Autism 24/7: A Family Guide to Learning at Home and in the Community (Topics in Autism)

I really liked the tone of this book---it was very matter-of-fact and calm. I felt better after reading it---I realized how far my daughter had come in some ways and understood more clearly what areas we need to work on in other ways.The approach here is behavioral. Although the author realizes home is not school, the ideas here are very similar to ABA, modified a bit for a home setting. The language used is clear and easy to understand, and I think this book would be very helpful in carrying over a method that has worked at school into the home.I liked the way many of the examples used girls, and even the cover picture had a girl. It's nice just from a personal standpoint, as I have a girl with autism.My only caution here---I don't think ABA or behavioral approaches always work for autistic kids. An example is the chapter on dealing with difficult behaviors. We are told here to figure out what triggered the behavior in order to deal with it--that in every scenario, we must first figure out why a child is screaming in order to teach them to stop. I KNOW there are times when my daughter is screaming for no reason at all, or at least no reason that has anything to do with external events or triggers---or at least any that she can tell me about in any way at all, or that I can figure out with detective work. I think ABA type thinking often sees the world and behaviors as something that can be understood---something somehow concrete, and it just isn't always way.I do recommend this book. Parents need writing like this---clear, kind and detailed.

Autism 24/7 is a lovely book written by the developers of PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) and founders of Pyramid Educational Consultants, Dr. Andy Bondy & Lori Frost. For those of you that are looking for a way to make your home and family life more manageable, this is the book for you. This book is written with parents and families in mind and contains clearly written and easy to understand text. With this book, parents and caregivers can successfully teach children important skills for use within the home and in the real world. These unique teaching strategies should encourage your child to be more independent, improve behavior and reinforce classroom learning. Use of these straightforward teaching strategies should make your home life more manageable. Use this book as a way to help set goals for what to teach and how to teach within your home and in the community. The strategies presented in this easy to read text are adapted from the Pyramid Approach to Education.Within this book, the following topics are explored: setting goals at home, using motivational strategies to build successful change, important communication goals in and around the house, create natural opportunities for learning, teaching strategies within home and community, dealing with common errors and difficult behavior. Each chapter offers a review of the material covered. Various tables, flowcharts, figures and graphs throughout the book have proven to be most helpful! Additionally, there are multiple helpful forms and checklists located in the back of the book.I highly recommend this book to parents and families living with someone with autism!

This is a very handy guide to integrating your child with an autism spectrum disorder into your family and community. It doesn't have an overwhelming amount of information, but just very simply and clearly explains ways that you can make sure your child is happily and productively occupied at home--even if you sometimes want or need to be doing something else besides interacting with him 24/7. The parts about analyzing your day and your house to figure out what your child can be doing, when & where is especially helpful.