In So Many Words

Autism and Reading Comprehension
Ready-to-Use Lesson Plans for Teachers

by Joseph Porter, M.Ed.
Future Horizons, 2011
394 pages

About the Book

The predictable format, repetition, and routine of these lessons will create a relaxed learning environment, while the variations in the topics will hold students’ attention and help them generalize the reading skills they need to succeed!

Starting with Level 1 (The Cat) and ending with Level 9 (The Lizard), special-educator Joseph Porter has developed an amazing 90 hours of animal-themed, whole-group instruction. There are two student worksheets for each of nine animals, totaling eighteen worksheets. Each worksheet has four variations, and there is a ready-to-go lesson plan for each one!

There are also two sentence-building exercises for each animal theme, which will build students’ observation skills and help them transform those skills into conversation and written language. In addition to the step-by-step lesson plans, Joseph provides a detailed description of what the lessons will look and feel like in the classroom, complete with valuable, first-hand advice. In the back, you’ll find an appendix with numerous suggestions for complementary activities for each animal theme, so you can supplement on the “off” days with art projects, music, books, and videos.

There is even a section containing Data-Collection Sheets, assessment forms that will help you record students’ progress, per IEP standards. And the companion CD contains all of the worksheets, lesson plans, visual tools, and assessment forms for quick-and-easy print!

My Thoughts

This is an incredibly detailed curriculum, with explicit instructions for how to implement every aspect of the program. The worksheets combine both coloring and writing, mostly filling in the blank or copying a sentence, and they offer lots of practice on following directions as well. There are also several different graphic sentence-building tools that can be used as the students gain confidence and skill.

The book also includes an easy-to-use CD containing printable lesson plans, worksheets, visual tools, and assessment and data collection forms. This program would definitely be most appropriate for beginning readers at the elementary school level.

I like that Porter recognizes real-world limitations and presents lessons suitable for small group instruction rather than only one-on-one interactions. I also greatly appreciate his understanding that comprehension – whether in reading or in conversation – is about having an active relationship with the words that goes beyond simple recognition of basic meaning.

Discount Opportunity: If you order Autism & Reading Comprehension directly from Future Horizons, you can use the code INTERRUPTED to receive 15% off and free shipping in the continental US.

Note: I received a review copy of this book for free, but all opinions are my own. I am an affiliate of Future Horizons and receive a small amount of compensation for any sales made using the promotional code provided. You can use the code INTERRUPTED when ordering books or other materials – or even conference registrations – to receive 15% off plus free shipping in the continental US.

Taken from the article “Autism: From Mind Blindness to Context Blindness” by Peter Vermeulen, Nov/Dec 2011 Autism Asperger’s Digest, www.autismdigest.com

Note: You can get a 15% discount on a subscription to the AADigest when you use this discount code: INTERRUPTED.

Remember the scene in the movie, Rainman, where Raymond is trying to cross a street? In Raymond’s mind when the sign displays “Don’t walk,” it means only one thing: “Don’t walk.” We laugh when the sign changes from “Walk” to “Don’t walk” and Raymond stops in the middle of the intersection. Raymond does not understand that “Don’t walk” means many different things, depending on the situation or context. When you’re halfway through the crossing, it means “hurry up” instead!

Here is another example of context blindness: When the doorbell rang, the mother of a seven-year-old boy with autism asked him to open the door. He opened the back door instead of the front. His reaction was logical, but his choice of door was out of context.

Emotion recognition training is immensely popular in the field of autism. Typical materials used in this training are photographs or pictures of facial expressions of emotions. Although these materials can help children with autism learn about different emotions in a rote manner, they do not reflect emotion recognition as it happens in real life.

First, we rarely see faces out of context in real life. When we try to figure out what a person feels, we look at context as much as we do facial expression: the situation, what that person says, body language, our past experiences with similar situations, etc. In fact we don’t even need a facial expression to recognize emotions…. Studies on how people process facial expressions have shown that when we look at faces, our brains always spontaneously encode the context and that in certain instances, context plays an even bigger role in emotion recognition than the facial expression.

The second problem with traditional emotion recognition training is the underlying assumption that there is a direct relationship between an emotion and its facial expression. This assumption goes back to Darwin’s idea of universal expression of emotions in which each emotion has its own distinct facial expression. Unfortunately for people with autism, facial expressions are not that straightforward and quite often are ambiguous.

