Social Skills Training for Children and Adolescents with Asperger Syndrome and Social-Communications Problems (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Dr. Baker's clinical expertise and personal concern for individuals with Asperger Syndrome is evident throughout this wonderful book. -- Suzanne Buchanan, Psy.D., BCBA, and Jenna Miller, M.A.T., The New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community (COSAC)

If you've been searching for a social skills curriculum that really works, you've found it! -- Lori Shery, president and cofounder, Asperger Syndrome Education Network (ASPEN)

This very user-friendly book provides a wealth of ready-to-use activities for both parents and educators. -- Diane Adreon, assoc. dir., Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, University of Miami

Product Description

Finally a social skills program that covers all the bases!

Whether it's learning how long one can look at somebody without being accused of staring; how to shift topics, despite one's desire to stick with that all-consuming special interest; how to say no to peer pressure; or dealing with a sensitive topic - it's all here...and more. In this comprehensive and user-friendly book, the author translates years of experience working with students with Asperger Syndrome and social-communication difficulties. After brief introductory chapters on skills to target, instructional strategies, behavior management, promoting generalization, etc., as well as a special chapter by Brenda Smith Myles on relevant characteristics of autism spectrum disorders, the reader is presented with the essence of this must-have resource: 70 of the skills that most commonly cause difficulty for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and social-communication problems. The presentation of each skill consists of a reproducible skill handout, as well as activity sheets listing ways teachers and parents can demonstrate, practice, and reinforce the skill in the classroom and at home. A concluding chapter on promoting peer acceptance offers sensitivity training programs for both students of various age groups and school staff, making this a complete social skills training package for students of all ages.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Autism Asperger Publishing Co.; 1 edition (May 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193128220X
• ISBN-13: 978-1931282208
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #97,462 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

221 of 222 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best social skills book for our family, January 5, 2004

By	Dreamdog (The Poconos, PA) - See all my reviews

As a parent homeschooling a child with Asperger Syndrome, Ive bought about a dozen books to help me teach my child social skills. This one is the most useful Ive found. Most books on this topic are aimed only at teachers and are hard to adapt to use at home with one child; thats not the case with this book. While the book includes instructions for school personnel and describes how to teach the skills in classrooms and small groups, it is relatively free of educational jargon and doesnt waste too much space on things that useless to me, like reproducible handouts for the children to take home to their parents.

The skills are broken down into small steps and are very specific, which is helpful with my literal-minded child. As a socially adept adult, I sometimes have trouble finding ways to explain social conventions, like the Two-Question Rule, as Baker calls it: When others as you a question and you answer it, you can ask a similar question right back. Im sure I do this every day (How are you? Fine, how are you?), and yet it would have taken me ages to find a way to sum this up for my child.

The skills are broken down into six categories: Conversational Skills, Cooperative Play Skills, Friendship Management, Self-Regulation, Empathy, and Conflict Management. The skills range from Maintaining Appropriate Physical Distance from Others to Giving Criticism in a Positive Way. Each skill is covered on two pages. One page lists guidelines for following the rule, and includes a small fill-in-the-blank space where children can plan when they will try out the skill and later report how it worked. The facing page lists suggested activities for teaching and reinforcing the skill.

I was also pleased to find that Bakers The Social Skills Picture Book covers many of the skills in Social Skills Training, so I have been using the picture book as a companion to this book. Actually seeing photos of children using the skills (or making mistakes) helps to fix the rules in his mind.

102 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Down to Earth approach but needs augmenting, December 18, 2003

By	John Harpur (Trim, Meath, IRELAND) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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I haven't changed my mind about my first thoughts on this book. It struck me as a competent down to Earth book on social skills training. Largely the book outlines the relevant skill on the left hand page and then provides an explanation of the purpose of the skill and how it can be best developed on the right hand side. It reminded me up to a point of the Boystown Teaching Basic Social Skills manuals.

The positives of the book are that a great number of important skills are covered and the strategies for teaching and reinforcing them are presented. These features will grab teachers desperate in most cases for some guidance.

In my opinion, the negatives are that not every skill is reducible to the format of the book. Many skills are more subtle and difficult to learn, and practice, than others. Also many communciation skills are primarily nonverbal and that needs to be emphasised when dealing with AS adolescents. These issues could have been addressed at greater length in the book and given the intended audience more theoretical work could have been introduced. One final quibble I have is grouping those with AS and social communication difficulties together. I think this is a mistake. AS has a distinct set of diagnsotic criteria. Social communication difficulties can arise from a variety of non AS related sources. Boundary blurring is not something I favour.

Many teachers and therapists will find this a practical book. It is not as linguistically geared up as I would like, but it is very accessible. Ultimately no one book is going to work with every child or group.

One of the strengths of teenagers with High Functioning Austim and Asperger Syndrome is their language skills. Few interventions leverage these skills, while at the same time catering for the behavioural dimension. For a combined programme I would recommend also looking at Succeeding with Interventions for Asperger Syndrome Adolescents. Combined hybrid programs are the next generation interventions.

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most practical book out there., March 27, 2005

By	Beth Sklar (New Jersey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After researching most of the books on the market for Aspergers children and teens, this is surely the most practical source on social skills training. It's not a theoretical treatise, but a user-friendly way to quickly teach relevant skills to students with AS. I recommend to parents and teachers alike.