Customer Reviews

Incredible 5-Point Scale Assisting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Understanding Social Interactions and Controlling Their Emotional Responses

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The concept in this book is one of those that makes you say, "Well YEAH, DUH." Because it's so simple and workable you wished you'd thought of it yourself! The basic premise is any behavior goal you want to work on with a child can be addressed in a five point scale. I'll give my son as an example. He yells like a maniac...when he's just talking in his normal voice. This drives me CRAZY. So, his scale is 5: I'm being kidnapped, or I'm just having a really, really, really good time on the playground OUTSIDE. 4. Loud play, but not ear piercing. 3. NORMAL INSIDE VOICE (my favorite) 2. Shhhh, whisper and 1. SILENCE (okay, I fibbed, many times THIS is my favorite.) It can also be used for expressing how the CHILD is FEELING. Anxiety levels, fear levels. The idea is that you can address many different issues whether at home or school, it gives clear examples, reproducable sheets and it's an easy concept for teachers, parents and kids to understand. I also love the companion book "When My Autism Gets Too Big", which I highly recommend for kids (and for the adults who care about them.) Incidentally, while the examples in the book are color coded and they are ingeneious ways to implement them in the school and classroom--as a parent I think that there's a reason gave me FIVE FINGERS! The Incredible Five Point Scale of course!! When I hold up three fingers, my son's voice automatically lowers because it's his signal to go DOWN on the scale.

Great book! Fun, nice visuals. Also, there is a DVD, which is a great way to demonstrate the program and have all team members (at home and at school) on the same page.

Kristi Sakai, parent of 3 with Asperger Syndrome and author of
Finding Our Way: Practical Solutions for Creating a Supportive Home and Community for the Asperger Syndrome Family

This book is fantastic! The authors share their incredible insight into how to help children on the autism spectrum communicate using numbers instead of words. The information in the book is practical and easy to use. I use 5 point scales in my classroom evey single day to teach volume and body control. My students are learning self-regulation! Many thanks to the authors for sharing their discovery!

I recently ordered this book to use with my students. I am a special education consultant primarily working with students that have Asperger's syndrome or traumatic brain injury in a public school setting. I am always looking for materials that are functional and easy to implement. This book is great! Very straight-forward; provides quick and useful examples without a lot of lengthy explanation. This book provides tools for both teachers and parents to use quickly and without a lot of training or experience with Asperger children. Very easy to adapt and individualize as well.

This is an excellent tool and resource to utilize with our kids on the spectrum. It is great because you can personlaize, modify, and adapt it to meet the needs of the individual child. I use it with the children I work with and also my nephew with high functioning autism. MUST BUY!!
Aunt Bobbie

This book has been very helpful with my Asperger son and my non-Asperger son. As a teachers aide, I have used it the the kids at school and some teachers have borrowed my book and are using it themselves. It has pages to copy so that you can make your own 5-point scale. Just wonderful!!!

the information was useful but could have been a pamphlet - not enough info for a "book" - not worth the price -

This is a great concept, but not worth buying a book over.
It is a simple strategy that can be applied in any context -
Rate the behavior; rate the desired behavior.
It gets a mediocre smile or 3 stars.

It was very easy to implement the program, and my student got it right away.

I purchased this book for work with teens with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) and related disorders. It is Incredible! My students have a limited emotional vocabulary and an "all-or-nothing" sense of their upsets or other issues. The Five Point Scale can be adapted for most situations. My students are learning to create their own Five Point Scales; they draw their five faces to represent the range of how a particular feeling looks, for example "When I'm Frustrated." Next we are going to use photographs - students taking pictures of their five faces to foster intra-personal intelligence (how my face looks when I'm ...) and learn how to emotionally self-regulate (when i feel my face getting up to a 3 I should . . . ). My only criticism is that the scale is not consistent in it's ratings. One area uses 1 as Lowest and 5 as highest [e.g. ANGER: 1 = annoyed and 5 is rage/melt down]. Another scale is reversed with 1 as the highest and 5 the lowest. This confuses the students so we change the scale for consistency. The Incredible Five Point Scale is useful scale for teachers and parents of students who need support in emotional self-regulation, not just those with autism. It is concrete, visual, and students are engaged in their own learning when they develop their personal scale to use. Adults could use the activities in this book in a fun way with the students so that they are engaged in their own learning. It is much better than arguing or lecturing an upset teen.

A wonderful tool to help individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders recognize emotions within themselves and how those emotions affect their behaviour. Using this tool one can help these individuals to develop strategies to prevent inappropriate behaviors due to intense emotions.