Take tears for instance. What do people feel when they have tears on their cheeks? It could mean sadness. But it could also mean happiness or pride. Or it could be an allergic reaction or the result of dicing an onion. How can a brain tell the difference? It uses context.

In recognizing emotions—the same is true for all mental states—the human brain relies on context. When people with autism find it hard to empathize, it is because their brain lacks contextual sensitivity. They are affected by context blindness, rather than mind blindness.

We can teach people with ASD a lot of rules and scripts, but for social understanding and competence to flourish, scripts and rules are insufficient. To effectively teach emotion recognition and social understanding to people with ASD, we must add context to the materials we teach. Even using a term such as “socially appropriate behavior” becomes misleading unless context is specified; behavior that is socially appropriate in one situation might be inappropriate in another context!

Social competence is not about knowing whether a certain behavior is socially appropriate or not, it is the knowledge of when that behavior is appropriate and when it is not.

Research has shown that more able people with ASD know quite a lot of social rules, but they have difficulty adapting these rules to changing contexts or making exceptions to the rules. Most social skill training programs focus on teaching generic social skills (e.g., how to start a conversation). However, having a conversation while waiting in the dentist’s waiting room or visiting someone at the hospital is quite different from the conversation you have hanging out with a group of buddies because the contexts are very different.

Instead of putting our focus on teaching social skills, we should focus on teaching social contexts such as visiting someone at the hospital or hanging out with friends. And then teach all the necessary rules, conversation, and behavior attached to a certain context. When you visit someone who is ill and in the hospital, what kind of present do you take? How long do you stay? What do you talk about? What should you say/not say?

The same logic about context applies to Social Stories™, a powerful tool to help people with autism navigate the social world. Instead of creating stories about certain social skills, we should build them around contexts and introduce sentences that start with if and when. In this manner a story can be adapted to different contexts. For instance, a social story about welcoming guests to your birthday party could contain the following contextual sentences:

• When the person who arrives is a close family member, you kiss them and say “hi.”
• When the person who arrives is not a close family member, you shake hands and say “hi.”

Social competence requires more than social skills; it demands contextual sensitivity— something difficult for people with ASD. Training programs designed to help people with ASD navigate the social world should therefore emphasize social contexts, not just focus on teaching social skills.

Peter Vermeulen, PhD, is a senior lecturer and consultant at Autisme Centraal in Gent, Belgium. He has written 15 books on autism, some of which have been translated into several languages.

Excerpt was reprinted with permission. Added emphasis is mine.

How Do I Teach This Kid to Read? Teaching Literacy Skills to Young Children with Autism
by Kimberly A. Henry, M.S.
Future Horizons, 2010
97 pages

About the Book

Reading is so much more than reciting words on a page!

Reading provides personal enjoyment, access to information, and opens doors to opportunities throughout life, both recreational and occupational. Reading helps us grow and vicariously experience things we are curious about, and dream about.

But for many young children with autism, reading is often a factual memorization of letters and words. The playful, imaginative qualities of reading may be missed in favor of the repetitive, predictable alphabet and visual appearance of words on a page.

This book presents simple instructional strategies that can be used to help develop early literacy skills in young children with autism. Award-winning author Kimberly Henry provides dozens of fine-tuned, easily adaptable activities that teachers and parents can implement separately or in infinite combinations. Included are units on phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. Kim also lists numerous other resources you can use to supplement the lessons.

Best of all, this book comes with a FREE CD of printable, visual tools, such as:

• ABC Books
• Text-Picture Matches
• Songs, Chants, and Poems
• Word Webs
• Visual Organizers
• Sentence Builders
• Graphics for Games
• And many more!

My Thoughts

I was extremely impressed by this book. Even having had a child who started reading on his own, I can see where the activities in this book would have helped me expand and direct his learning, especially in those areas where having autism impacted him more.

Kim makes an important comparison in the introduction when she says:

Because the ability to read and comprehend is closely linked to an individual’s language abilities and social understanding, children with autism often struggle with the process of reading.

For my son, the biggest issue thus far has been comprehension. I recall asking him what he thought would happen next as I reached the end of a page in a storybook, hoping to prompt some sort of prediction from him, and being told, “You’re going to turn the page.” It makes an adorable story, and he has progressed past that point, but there is still a gap between how he interprets what he reads and how his teachers expect him to see it.

