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Kari Dunn Buron

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5 Is Against the Law!: Social Boundaries: Straight Up! Paperback – January 1, 2007

by Kari Dunn Buron (Author)

4.6 217 ratings

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Autism Society Award Winner!

Building on Kari Dunn Buron's popular book, The Incredible 5-Point Scale, this title takes a look at challenging behavior with a particular focus on social behaviors that can be problematic for adolescents and young adults who have difficulty understanding and maintaining social boundaries. Using a direct and simple style with lots of examples and hands-on activities, A 5 Is Against the Law! speaks directly to adolescents and young adults. A section of the book is devoted to how to cope with social anxiety before it begins to escalate, often leading to impulsive and unacceptable social behavior. Throughout the book, readers are encouraged to think about their own behavior and create an anxiety scale that applies to his or her particular emotions and situations.

Reading age

12 - 17 years
Print length

47 pages
Language

English
Grade level

7 - 12
Dimensions

8.5 x 0.12 x 11 inches
Publisher

AAPC Inc.
Publication date

January 1, 2007
ISBN-10

1931282358
ISBN-13

978-1931282352
See all details

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a great practical guide that will facilitate insight into social conventions and regulations. As a result of completing the activities, a person with ASD will be better able to avoid causing offense or getting into trouble with the law. Kari's excellent program will be used with people who have high-functioning autism and Asperger Syndrome at our clinic in Australia. --Tony Attwood, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, The Asperger's Syndrome Clinic, Australia

At last! A meaningful, yet humorous, and easy-to-use intervention that identifies and explains how to handle different levels of anxiety, frustration, and anger. This workbook is a boondoggle for people with Asperger Syndrome and high-functioning autism as well as those supporting them in understanding and successfully living with these strong and often confounding emotions. --Stephen M. Shore, M.A., author, consultant and presenter on autism

A 5 is Against the Law! offers in a creative and interesting format an honest and down-to-earth look at the kinds of social situations many teens and young adults struggle with. It is written in a very user-friendly style that readers will relate to. The suggestions and activities are excellent. I hope this book is a bestseller. --Liane Holliday Willey, Ed.D., author

From the Author

Since 1995, I have been employing young adults with Asperger Syndrome at my summer camp. Over that time period, one young man was fired from his job for stalking a coworker, one young man was fired for having a tantrum on the job, and a young woman had her driver's license taken away because of road rage. In addition, in recent years, while working with students K-12, I have saw a dramatic increase in the numbers of students with Asperger Syndrome who were being referred to sexual offender programs for sexual harassment. In all cases, issues of social skills, especially boundaries, were both. And in all cases, both parents and teachers were desperate for a method that could effectively teach these students the basics of social boundaries.

I wrote my new book, A 5 Is Against the Law! with these individuals in mind. I am hopeful that professionals and parents will use the book as a workbook either 1:1 or in small groups. The approach used puts grey thinking social information, which poses special challenges for individuals with autism spectrum disorders, into a black-and-white systematic format for clearer understanding. In addition, the book directly relates the person's behavior to possible outcomes that could affect personal freedom in hopes of increasing his or her motivation to learn.

The ultimate objective of this approach is for readers to better understand how their personal behavior impacts how others perceive and judge them, and how that judgment, fair or not, can impact their lives.

I hope you enjoy the book. I welcome your feedback.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ AAPC Inc. (January 1, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 47 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1931282358
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1931282352
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 - 17 years
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 12
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.12 x 11 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #816,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #88 in Teen & Young Adult Nonfiction on Disabilities
- #275 in Teen & Young Adult School & Education
- #885 in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Customer Reviews:
4.6 217 ratings

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About the author

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Kari Dunn Buron

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Kari Dunn Buron taught in K-12 with students on the autism spectrum for 30+ years and was a founding member of the MN Autism Project. She developed an Autism Spectrum Disorders Certificate program for educators at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN and has done volunteer work specific to autism in Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, Tanzania and Ghana. In 2003, Kari received a Self-designed Bush Leadership Fellowship that allowed her to spend a year interviewing and working internationally with a number of scientists and researchers in the area of Neuroscience, Social Cognition, Education and Autism with a focus on challenging behaviors. In 2012, Kari was inducted into the Illinois State University Education Department Hall of Fame.

