Targeting Autism: What We Know, Don't Know, and Can do to Help Young Children with Autism and Related Disorders (Hardcover)

by Shirley Cohen (Author) "I visit the home of parents I recently met..." (more)
Key Phrases: young autistic children, autistic students, functional speech, Temple Grandin, Donna Williams, Catherine Maurice (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Every developmental pediatrician, pediatric neurologist and child psychiatrist in the country should be handing out copies of "Targeting Autism along with the diagnosis. It is a marvel. In just 186 warm and engaging pages Cohen asks and answers the questions all of us face when we make potentially life-altering decisions concerning our children's treatment and education. . . . I came away from this book with a vision. I know what my husband and I intend to do for our children--and I know what we need to be working for in the community."--"Narrative: Newsletter of the National Alliance for Autism Research

Product Description
Targeting Autism reaches out to everyone who lives with, cares about, or is trying to understand and help a young child who has or may have autism. This is an easy-to-follow road map to the world of autism for families, educators, students, therapeutic personnel, and all those interested in this disorder that affects as many as 400,000 Americans. Calling attention to recent advances in early identification and educational therapy, Shirley Cohen, a teacher of teachers, provides expert guidance through this often confusing arena. Informed and humane, her work offers up-to-date research findings within a scientific framework enriched by her own observations and narratives from parents and adults with autism. Many of the issues surrounding this disorder (and different disorders that may mimic its appearance) are unresolved, beginning with the question of exactly what autism is. The treatment of children with autism is an emotion- laden, contentious area, with advocates and opponents of different treatments making conflicting claims. Cohen, who has no personal or professional stake in any of the various forms of treatment, leads us through the approaches currently available, especially the educational interventions designed for young autistic childrenfrom intensive, one-on-one methods to group programs used in many preschool and school settings. Families, as well as the professionals who work with them and their children, will find this analysis particularly useful. In addition to clarifying the knowledge produced in recent years about this pervasive developmental disorder, Targeting Autism lists available resources and highlights those leads that are creating hope that we can identify the underlying causes of autism and eliminate its devastating effects on the development of children.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 217 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (January 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520210115
• ISBN-13: 978-0520210110
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,148,613 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great navigator in the autism maze., November 4, 1999

By	Lori TenPas (Lawrence Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Targeting Autism: What We Know, Don't Know, and Can do to Help Young Children with Autism and Related Disorders (Paperback)

As a parent, you immediately try to become an informed consumer regarding the needs of your child. Targeting Autism depletes the emotionalism and gives it's reader a good overview of the topic and current therapy. Targeting Autism is a good beginner book, a great navigator in the autism maze.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good overview from a professional--not a parent., November 6, 1998

By	"jlewis1032" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Targeting Autism: What We Know, Don't Know, and Can do to Help Young Children with Autism and Related Disorders (Paperback)

I wish this book were out a year ago when we first received our diagnosis. We sorted through dozens and dozens of books to get the information contained in this book. It is well written and well organized. A very good place to begin when considering what help to seek for your child. What Cohen does not give you is a sense of how incredibly difficult it is to set up or get on the waiting list for many of these treatment options. You get the diagnosis, then they usher you out the door suggesting you call a program or two listed on a badly xeroxed handout. When you call, you are likely to deal with some sullen graduate student who grudgingly answers questions and then tells you the waiting list is 18 months, and that they don't except children under three (though EVERYONE tells you that early intervention is key.) And as you are considering what might work to help your child, you discover you are in the middle of a pissing match between the followers of Doctor I'm-Important and Dr. I'm-God. They call each other charlatans and evildoers, and you as a parent are left adrift, wondering who to trust. I'd have liked a bit more of that perspective in the book. It's that perspective--even more than the story of recovery--which made Catherine Maurice's book ("Let Me Hear Your Voice") so powerful for me. She seemed to be living our lives. Cohen goes out of her way to undercut Maurice as perhaps too-good-to-be-true, but she admits that there aren't many other approaches that seem to have the effectiveness of the intensive in-home behavioral approach. We're open to what will help our child. And this book is a good way to find out what's out there right now. Despite my reservations, I recommend the book highly.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent source of current (1997) knowledge & treatment, February 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Targeting Autism: What We Know, Don't Know, and Can do to Help Young Children with Autism and Related Disorders (Paperback)

After reading several other books on autism, I recommend this one as an up-to-date summary. One source for current "medical" understanding of autism. Excellent overview and perspective on multiple treatment approaches. This is a super first or only book for genearl information on autism.