As Kim points out, amongst other considerations related to comprehension:

Children with ASD characteristically are challenged by a lack of social understanding and “theory of mind”—the ability to take the perspective of another person and recognize their emotions, interests, and motivations. This area of deficit, then, affects their ability to understand and relate to characters in fictional text.

The book itself is laid out nicely, with helpful information regarding each area of literacy prefacing a number of activities directly related to that area. It also includes a CD with printable resources for many of the activities described, which is worth as much as the price of the book over again.

The subtitle reads, “Teaching Literacy Skills to Young Children with Autism, from Phonics to Fluency,” and I agree that it is probably best suited for those working with younger kiddos or early readers. But I would say that it could be very useful even with children who appear to be progressing independently with both phonics and fluency, especially with regard to the area of comprehension.

How Do I Teach This Kid to Read? is available directly from Future Horizons, where you can use the code INTERRUPTED to receive 15% off and free shipping in the continental US.

Note: This is Book #99 of my 2011 Reads (master list here). I received a review copy of this book for free, and the Future Horizons discount code is an affiliate link. All opinions are my own.

A few months ago, I was approached about helping to beta test a new site for caregivers of loved ones with issues such as Alzheimer’s, autism, and more. The site offers a way to connect with other caregivers through online journals and book clubs, and it provides lots of resources related to caregiving as well as to self-care.

Sounds pretty good so far, but what really made this site so interesting to me is that the site is built around an online game where you learn about caregiving while also solving a mystery and having the option to solve various puzzles along the way! I have been through the first two episodes of the game, which primarily discuss caring for an elderly relative with Alzheimer’s or a similar illness, and it really opened my eyes to what my father-in-law and sister-in-law have been experiencing in providing the day-to-day care for my mother-in-law, who has Alzheimer’s.

Of course, I blog mostly about autism and many of my readers are more interested in that topic. There are at least two book clubs specifically focused on autism and a fair amount of resources such as recommended books and tip sheets on various issues. A quick search of the term autism on the site turns up a number of related journal entries and book club discussions.

So, if you or someone you know could use a little break from the stress of the day, or would benefit from connecting with someone else in a similar situation, I would encourage you to check out this site. Right now, they are offering a free one year membership and will also contribute $1 to the Autism Society for anyone who joins using this link.

If you want to stop reading and go check it out, feel free! And if you’d like a bit more information about the site first, I am happy to oblige…

New Resource for Family Caregivers

Despite millions of dollars and hundreds of dedicated websites, family caregivers are still in trouble.

Over 60 million family caregivers in the U.S. alone are sick (with nearly twice the rate of chronic illnesses as their non-caregiving peers); they’re depressed (40-60% report significant feelings of depression) and they’re frustrated, unable to find resources or solutions they need to help with the basic, day-to-day caregiving tasks they face. They’re also costly to our economy, accounting for an estimated $29 billion in lost productivity to our country’s businesses.

It’s time to change this description of the family caregiver. It’s time to do just one thing: Improve the lives of family caregivers. Caregiver Village, a brand new place on the web, is dedicated to doing exactly this.

• Caregiver Village is dedicated to building better health, using an innovative, engaging virtual game to inspire better self-care, teach stress management skills, and build more positive attitudes about caregiving.
• Caregiver Village is dedicated to increasing happiness, by helping caregivers connect more with others, choosing their caregiving journey and encouraging mindful support of each other.
• Caregiver Village is dedicated to easing frustration, by linking to resources caregivers need to make a tangible difference in their lives.
• To achieve such an epic change it will take a true Village – a Caregiver Village – reaching out, inviting friends, family and acquaintances to join with us as we raise our voices, affirm our choices and change the world of caregiving today.

Join in. Make a Difference.

You can be a part of this transformation. All it takes is a few simple steps:

JOIN – Become part of Caregiver Village and join a community of supportive, positive, life-changing individuals.

SOLVE THE MYSTERY – Put the “fun” into what is perceived as a terrible drudgery by others. Play the Village Chronicles virtual game, and have a little fun while learning valuable self-care techniques.

