Books and Videos
Asperger's and High Functioning Autism:
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Thinking in Pictures: And Other Reports from My Life With Autism
An incredible book! Highly recommended for parents, older children, and teachers. An excellent book for anyone trying to understand sensory difficulties -- including non AS/HFA learning disabilities.
Temple Grandin is autistic. She also completed most of a Ph.D. in Psychology before instead earning it in Animal Husbandry. She's a highly successful designer of equipment for processing large animals, having designed over a third of it used in the United States. This book is autobiographical, but more than that, it is an easy to read yet scholarly overview of current scientific knowledge regarding Autism and Asperger's. She also includes information she's collected from many other people with AS/HFA making it a true insider's book.
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Freaks, Geeks & Asperger Syndrome; A User Guide to Adolescence
This is an awesome book written by a thirteen year old young man with a diagnosis of Asperger's. It is a well written and incredibly informative view of Asperger's from the inside looking out. Highly recommended!
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
This is an excellent fiction book written from the perspective of a young man with a diagnosis of Asperger's. Very recommended!
Academic Skills
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The Big Book of Reproducible Graphic Organizers
An excellent book for helping kids learn to organize information in order to identify main ideas, supporting data, and details, and then to write paragraphs, essays, stories, etc. A very good resource for parents as well as teachers. This is a general ed book from a teacher supply store -- I'm sure there are other good books on this topic as well.
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Dysgraphia: Why Johnny Can't Write; A Handbook for Teachers and Parents
Excellent, practical, and thorough advice for parents and teachers of kids who struggle with writing. Also a very good guide for parents of kids with all learning disabilities -- a concise, unbiased guide to "learning the system".
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This is a great system used by many regular ed teachers. The software is a new addition that complements their books and really helps solidify the stories for our visual learners.
Eating
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Just Take a Bite
A book highly recommended by our parents for dealing with problem eating. "My oldest son's Occupational Therapist recommended this book and it's been a lifesaver. It goes step by step through a whole program to help kids learn to try and then actually eat new foods. There are sensory tips and exercises for kids with sensory issues, guidelines for mealtimes that help make eating together less hair-pulling for parents, and explanations for why some kids have such a horrible time with non preferred foods."
Employment
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How to Find Work That Works for People with Asperger's Syndrome
A great book about finding employment for older students and adults.
Fine Motor Skills
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A good system for learning how to print or to write in cursive. Used by occupational therapists and resource teachers, it's also a great resource for parents.
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Write from the Start (Books 1 and 2): Developing fine-motor and perceptual skills for effective handwriting.
An excellent set of workbooks for developing visual perceptual, fine motor, and neural networks needed in order to write. They made a tremendous difference in my children's writing abilities, making the physical act easier, less tiring, and much less frustrating. After we completed these we could then work much more effectively on letter formation. Used by occupational therapists and resource teachers, it's also a great resource for parents.
Inclusion in Regular Education Classrooms
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Asperger Syndrome and the Elementary School Experience: Practical Solutions for Academic & Social difficulties
Written by a teacher who is also a parent of a child on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum, this book is an excellent resource for teachers and parents of elementary aged students. It's good, practical, hands-on advice that is directly applicable to the classroom. Highly recommended.
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Incorporating Social Goals in the Classroom: A Guide for Teachers and Parents of Children with High-Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome
Another excellent book written by a former teacher who is also the parent of a child on the spectrum. While a very good resource for someone developing a social skills curriculum, this book is also great for regular ed teachers. It's a thorough overview of problem areas in the classroom, why they occcur, and some practical ideas on how to address them. Also a good book for parents.
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Addressing the Challenging Behavior of Children with High-Functionioning Autism/Asperger Syndrome in the Classroom: A Guide for Teachers and Parents
A good book written by a former teacher who is the parent of a child on the spectrum. A lot of good information here. Not as detailed or complete as the book by Susan Thompson Moore (above) but a good overview with a nice survey of problem areas. This would probably be a good resource for home-schooling parents as well.
Language
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Teach Me Language: A Language Manual for children with autism, Asperger's syndrome and related developmental disorders.
An excellent curriculum for teaching language and its associated thought processes. It addresses issues such as conversation skills, emotions, critical thinking skills, general knowledge, grammar, writing paragraphs, and reading comprehension. The drills and worksheets are well structured -- comprehensive enough for the language professional yet simple enough for untrained (but ambitious) parents to understand and implement. Its scope and range make it well worth the price!
Large Motor Skills
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An excellent video for teaching someone how to ride a bicycle. We had tried for over two years to teach our 8 year old HFA son to ride a bike. It had been like sticking a bag of rocks onto the bike seat and pushing it off -- nothing but tears and frustration! After watching this video it took my husband less than 10 minutes to teach our son and his little brother to ride. The techniques are simple and easy and have had a lasting affect on his balance. Highly recommended!
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder:
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A good description of PANDAS -- a subset of OCD and Tourette's, where symptoms worsen following strep infections.
Social Skills
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The New Social Story Book
Social stories are very short stories written from the perspective of the student that explore a particular topic and the rules relating to it. The student reads it (or is read to) several times each day for a number of days until they internalize it ("get it"). We used social stories with great success to teach my then 7 year old HFA son to not pick his nose in class. While this book is not going to help teach abstract thinking skills or problem solving, its concepts are very useful tools especially when teaching basics to developmentally preschool or lower elementary school aged kids.
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Social Skills Activities for Special Children
A great reference for teaching basic social skills such as classroom rules and responsibilities, learning to work with others, making friends, understanding social situations, and everyday etiquette. It's well organized and quite easy to use. While geared toward elementary school aged children, its range of topics makes it a great springboard and checklist for working with kids at other developmental levels as well.
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A very good book for teaching social-cognition (communicating effectively and solving personal problems). Topics include initiating conversations or activities, listening and attending, understanding abstract language, taking others' perspectives, seeing the big picture, and using humor. A great book for language professionals and ambitious parents.
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Navigating the Social World: A Curriculum for Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome, High Functioning Autism and Related Disorders
An excellent resource for teaching social navigation, including recognizing and coping with one's emotions, communication and social skills, abstract thinking skills, and behavioral issues. Using these methods and worksheets we were able to teach my then 7 year old HFA son to deal with the frustrations of tackling new things in the classroom, a skill that made a huge difference in his ability to function in the regular education classroom and that carried over to dealing with frustration in all areas of his life. A great book for professionals and ambitious parents.
Tourette's Syndrome
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A good description of PANDAS -- a subset of OCD and Tourette's, where symptoms worsen following strep infections.