Kari is the co-author of The Incredible 5-Point Scale (Revised Edition), and the author of When My Worries Get Too Big, A 5 Could Make Me Lose Control and A 5 is Against the Law! (2008 ASA literary award winner). Kari is the co-editor of a textbook for educators titled Learners on the Autism Spectrum: Preparing Highly Qualified Educators (2009 ASA literary award winner) and is the creator of an original social skills magazine designed for students with Asperger Syndrome called The Social Times (2010 Gold Winner, National Patenting Publications Award and Gold Medal Winner - Moonbeam Children's Book Awards).

Kari's latest projects include Social Behavior and Self-Management

(a book about how to use the scale with adults) and an early chapter book entitled Adalyn's Clare. Adalyn's Clare is a story about the dilemmas faced when a child has social anxiety, and the importance of respecting special interests when creating successful special programs. Adalyn's Clare is an excellent book to add to a Bibliotherapy curriculum teaching social and emotional information to highly anxious children.

Customer reviews

217 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Customers say

Customers find the book useful for teaching skills to kids and social skills. They say it's a great resource with good advice. Readers also mention the content is easy to understand and apply to a wide variety of behaviors. They appreciate the writing quality, saying it's well-written, simple, and user-friendly.

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Use Value for money Ease of use Writing quality

14 customers mention "Use"13 positive1 negative

Customers find the book useful for teaching skills to kids. They say it's great for teaching social skills, and provides good advice. Readers also mention it's perfect for students who think in black and white.

"Wonderful book for those kids who mean to do the right thing but get confused about what the right thing is and how they are being percieved...." Read more

"MY kid has aspergers, this book is VERY helpful with behavior...." Read more

"...It does seem to be well-made and reasonably well-written with good advice." Read more

"Certain aspects were really helpful but not sure it works for young adults." Read more

12 customers mention "Value for money"12 positive0 negative

Customers find the book helpful, useful, and worth trying. They mention it's a great resource, simple, and to the point. Readers also appreciate the valuable use cases that resonate.

"...It is great. Son and mom work together on it when the day is just right. If one of us is having a bad day, then we do not work on it...." Read more

"...The book has simple text and valuable use cases that resonate. Would recommend to anyone with a teen who has a lack of social awareness." Read more

"I really liked this manual. It is simple and to the point...." Read more

"Great book!" Read more

9 customers mention "Ease of use"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book very easy to understand and apply to a wide variety of behaviors.

"...the 5 point scale makes it super easy to explain to him before he gets into an awkward situation." Read more

"...The scale is pretty basic and thus is easier to apply to a wide variety of behaviors...." Read more

"I really liked this manual. It is simple and to the point...." Read more

"...This little book is easy to use and can be used as a tool to help them navigate in a world they see very differently from the rest of us...." Read more

7 customers mention "Writing quality"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing quality of the book very well-written, simple, and user-friendly. They say it has a practical language to explain social rules. Readers also mention the book is clear and makes for good dialogue.

"...Made for good dialogue (when he was able to talk about parts of it...you now autism)" Read more

"...I found this book to be very well written and to explain things in a way that acknowledges how confusing these situations can be for some..." Read more

"...The book has simple text and valuable use cases that resonate. Would recommend to anyone with a teen who has a lack of social awareness." Read more

"...It does seem to be well-made and reasonably well-written with good advice." Read more

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Top reviews from the United States

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C.A.R.A.

Every parent and spec ed teacher dealing autistic kids and teens needs this

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2011

Verified Purchase

Wonderful book for those kids who mean to do the right thing but get confused about what the right thing is and how they are being percieved.

I've worked where adults on the spectrum who would have had their lives changed had someone provided them this information, instead the HR department had many fires to put out because of "odd behaviors" that caused complaints. There are also universities and high schools and middle schools who suspend those on the spectrum for doing behaviors that appear to be criminal or potentially harmful when that is not the intent of the autistic person doing them. Judges in courtrooms do not care if the behavior is austic in nature, they are going to throw the book at the teen or adult for the law broken.

We owe it to our autistic young people to enter the world knowing the expectations and what will happen to them if they can't control themselves...We as parents need to open our eyes. There are no IEP's in adulthood...there is a world that is NOT going to make allowances for them waiting for them.

Those meltdowns that parents just deal with? Well the world isn't going to deal with it. This book gives ways for those able to understand what it says, to gain some self control and monitor themselves more effectively. Also good ideas in how parents and teachers can help work with them on it all.