SHARE YOUR STORY – Creating and sharing a journal can be an incredibly helpful experience. No writing expertise required. Everyone’s welcome.

GET CONNECTED – Join one of the many book clubs within Caregiver Village. You’ll find a group of people ready to help, support, educate and amuse you. They’re waiting just inside.

FIND RESOURCES – Caregiver Village has a selection of resources selected just for busy family caregivers. Find resources that can make daily caregiving tasks much more manageable. You’ll find links to important organizations as well as exclusive Tip Sheets and Online Training courses designed just for you.

Join me today in reaching out and improving your life – my life – and the lives of other family caregivers all over the country.

LIMITED TIME OFFER:
Join NOW and receive a year’s membership free – $50 value! In addition, when you join using this link, Caregiver Village will donate $1 to the Autism Society.

This month’s topic is on helping special needs kids to calm down and/or refocus after a meltdown or stressful event and asks, “What works for your child?”

For this question, I thought I would go straight to the source. I interviewed Michael until he said it was too boring to talk about anymore and got a few ideas of what he finds the most helpful. So here goes:

• A hug or a squeeze – “nice and tight” is best.
• Snuggling on the couch or his bed. (I sometimes turn his music on as well, but he said that is for bedtime, not for calming down.)
• Tickling or doing something funny to make him laugh. He said this makes him happy, which helps him calm down.
• Having Mommy explain what is going on so he won’t be confused. (Many times his meltdowns are triggered by misunderstandings or not stopping to realize that something can easily be fixed.)

He also said the first step is to stop him when he is whining. And he’s right, it’s so much easier to head off a meltdown than to actually recover from one.

Note: This post was written for the S-O-S Best of the Best, Edition 10: Calming Techniques for Stress and the Special Needs Child, which will be published on September 15th.

I apologize for the short post this month. We got a ton of rain after the hurricane went through and ended up with almost two feet of water in our basement. We have spent several days sorting and tossing stuff, as well as doing a major cleaning.

I still have a lot of great information to process from the National Autism Conference in State College, PA earlier this month, and I wanted to share my notes from the session on motor planning. It was given by Susan Thompson, who is an Occupational Therapist from Houston and runs Handy Learning Seminars, Inc (photo from her website).

This was a wonderful session. I had really been looking forward to it, and I was not disappointed. Susan is a skilled presenter and included a lot of examples for all learning styles, including kinesthetic. And I got an introduction to tai chi in the process! If you wish, you can access the handout from her presentation here.

What Is Motor Planning?

In brief, motor planning is using one’s body to learn a specific skill, transfer that skill to another setting or another demand, and then… learn again.

In her view, the most necessary piece is motivation, or what she calls essential tension – the desire to master things and move on to the next thing or the next level of difficulty. Sort of like how I might pass the level on a computer game and then choose to try the next level or even go back to see if I can get a higher score or more stars on an earlier level.

Of course, as anyone who has tried to figure out what motivates their own child knows, the critical element is challenging them without overwhelming them, and this can be a very fine line.

There are many systems in the body and different etiologies for the breakdown of motor planning, so the underlying cause of the problem will vary from person to person. Because of this, she prefers to use the term “Motor Learning.”

What Does It Take To Motor Learn?

There are three stages of motor learning:

• Cognitive – dedicate most of the brain function to learning what to do
• Transitional – don’t have to focus quite as hard on the task
• Automatic – don’t have to think about any of it

A skill is not functional until it becomes automatic.

Read that sentence again: A skill is not functional until it becomes automatic. That definitely brought up some questions in my mind about how I understand what the professionals on my son’s team are saying when they evaluate and discuss my son’s abilities.

Personal example

I have been told that my son’s handwriting is functional. I agree with the observation that he is capable of forming letters and writing words properly, and yet we struggle with these tasks often because he finds them tiring and frustrating to do.

So I asked Susan about this during the break. Her answer, obviously without knowing or observing my son, was that if the person can do the skill automatically in one environment, then it is a functional skill. If changing something in the environment impacts their ability to perform the skill, then you need to look at what factors have changed and why. Such as – is there a learning disability? Is it related to executive functioning skills? How can we ameliorate the other environmental factors?

This explanation made a lot of sense to me; in fact, Michael has been diagnosed with dysgraphia and also does much worse with time pressures or the perception that something is too hard for him. Examining these factors separately from his actual handwriting ability makes it much easier to focus on the issues that are at play.

