Small Steps Forward: Using Games and Activities to Help Your Pre-School Child with Special Needs [Paperback]

Sarah Newman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999 | ISBN-10: 1853026433 | ISBN-13: 978-1853026430 | Edition: 1

British Medical Association Popular Medicine book of the Year 2000

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'... A warm feeling of positive reassurance and guidance runs throughout the book. [It] offers practical and emotional help, not only to a child's family, but equally to health and educational workers starting out within this field. This book should have a prominent place in every toy and leisure library as well as within childcare agencies.' --- Play Matters

'This very useful and readable book... provides a wealth of resource ideas to support parents of young children with special needs' --- Downs Syndrome Association (UK)

'This is a very practical book, full of common sense and simple ideas...Although intended for parents this book will also be an invaluable resource for anyone working with children with special needs' --- Let's Play" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Sarah Newman worked for ten years as an administrator in higher education after gaining a degree in history at Oxford. Her first child was diagnosed as developmentally delayed at the age of one and as autistic at three. She has two other children and lives in the New Forest. She has also chaired a local charity for families of children with special needs. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 1 edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853026433
• ISBN-13: 978-1853026430
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,486,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A much needed book for parents of special needs children, November 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Small Steps Forward: Using Games and Activities to Help Your Pre-School Child with Special Needs (Paperback)

Small Steps Forward by Sarah Newman

This is a great book written by a very impressive woman. Sarah Newman discovered she had an autistic child when her first son was a few months old. Her first reaction was panic and her next thought was to get as much help as she could. She searched for a book on the subject and found that there were none. So Sarah set to and wrote one that made use of her experience parenting her own special needs child. The result is the book - Small Steps Forward.

As you would expect from the circumstances surrounding its creation, the book is down to earth and practical. It is full of the experience that Sarah gained in the day to day problems of managing, entertaining and helping a small child. Sarah is a practical and highly intelligent woman, so there is plenty of sound advice on how to make the best use of professional advice and where to find practicaql help. The book is written with real understanding for the problems involved and comes to the re-assuring conclusion that parents should remember "it is you who know your own child best."

I read this book when my wife was preparing the illustrations and found the experience very moving. It gave me a small insight into the problems and pleasures of parenting a special needs child and struck me as a book that would be a god-send to any parent of such a child. In fact me and my wife have already given it to the parents of one such child. Furthermore I believe that any parents of a child under 5 would find hundreds of good ideas and lots of good advice in the book..

The illustrations are beautiful capturing the "different" charm and beauty that belongs to Downs Syndrome, Autistic, and other special needs children. Parents or young special needs children will find this a beautiful book as well as a supremely useful one. I heartily recommend this book. Nick Mellersh

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource, September 13, 2009

By 

L. Byrne (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Small Steps Forward: Using Games and Activities to Help Your Pre-school Child With Special Needs (Paperback)

This book gives lots of positive, practical and relevant ideas for use with special needs children. I have already tried a few ideas and they have worked very well. It is an English resource, but from New Zealand still very relevant!!

5.0 out of 5 stars Parents of young children will find this a fine guide for behavior management and cognitive skills, March 15, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Small Steps Forward: Using Games and Activities to Help Your Pre-school Child With Special Needs (Paperback)

This new edition of SMALL STEPS FORWARD: USING GAMES AND ACTIVITIES TO HELP YOUR PRE-SCHOOL CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS offers the latest research and practice along with a host of games and activities to help kids. These games use no special materials and are fun to play, and are offered in a text dividing skills into six areas for easy reference. Parents of young children will find this a fine guide for behavior management and cognitive skills as well as social and emotional growth, and early education collections will welcome it.