Customer Reviews

Play and Imagination in Children with Autism (Special Education Series)

5 star:		(1)
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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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An interesting book about the author's experience with integrated play groups, but I was hoping for more of a how-to about setting up such playdates/groups myself with my mildly autistic son and typically developing kids around the neighborhood, etc...

There are only three case studies too, making this book more valuable to teachers than parents, because if your child isn't similar to one of the three cases, then the book won't be as relevant.

This book is interesting and has useful information about one teacher's experience with integrated playgroups in an academic setting, but it is written like an academic thesis or research paper rather than a layman's book. It will not teach you how to set up playdates in your home or how to structure a playdate so your child will play with other children.

For those hoping for a how-to book with guidelines for setting up playdates and teaching playskills to autistic children, I recommend you look at Melinda Smith's website and/or book, "Teaching Playskills to Children with ASD" which has lots of advice and ideas for teaching basic playskills.

For another book which emphasizes the importance of play and how to use play to improve a child's cognitive and emotional skills, I recommend you peruse "The Child With Special Needs" by Stanley Greenspan. This book gives parents lots of practical ideas for trying to engage an unresponsive child, establishing 2-way communication, helping a child understanding feelings and ideas, and helping a child to think logically.

...It is very thorough and gives insights to help betterunderstand how and why children with autism play the way they tend to, and, how to break them out of unproductive/unhealthy play habits. A very good book!

Pamela Wolfberg is an expert on playgroups for Autism. She offers a deeper window into the world of Autism as well as practical ideas and strategies for playgroups. Her research is well respected in the industry and her work certainly has earned my respect as well. This is a 'must have' guide for practitioners and professionals in the sphere of social skills and Autism.