Resources

As part of our commitment to forming partnerships with families, therapists, and providers, the following are a list of resources that the staff of SDSA have found to be beneficial to many families with a child with autism. 

Books

Let Me Hear Your Voice by Catherine Maurice

A heartening story for parents written by a mother to two children with ASD.  Gives inspiration to parents, as well as valuable information.

Children with Starving Brains by Jaquelyn McCandless

Written by the grandmother to a child with autism, McCandless is a clinician who gives parents a starting point in the biomedical treatment of autism.

The Social Skills Picture Book: Teaching Play, Emotion, and Communication to Children with Autism by Jed Baker

This is an excellent resource for parents struggling to teach social skills. Jed Baker is an expert in the area of teaching socialization to children with autism.  This book is organized into social lessons and uses realistic photos to give students with ASD a straightforward approach to learn appropriate interactions across many different settings.  A great tool to have on hand, especially for higher-functioning students, as social situations arise.

Pivotal Response Treatments for Autism: Communication, Social, and Academic Development by Robert L. Koegel and Lynn Kern Koegel

For parents new to PRT, this book is an excellent resource to learn more about this effective treatment model. 

Autism Life Skills: From Communication and Safety to Self-Esteem and More-10 Essential Abilities Every Child Needs and Deserves to Learn by Chantal Sicile-Kira

With the advice of adults with autism, Sicile-Kira has written this great resource for parents that is essentially a "bill of rights" for every child, regardless of skill-set or ability level.

The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related Disorders by Mary Barbera and Tracy Rasmussen

This is a great introduction, for parents especially, to the practice of verbal behavior.  Verbal Behavior theories stem from Applied Behavior Analysis and work best with students with little to no verbal communication.

Peer Play and the Autism Spectrum By Pamela Wolfberg

This is a practical and straightforward guide to implementing Integrated Play Groups for children with autism and typical children.  Pamela Wolfberg is a pioneer in the field of autism research as it relates to play and socialization.  Integrated Play Groups are the model that St. Dominic Savio Academy has chosen to utilize in teaching students to have positive interactions with typical peers.

Websites

Beyond Play

http://www.beyondplay.com/

This is a great source for educational toys and games we've found helpful over the years.  Many of our students favorite items have come from this site.  Beyond Play does a good job of finding both therapy tools and toys.

Talk About Curing Autism

http://www.tacanow.org/index.htm

This site was created by a parent of a child with autism.  It is easy to use, straightforward, and is by parents and for parents.  TACA gives valuable advice on biomedical treatments, the GFCF diet, chelation, therapies and treatments, and parent resources.

Do 2 Learn

www.do2learn.com

This is a website that provides free visual supports, including PECS icons, for academic and daily living skills.  The site also gives activities that are downloadable and great for hab programs.

Gabby Gadgets

http://gabbygadgets.stores.yahoo.net/index.html

This is a really neat site offering tool kits to go along with many kids favorite books including Goodnight Moon, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  The kits contain manipulatives (small toys related to the parts of the story) to be used to teach many different goals.  The tools offer great flexibility in how they can be used, which is great for home therapy programs.  The student could sequence the story from memory using the manipulatives once the book has been read, re-create the story (act out) using the manipulatives without the book, or a variety of other activities.