Sensory Factors

Feedback and Feedforward

Susan definitely feels that issues with the sensory processing systems affects motor learning and motor planning. She actually shared quite a bit about feedback and feedforward to explain how we incorporate our senses into learning. This definitely seems like an area I want to do a bit more reading in.

One tidbit I learned here is something she shares more about in her handwriting seminars: If you have a child or student who is having difficulty writing legibly, ask them to write smaller rather than bigger, because we take in kinesthetic information better when the movements are smaller. We write with our hands, and the muscles are small muscles, so the movements should be small.

She also mentioned that it is important to use your fingers to move the pencil and use your shoulder/arm to stabilize, rather than what some kids do, which is to stabilize the pencil with their hands and move their shoulder as they are writing. Using the proper muscles will aid in the motor learning and the end result.

Vision

Next, she talked about vision, which she calls the overlooked sensory piece. She thinks this is going to be a huge area of discovery and that the difference in how people with autism process visual information explains even more than the other sensory systems.

Of course, vision is integral to movement. However, she also brought up some things we know about autism and applied them to the processing of visual input, such as focusing on parts rather than the whole, seeing more from the peripheral than the central vision area, and seeing the details rather than the gestalt. Very interesting!

The Brain

Here we went back to the definition of motor planning and talked about how we learn, store and transfer information. Again, the big piece here is motivation – without it, learning will not take place.

Susan ended the presentation by giving some practical ideas about things to do. Probably her biggest recommendation was to get your child out of 2D play and into 3D play, i.e. limit screen time in favor of hands-on or outdoor activities. A few other principles she mentioned:

• Perform activities with eyes open and then with eyes closed.
• Go from whole to part.
• Videotape the child at the task, especially when they are doing it correctly.
• Tap into what the child enjoys and follow his or her lead.
• Make it focused, fun and functional.
• Use a routine: prepare them, capture their attention, and then practice, practice, pratice
• Build for success: use chunking, chaining, move from primary energy to secondary, from cognitive to automatic

If you ever have the opportunity to hear Susan Thompson speak, I would highly recommend you go. You may also wish to take a look at her Handy Learning Activity Book if you are working with a child or student on pre-writing or early writing skills.

I don’t know about you, but I spent the first several days after hearing the diagnosis of autism frantically reading everything I could get my hands on, trying to figure out what I should be doing to help my son. I swung daily from feeling that there must be one perfect answer to the question to feeling like I should be hitting every area at once so as not to lose any more precious time.

I was blown away by the fact that the Birth-3 team thought 45 minutes of speech therapy and 45 minutes of occupational therapy a week was plenty. And even though the preschool program offered 12 hours a week in the classroom along with the therapy sessions, I still felt an intense pressure to do more.

So we did. We have tried a lot of different therapies, with a variety of outcomes. We have done music therapy, art therapy, occupational therapy, a listening program, speech therapy, sensory integration therapy, behavioral therapy, Floortime, psychotherapy, a special diet, supplements, and medication, to name a few. Some were effective and have stuck with us, while others likely did more to make me feel like I was doing something than they actually helped Michael.

I don’t pretend to have all (or even most) of the answers, especially since at times I still battle the same insecurities and fears that I always have, but here’s a few things I have learned along the way:

• Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself, and don’t let every little issue become your whole life. The conversations about nursing versus bottle feeding that were so all-consuming when your child was an infant aren’t even on the radar when you are talking to the second grade teacher about spelling or math.
• Quantity is important, but quality is even more so. As much as some people would like you to believe you must do 40 hours of ABA a week, or 8 Floortime sessions a day, it is critical to give your child yourself, present with them, engaging with them however you can.
• Along those lines, nothing takes the place of getting on the floor and playing with your kid. For some people, this is natural, but for me it was easy to retreat to the computer and my books and focus on researching and learning to find the “right” answers. If I could go back, I would spend half that time just hanging out with Michael instead and really paying attention to what makes him light up with interest and curiosity.
• You have to pick your battles; that is, figure out what your top goals are and prioritize any therapies that addresses those issues. What skill or activity would make things better for your child and for your family? What would make them more functional and independent in their communication or daily life? Once you know what you want and what your child wants, you can make decisions about where therapy may fit in with those goals.

