Breakthroughs: How to Reach Students With Autism [Spiral-bound]

Karen L. Sewell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1998

A hands-on, how-to program. This comprehensive teacher's manual covers math, reading, fine motor, self-help, vocational and social skills, as well as providing numerous lesson plan reproducibles. Includes an exhaustive listing of essential resources for classroom setup, lessons and activities.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Karen Sewell has done an excellent job of writing a very practical guide for professionals and parents. The techniques are adaptable to all ecological settings and numerous skills." -- G. S. Cross, Director, Special Education, Missouri

Dr. Ruth Sullivan was the first elected president of the Autism Society of America. She has spoken on numerous TV talk shows, served as a consultant to the film RAIN MAN, and now directs the Autism Services Center in Huntington, West Virginia. When Dustin Hoffman was preparing for the movie, he closely observed her son Joseph, who has autism, as a model for his character.

There are many books, articles, manuals, and workbooks for designing programs and working with students labeled autistic. The majority of these published pieces - at least the ones that appear in references in scholarly journals, books and publishers' lists - are written by consultants, trainers, lecturers, and university educators.

Many of these books provide good information about autism in educational settings, and provide helpful instructional strategies. However, not many books are written by teachers working down in the trenches.

Meet Karen Sewell, a public school teacher living in a rural town in southwest Louisiana. Her exceptional teaching of young students with autism for more than a decade has won the attention and respect of teachers, administrators, parents, and the Autism Society of Louisiana. In 1993, the Autism Society of America honored her with its "Teacher of the Year" award.

Encouraged to write about her instructional techniques and her ideas about an early childhood education curriculum for children with autism, Karen took a leave of absence from teaching to write this book. It's filled with useful details, practical suggestions, lists of materials, how-to's in managing disruptive behaviors, and other minutiae that will delight teachers looking for ideas, or corroborate what they have already been doing in their own classrooms.

It's not at all unusual for teachers without appropriate training to suddenly find themselves with a child with autism in their classroom. Nor is it uncommon that, subsequently, these same teachers remain unsupported in their classes, lacking knowledgeable supervisors to provide the necessary mentoring.

For these reason, I recommend this book for teacher education faculty, as well as for parents, public school teachers, and service and advocacy agencies. It is a much-needed and timely publication that should be welcomed into the autism literature. I get calls and letters almost daily from school teachers saying essentially, "Help! Send information." Karen Sewell's book is exactly the information they need. As a new preschool teacher who had no knowledge of autism or how to deal with it, I found the ideas in this book very helpful. It's full of practical solutions to any situation from behavior management to specific teaching methods. I have used the strategies and techniques with much success in my classroom. If you want a book that gets to the point with everyday help for teaching children with autism, this is the one." -- Dr. Ruth Sullivan

About the Author

Karen Sewell M.Ed Undergraduate and graduate degrees in Special Education 20 years experience in field of special education as teacher/facilitator 7 years taught children with autism exclusively Now consults privately with school systems and parents for special needs children, particularly children with autism Has also produced a video called Breakthroughs available from the publisher - Attainment Co.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 243 pages
• Publisher: Attainment Co Inc (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578610605
• ISBN-13: 978-1578610600
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,102,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This manual has strengths and weaknesses., August 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Breakthroughs: How to Reach Students With Autism (Spiral-bound)

This manual is a terrific resource for materials, equipment and supplies you may need to implement a teaching program at home or at school and contains tips for setting up a workspace which could be especially helpful in a school setting. The author supplies outlines for creating functional lesson plans and emphasizes organization in data collection. Her ideas for implementing an organized program are concrete and easy to follow. However, many of her teaching programs are overly general and lack specific steps for implementing them, and some, especially those for compliance and social/adaptive skills, use teaching methods which could be counterproductive at best (e. g., one minute of time-out for each year of age, removing a child from a setting if he screams, etc.). You might consider buying this book just for the resources and planning sections, and then going to a different book for programs. I suggest using the manual by Catherine Maurice, or especially those by Ron Leaf & John McEachin or Sundberg & Partington for specific curriculum.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book/video-, November 15, 2002

By 

Kaye Culp (Birmingham, Alabama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Breakthroughs: How to Reach Students With Autism (Spiral-bound)

I watched Karen Sewell's video as I was searching for a consultant for my 3 yr old daughter, who is non-verbal autistic. I purchased both book and video after realizing that she lived in our area and did consulting. She has helped our daughter tremendously and I can't praise her highly enough!

Our daughter has learned to color, enjoy books, obey simple verbal directions (sit down), matching, etc. Our program is set up to be both fun and educational and my daughter enjoys her therapy sessions. I highly recommend her for any parent who is searching for answers about their child.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Autism book on the market, November 6, 2002

By 

Heather Walton (Chico, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Breakthroughs: How to Reach Students With Autism (Spiral-bound)

I saw the video of this book and was so impressed by Karen Sewell, I had to buy her book! It is an excellent resource! My 26-month-old has Autism and I read every book I could find to help her. This is one of the best and I love the three P's, Planning, Patience, and Perseverance, they really have to be the backbone of your world in order to help your child recover. I really recommend buying her video of the same name as well so you can see her teaching methods in action. I found this book follows the Psychological technique called Applied Behavioral Analysis, and is the only proven method to help and ever cure autism.

I like the way this book is laid out. She explains what materials you need to buy, how to setup a plan to help your child or student, and exact step-by-step easy to follow plans to use for Attending Skills, Language, Social Skills, Imitation, Self Help Skills, and Academic Skills. For example: teaching your child or student to imitate your actions by hitting a drum to the same beat. I found this book very easy to use and follow and I am helping my child with it. No other book matches its ability to aide in curing your child. Behavioral Intervention For Young Children with Autism would be my second choice. Buy them both and learn to help your child or student do for themselves. I love that Karen Sewell says, "Have high expectations and they will be met or exceeded by your child" and "Autistic kids are smart, not retarded like some research suggests." I agree with her 100% and she is the best teacher for Autism ever. Follow her proven methods and you cannot go wrong!