Our son is not that bad, but he's at that age where some of his quirky behaviors could be misconstrued. He really wants to know what the scoop is and to have a plan in place...he took to this book like a fish to water. Got him thinking about things.

It gave us as parents a good idea too how to help him more to be prepared.

I made a worksheet on the book and had him do it just to make sure that he understod the basics. Made for good dialogue (when he was able to talk about parts of it...you now autism)

20 people found this helpful

Helpful

Paul Hotchkiss

Good book for ASD/ADHD/Aspergers

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2017

Verified Purchase

MY kid has aspergers, this book is VERY helpful with behavior. Sometimes he struggles to understand why you can or cannot do something in public or in private or in different social situations. the 5 point scale makes it super easy to explain to him before he gets into an awkward situation.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Deborah M. Courtright

Great book for teaching social skills!

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2023

Verified Purchase

I bought this to use with my autistic teenage son to teach him the middle areas of what is clearly right or wrong behavior and how a behavior may be okay in one context, but not another. While the target audience would be tweens-teens, I was able to adapt the material to teach my 3rd grade students the basic concepts.

Helpful

kristinb

good for ASD kids who act out

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2010

Verified Purchase

This is a good tool to get your ASD child to look at their behavior from someone else's point of view. The scale is pretty basic and thus is easier to apply to a wide variety of behaviors. It helps also because the notion that some behaviors are very serious is coming from a 'book' and not from 'mom or dad'.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Linda Potts

Tremendous resource to help individuals with disabilities avoid perpetuating sexual harassment.

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2019

Verified Purchase

I needed to teach a class to adults with disabilities who may be unintentionally perpetuating sexual harassment and was having a very difficult time finding material that addressed the situation from that perspective.

I found this book to be very well written and to explain things in a way that acknowledges how confusing these situations can be for some individuals.

I did explain the 1-5 scale as progressing UP toward a 5 rather than starting with 5 and progressing down to safer levels. While I get the concept of why it is presented with 5 at the top, that was confusing to my participants. It made more sense to them to start with the safe stuff and move toward the things that are more “dangerous.”

The 3 Strikes concept and flow chart are genius!

This book really helped me explain a very tricky and sensitive subject in a way the participants found understandable and helpful.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sandra Warren

Great workbook for Autism

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

I love this whole set, we did the previous book and now working on this one. It is great. Son and mom work together on it when the day is just right. If one of us is having a bad day, then we do not work on it. It has been great for communication, discussion starters and pointing out things our autistic son needs to know.

Helpful

CW

Very, very good. Used with my middle school teen and saw an immediate understanding and attempt to change

Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2014

Verified Purchase

I read this with my aspergers son who is in middle school. It helped him understand that some of the behaviors that were tolerated in elementary school are no longer acceptable in a teenager. Tantrums become scary to other kids and adults. He is working on other ways to deal with frustration, including leaving the classroom by himself and fidgets that help him cope. The book has simple text and valuable use cases that resonate. Would recommend to anyone with a teen who has a lack of social awareness.

5 people found this helpful

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jaw

Intense

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book was a little much for my son. I needed something not as intense.

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Top reviews from other countries

Sunny Coaster

School impressed

Reviewed in Australia on April 28, 2019

Verified Purchase

Bought for my son. We use this 5 point system all the time. School impressed with it and bought own copy.

Amazon Customer

helpful books

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2013

Verified Purchase

this book is an easy read for both my boys..12 and 15....not too young or too old. It has guidelines on behaviour, what is and isnt appropriate and how to choose the right path. My sons have different conditions, one Aspergers, the other, ADHD..This book has stratergies to aid them both

Jonathan Davies

Very useful!

Reviewed in Canada on February 21, 2007

Verified Purchase

This book is so useful for people with autism spectrum disorders that I wonder why there were no books that are this useful until very recently. As someone with Asperger's Syndrome myself, I realize how much sooner I would have learned good social skills and appropriate behaviour if there had been books like this 30 years ago! For much too long, I was a very marginalized member of society, and this was because nobody gave me the help that I needed in order to know what behaviour is appropriate in what situation. Instead, people just kept me out of situations in which my inappropriate behaviour mattered.

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on February 20, 2018

Verified Purchase

Exactly as expected.

Amazon_Customer

Recommended!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2019

Verified Purchase

Very practical! Useful and very relevant for lots of young people