When it comes down to it, we are all imperfect people, raising imperfect children. We want to prepare them for life as best we can, to pass on our values and ideals, to let them know they are loved and to celebrate their uniqueness. We cry for them when things are difficult and rejoice with them when victories are won. We do the best we can at any given moment, and so do our kids, and that’s enough for me.

Note: This post was written for the Best of the Best, Edition 9: Therapy and Special Needs Kids.

So, day 2 of the autism conference was pretty good. Michael had a bit of difficulty when a bucket of water got knocked over during “Wet Day” and his shoes and socks got all wet, but he recovered and had a good afternoon.

Unfortunately, just as I was picking him up, he accidentally brushed his arm against an iron that was still hot and got a minor burn on his arm. He had a nice little blister there now, but it seems to be healing up quickly.

The morning session I attended wasn’t quite what I expected, although the main presenter did have a lovely Irish accent. I bugged out at the break and spent the rest of the time before lunch reading a book.

The Writing C.L.A.W.

I will tell you that there is just one writing grip she likes. It is called The Writing C.L.A.W., and I have never seen anything like it before.

Today, I am scheduled for a session on Adapted Physical Education and another on Legal Issues. Guess I’d better get myself up and moving!

The 15th annual National Autism Conference opened today with this fascinating keynote session. The speaker, Lorri Unumb, is warm and engaging, and has an adorable son Ryan, who has autism.

She is also a lawyer who spearheaded the health insurance coverage bill for autism in South Carolina and who now works in the Government Relations Department at Autism Speaks helping other states pass similar laws. In addition to this, she teaches law and, with her husband and fellow lawyer Dan Unumb, has written a textbook called Autism and the Law: Cases, Statutes, and Materials.

The History of Health Insurance Coverage for Autism

Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good

Lorri began by describing the process of getting autism coverage in South Carolina, from the original bill she drafted at her kitchen table to the last-minute drama that took place when the governor vetoed it the night before the last day of the legislative session in June 2007. Lorri and her husband spent the night calling supporters to mobilize a group to be at the capitol the following morning to ask the legislators to overturn the veto. People showed up – with kids in tow! – and the legislators voted to overturn unanimously.

Although she admits there are a few terms in the final bill that she did not agree with, she told us she has learned that this is part of the political process and urged us not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

She then gave a brief overview of the history of autism coverage in the US. The first meaningful autism insurance mandate was passed in Indiana in 2001. It passed very quickly and without much opposition or fanfare, and then nothing else was seen until 2007, when both South Carolina and Texas enacted similar laws.

Pennsylvania and four other states followed in 2008, with a few more each year to give us a current total of 27. They vary in coverage somewhat, primarily with regard to age limits and dollar caps, and you can find detailed information on each state law at www.autismvotes.org.

Five Principles for Success

Lorri went on to share five things she has learned through her experiences that she believes are essential for successfully passing a new law:

1. Don’t overreach.

One example of this principle in the health care laws includes asking for equal treatment rather than special treatment. We are simply asking for coverage, not to be exempt from the same deductibles and copays as everyone else. Another example is specifying that therapies must be evidenced-based; we are not asking insurance to pay for swimming with dolphins (at least not unless it is somehow proven to be efficacious!)

2. Re-think what you know.

The opposition to these bills puts forth many different arguments against it, one of which is often that the treatments are educational, not medical, and therefore should not be the responsibility of medical providers or insurers.

But, as Lorri puts it, this is the wrong analytical framework. It’s not one or the other. Autism is diagnosed by a doctor, so it is medical, but it is also educational because the children go to school and the education system must respond to them in some way. However, schools are mandated to educate children, not to treat their underlying medical conditions. Schools provide support services to help kids access their education, not to make them better.

3. Come together.

Although the autism community has many divisions over various issues, but we have to come together on the issue at hand to have any hope of getting the legislation passed. Her advice is to fight it out amongst ourselves later, but not to let any of it show to the legislators. They need to see that we are united on an issue to support it.

4. Educate.

Think surface level. As in really basic information. As in colorful graphs and clear sound bytes. Some people still have no idea what autism is or if it is even a real thing, so this is not the time for an in-depth discussion of the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria.

