The Adventures of Stretch More

One of my favorite professions, Ross Greene, Ph.D., has co-authored a book for children with Tina Epstein, Psy.D. The Adventures of Stretch More (list $18.95) is a 132 page book of "pick-your-path" stories for children and teens.

I adore Dr. Greene! I had the opportunity to attend a presentation about "Lost at School" in Michigan several years ago. Ross Greene, Ph.D. "gets" our kids. He reminds us again and again, "Kids do well if they can."

Stretch More is a kid made of a rubber band who is rigid and is learning to be flexible. The stories in the book are written about common events that happen in all our lives. Each story is broken down into parts where the reader is allowed to choose how he/she would respond in that situation and then the reader is directed to a new page to read material that follows up on that chosen response.  

The Woodbine House promotional materials describe the concept of the book very  well: 

This is the first children's book to demonstrate Collaborative & Proactive Solutions, a therapy method that presumes kids act poorly because they lack the skills to deal with challenging situations. Together, parents and children learn how to defuse the tension and build a more supportive approach to improving behavior. A perfect book for kids ages 8-13 who have ADHD, Tourette's, OCD, or Asperger's that also includes an information section for parents."

My homeschooler and I dove right in. We read about the botched breakfast. Almost immediately, my girl found a way that she identifies with Stretch.  We talk about how she is like Stretch, how she is different from Stretch. And of course, we don't read just the ending she would choose; instead, we read all the endings. The stories give us fuel for discussion later - something I am seeing more and more. My girl needs a long time to process a concept, and we revisit situations and the endings again and again as she processes another bit here or there. The stories themselves and the format of the book is very kid and teen friendly.


Peek inside! An excerpt of the book is here.
Table of contents is here. 
 
Disclaimer: Woodbine House sent me a copy to review for you. I was not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Essential First Steps for Parents of Children with Autism Review

Woodbine House sent me a review copy of Essental First Steps for Parents of Children with Autism by Lara Delmolino, Ph.D., BCBA-D & Sandra L. Harris, Ph.D.

Disclaimer: I was given the book at no charge to me. I am not obligated to provide a positive opinion.

Essential First Steps is written for parents of toddlers through kindergartners with a recent autism diagnosis. It's a good size to slip into your purse or diaper bag to read in a waiting room (parents of kids on the autism spectrum tend to spend a lot of time in waiting rooms), a soft cover of 152 pages. Priced at $21.95, at the time I am writing this post, the book is on sale for $12.71 via Woodbine House.

Essential First Steps gives readers ten chapters, with each chapter beginning with a relatable vignette about a family.

Chapter 1 describes and defines autism and terms related to diagnosis and treatment.

Chapter 2 is a very basic intro to ABA. 

Personal sidebar: ABA is one of the interventions I wish we had not done.

Chapter 3 is a cheerleading section for ABA. 

Personal sidebar:  I'll have to admit, ABA worked. Yes, my child did learn everything we taught her in ABA. However, we checked off skills from the ABLLS one by one as if the things we were teaching were discreet skills and not part of a continuous process model; for example, we taught her pointing as if it were merely a mand and not a huge expression of joint attention. We created the robotic, prompt dependent child they promised would not happen and we left her with a bizarre set of splinter skills with no foundations because none of our behaviorists (we had five or six in three years) understood development.

Chapter 4 is about early intervention and school, IEPs (and ABA).

Chapter 5 is about helping your child relate to others, ABA style.

Personal sidebar: Developmental approaches worked far better than behavioral approaches in terms of social reciprocity and joint attention at my house.

Chapter 6 is about verbal communication.

Personal sidebar: There is heavy emphasis on manding, or requesting. From page 88, "Of course, children with ASD eventually need to learn words for things they are not requesting, but this type of language instruction is a secondary priority at the early stages of teaching."  I strongly disagree with this philosophy based on our experience with it. A developmental approach beginning with non-verbal interaction is better in my experience.

Chapter 7 covers play from a behavioral perspective. See my sidebars above.

Chapter 8 covers self-help skills toward independence.

Chapter 9 is about sensory and behavior challenges.

Chapter 10 reminds parents where to look for support.

Essential First Steps is a basic introduction to behavioral intervention and parents new to the diagnosis who are interested in behavioral intervention may find the guide helpful.

The Boys' Guide to Growing Up

Do you wonder how you will explain puberty to your pre-teen or teen who has developmental delays and/or is on the autism spectrum? I have a new resource to share with you. Woodbine House sent me a review copy of "The Boys' Guide to Growing Up, Choices and Changes during Puberty", by Terri Couwenhoven, M.S.

