Customer Reviews

Teaching Your Child the Language of Social Success

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I am a school social worker and after buying several disappointing books on the topic I was delighted to find this. The format is laid out in an easy to read manner and thank goodness for the real photographs they use. (I also cut out pictures from magazines to talk about non-verbal cues and body language...then have the kids make a collage.)

Separating the areas of non-verbal communication into chapters allows me to focus on one area per session. The speech and language pathologist at my school is doing a group with me called "social communications" and we intend to squeeze everything we can out of this book.

Parents-you don't need to rely on the professionals to teach your child social skills! Have fun with it, make a date with your child weekly to practice these skills. Just don't put me out of business with this book!

Marshall Duke received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Indiana University. He is a professor of personality and psychopathology and is chair of Emory University's Department of Psychology in Atlanta. He has published over 50 scholarly articles and co-authored with Stephen Nowicki, Jr. a textbook of abnormal psychology and a guide for parents and teachers, Helping the Child Who Doesn't Fit In.

Stephen Nowicki, Jr. received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Purdue University. He is a professor of psychology at Emory University. He is the author of over 150 publications and presentations in addition to the books he has co-authored with Dr. Duke.

Elisabeth Martin received a Bachelor of Education from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and her M.Ed. with specialization in Special Education (dyslexia) from the University of Kington upon Thames, England. Ms. Martin has taught learning disabled students at the Dyslexia Institute in England and at several specialty schools in the United States.

This 184-page trade paperback is clearly written in an easy to follow style. It provides a list of references, a page of recommended resources, multiple appendices and covers the following topics: (1) What is nonverbal communication? (It is more than just body language, which is only a part of nonverbal communication.) (2) Assessing and teaching nonverbal language to your child at home. (3) Teaching nonverbal language at school.

This book is an excellent resource for both parents and teachers, particularly for the two to use to work together as a team to guide special-needs children (in particular those with attention deficit disorder) to improve their nonverbal social skills. These include: facial expressions, use of personal space, touch, gestures, postures, rhythm and timing. This training is vital because when a child's inaccurate nonverbal language conflicts with his verbal message, the people around him will almost always believe nonverbal messages over verbal ones.

Very often, special-needs children do not pick up adequate nonverbal skills in the course of everyday life as "normal" children do. This means that consciously teaching them to "speak" and "listen" nonverbally is vital in order to increase their chances for social success (getting along with peers and teachers, making friends), as well as enhancing their feelings of personal competence and self-esteem.

I highly recommend this guide both professionally, as a teacher and therapist, and personally, as a parent of two ADD children. I believe any parent, teacher or therapist of special-needs children will find the information it contains invaluable.

Does nonverbal language affect your child's success? Ask any teacher. They can list a hundred ways. Nonverbal clues have led to miscommunication, even to fights. Many children are unaware of their body language, and its impact. This book explains how nonverbal clues lead to social and academic success and failure. The book begins with a guide for its readers, followed by three main parts. In the first, the authors define nonverbal communication and give examples of its affect. Part two includes paralanguage. Part three is particularly for teachers and includes instructional methods. Chapters discuss how emotions are reflected and projected in posture, expression and tone of voice. There is an interesting analysis of appearance and dress. The volume ends with an exercise for measuring childern's understanding of nonverbal behavior and a list of related descriptive emotions. (Peachtree publishers).

After purchasing a number of books that promised to deliver, this is the first one that I have found that actually does. As the parent of a six year-old little-man, I have to say that I really needed this book and I honestly believe that the material inside its pages, when applied consistently, will serve to seriously improve my son's life in due course. I am truly impressed with the level of insight brought to bear by these three authors; I applaud them on a fantastic work!

(...)

We have a very active 6 year old, and we feel he is active alert, his biggest issue is social interaction, since he has been around mostly adults his life. This book has common sense ideas to help a sometimes painful problem. Our son has done better in first grade. The summer using this book has helped alot! ... I am so glad I found this book!

My 9 year old son has really enjoyed this book. It is written in an engaging, thoughtful, and (sometimes)amusing way. The author does an excellent job of explaining why you should talk and act certain ways with your peers. I am already seeing improvement with my son's social interactions.

This book is a practical guide for teaching the most essential skills in life: social skills. The book provides an extensive listing of 'tips' that one can use in applying these concepts to a social skills program or at home. One example: the authors recommend cutting out pictures from magazines that demonstrate specific emotions. In this way, the children can practice looking for these expressions and have the pictures as a reference throughout the program. Thank you for all of the great suggestions.

I have a now 6 year old son whom is very active. (I started with the book, The Active Alert Child by Linda Budd.) This book has wonderfully simple and overlooked ideas to a uneasy problem. I had much advancement with my son over the summer. It can be done. Ist grade is going great so far! I feel this was a key to his bettering in his social world. My son has been around adults most of his life and has a hard time relating to other children. This book made a difference.

It is a nice book for the teachers and therapists on the professional side. A little bit dry, so it doesn't seem to be a book for parents.