If you don’t believe me, check out this video that Lorri played for us and notice the air quotes this legislator uses when talking about “autism.”

5. Use your ABA techniques.

Specifically, give lots of positive reinforcement. Send the legislators thank you notes and issue press releases whenever someone signs on to your bill, and keep your grassroots gang updated with all of the positive steps that are being taken towards getting it passed.

Of course, you can use these for any legislative advocacy, but they can also be applied to IEP teams and other scenarios (recalcitrant family members, perhaps?)

Other Policy Issues

While the team at Autism Speaks has currently chosen to focus on health care coverage and is planning to continue working to see legislation enacted in all 50 states, they have also identified a number of other policy areas for future work, including:

• Life planning
• Federal insurance law (since not everyone is covered by the state laws)
• Education
• Funding for research
• Legislative autism commissions and task forces
• Criminal laws and proceedings
• Medicaid – patchwork of waivers and EPSDT

She also pointed out that, as difficult as it is to get an insurance coverage mandate passed, that is only the beginning. Once the law is implemented, there needs to be someone making sure it is being enforced.

Here in Pennsylvania, we are still in the implementation phase, with the final regulations for behavior specialist licensing still not completed. As was highlighted in the parent advocacy session I attended in the afternoon, which was led by Lorri and her husband Dan, many of us in this state are still thinking in terms of Medical Assistance, even though that is really secondary for anyone covered under Act 62.

As long as this post is, I have just touched on the incredible amount of information we were given today, and I can only imagine how much I will have taken in by the end of the day on Thursday! If you are interested in more information about this particular topic, you can visit www.autismvotes.org and find out what is happening in your state.

Title: The Child with Autism Learns about Faith: 15 Ready-to-Use Scripture Lessons, from the Garden of Eden to the Parting of the Red Sea
Author: Kathy Labosh
Length: 97 pages
Genre: Nonfiction
Publisher/Date: Future Horizons, 2011
Source: Review copy

About the Book
Endorsed by religious leaders, this groundbreaking book offers a step-by-step lesson plan for family members, educators, and church staff—including scripted narratives, group activities, prayers, scripture readings, classroom setup guidance, lists of additional resources, and more. Each lesson is also accompanied by a Scripture Study for instructors to help them prepare for each class, where the author provides additional ideas and discussion questions.

Kathy Labosh graduated from Penn State and became an economist. She is now a stay-at-home mom to Sam and Nicky, both of whom are children with autism. It became her mission to help others in similar situations. Kathy formed a Special Education Religion Class and is the author of a specialized curriculum for children with autism, currently in development. Kathy has also received an Honorable Mention for children’s fiction from Writer’s Digest.

My Thoughts
I have heard so many parents talk about difficulties with taking their children with autism to their places of worship, and it truly breaks my heart. We have had our own ups and downs with this and are currently in a period of transition with the special needs ministry at our church. While our main priority is to have a safe and supportive environment for our son so that we can attend services, we also want him to be learning about God in order to reinforce and supplement what we are teaching him at home.

It is encouraging to see the growth of ministries dedicated to reaching out to people with special needs and also to find books and websites aimed at including everyone in our faith communities. I was especially pleased to see this book by Kathy Labosh, since I enjoyed The Child with Autism at Home & in the Community so much.

The Child with Autism Learns about Faith is an ideal resource for a children’s director or pastor, with its warm and inviting style and tons of useful information. In Part 1, Kathy starts out by sharing why it is so important to reach out to children with disabilities and their families. After talking a bit about how they learn, she offers many ideas and resources for practical considerations such as classroom setup, lesson materials and creating individual packets for the children.

Part 2 consists of fifteen faith lessons, each covering a specific Bible story. Kathy gives specific examples of activities to use with the class, which could easily be adapted for use in other lessons developed within your program. She also provides a parent’s scripture study to go along with each lesson.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reaching out to children with autism in your faith community. It has been endorsed as “free of doctrinal or moral error” by both Jewish and Catholic leaders, and I’m certain it will be a great asset at my nondenominational Christian church as well. It is available directly from Future Horizons, where you can use the code INTERRUPTED to receive 15% off and free shipping in the continental US.

Note: This is Book #58 of my 2011 Reads (master list here). I received a review copy of this book for free, and all opinions and comments are my own. The Future Horizons discount code is an affiliate link.