http://www.tash.org/ 29 West Susquehanna Ave., suite 210,Baltimore, MD 21204,410-828-8274
Advocacy group that works toward school and community inclusion of children and adults with disabilities. Provides information and referrals for services, publishes a newsletter and journal.
The Council for Exceptional Children
http://www.cec.sped.org/, 1110 North Glebe Rd., suite 300,Arlington, VA 22201, 888-CEC-SPED
Professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dd/ddautism.htm
770-488-7150, The National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) at the CDC seeks to promote optimal fetal, infant, and child development; prevent birth defects and childhood developmental disabilities; and enhance the quality of life and prevent secondary conditions among children, adolescents, and adults who have a disability.
Office of Special Education Programs
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
US Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20202
202-205-5507; TTY 202-205-5637
The US Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs helps states carry out their responsibility to provide to all students with disabilities a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. These responsibilities are spelled out in IDEA/IDEA ’97.
Contacting Publishers (websites and telephone numbers)
The following is a list of publishers who can provide catalogs of books and materials for promoting inclusion:
Association of Supervision and Curricular Development: ascd.org
Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH): tash.org: order their publication “Inclusion News”; 1-410-828-8274
Autism Society of North Carolina Bookstore: unc.edu/depts./teach/asnc.book.htm
Circles of Inclusion: circleofinclusion.org (a website for finding other resources)
Council for Exceptional Children: cec.sped.org
Future Horizons: Internet: FutureHorizons-autism.com; tele: 1-800-489-0727
Forum on Education: tele: 1-812-855-5090
Inclusion.com (a good website for finding other resources)
Inclusion Times: nprinc.com or 1-914-937-8879 (monthly publication)
Lakeshore Learning: 1-800-421-5354 (primarily teaching materials)
Peak Parent Center: 1-719-531-9400 (good resource for other materials)
Paul H. Brookes: pbrooks.com: tele 1-410-337-9580 (request catalog on inclusion)
Peytral Publications: peytral.com
Pro-Ed: proedinc.com: tele: 1-512-451-3246 (request a catalog on education)
Roots and Wings Educational Catalog: 1-800-833-1787
TASH (The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps): See “Association for…”
Zephyr Press: 1-520-322-5090; zephermi@aol.com (use email to request catalog; primarily teaching materials)
Compiled by the staff of the Autism and Developmental Disorders Research Team, Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center