Books written for typically developing kids about puberty can be too complex for an introduction with a child who has developmental delays.  The Boys' Guide to Growing Up is a solid resource to bridge the gap between where your child is in terms of his physical development and what he needs to know cognitively if he is delayed in areas of comprehension and understanding.  The text is written at a third grade level while the information is geared for boys going through the changes that happen between the ages of 11 and 15 according to the book (the web site gives an expanded recommendation for boys age 9 to 16). The illustrations are clear and simple.

The book is divided into sections about the basics of puberty; outside changes; inside changes (includes voice, feelings, sexual feelings); a section about the penis; then sections that are more 'social skills' in nature that describes safe touch and what is appropriate to share and what is appropriate to keep private.

The books is paperback, 64 pages, with the right amount of text and illustration on each page.  It is priced at $16.95 and is on sale at the Woodbine House web site at the moment.  It is inviting to read.  Better yet, the content is written in a way that is matter of fact, reminds boys that everything they're going through is *normal*, and it tackles a subject that can be difficult for kids whose bodies are ahead of their comprehension.  Having it in book form means we parents can pick up the book again and again and reread it with our kids or revisit parts of it as we need to.

Woodbine House gave me a copy of this book to review for you on my blog. I was not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.  Re: Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." 

Incredible Edible Gluten-Free Food for Kids

The cover of this cookbook draws me in. It looks fun to me. And as I open the cookbook, I quickly relate to the author. Sheri L. Sanderson is the mother of a child with celiac disease, and and Woodbine House bring us Incredible Edible Gluten-Free Food for Kids, 150 Family Tested Recipes. Finding foods that our kids will eat and that are gluten free (and more) can be a challenge, and Sanderson knows that.


The first four chapters are educational and informative:
Chapter 1: A Guide To Gluten-Free Beginnings
Chapter 2: Understanding Celiac Disease
Chapter 3: Special Help for Your Child
Chapter4: Before You Start

I often say that being just gluten-free would be sooooooooooooooooooooo easy. Adding dairy, soy, nuts, eggs, and other foods to the "free" list makes meal prep more complicated, and Gluten-Free Food for Kids is a gluten-free cookbook. If you're anything else free, you'll need to know how to make your own substitutions or skip certain recipes. (What is a substitution for powdered dry milk or buttermilk powder, anyway?) Bottom line: This book is a solid option if someone in your family is ONLY gluten-free. If you have other frees on your avoid list, I'd recommend you borrow this one from the library to see if it is something you will use enough to buy.

The Poultry chapter is my favorite and that's the one I'll be cooking from first. Chicken with Dijon Sauce and Deep Fried Chicken Nuggets are calling my name. There are recipes for homemade pizza sauce and mini pizzas that I'd like to try on a biscuit recipe ('cept I need a substitute for the buttermilk powder in the buttermilk buscuit recipe or perhaps I will use biscuits from a gf baking mix).

There are quite a few recipes for dishes that I already make and there are a large number I won't make because I know we won't eat them (stuffed peppers, for example).

The recipe list gives readers a lot of variety, including appetizers and snacks, breads, breakfast, lunch, and dinner ideas, salads and veggies, soups and stews and sweets. The Party and Entertaining chapter is important - seems we all struggle with party ideas. The Lego cake idea is genius. The last chapter contains craft ideas. I wish I'd had this when my girl was in preschool.

The appendix and resource list at the back are a real wealth of information. There are cooking tips galore with a troubleshooting guide that I wish I'd had when I began over 1o years ago.

Sheri L. Sanderson's web site is HERE.

Woodbine House sent me a review copy of Gluten-Free Food For Kids. I was not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

GLUTEN-FREE KIDS

Amazing Resource Alert

I always feel a lot of pressure when I talk to a parent who has been referred to me to get help with the GFCF diet. There is so much information to relate, so many things to watch out for, so many hints and tips to remember. I feel pressure not to forget anything while at the same time not overwhelming the parent. There's too much to talk about, and a parent new to a diet or diagnosis can absorb only so much. It's a lose-lose situation.

Now, I have a resource to recommend, one that parents can pore over, refer to, return to again and again.

GLUTEN-FREE KIDS, Raising Happy, Healthy Children with Celiac Disease, Autism, and Other Conditions, by Danna Korn is an introduction to all things gluten-free.

While it is not a book about all things gluten/casein/soy free, the book does touch on GFCFSF, and, for families about to remove gluten for the first time, is a solid resource, even if these families plan to remove other foods as well.

Korn covers everything. Parent emotions and grief. What to do (when going gluten free). What to say to your child and to others. How to read labels. Celiac sprue. Gluten intolerance. Wheat allergy. School. Birthday parties. Camp. Restaurants. Cheating and accidental infractions. It's all there.

Gluten-Free Kids is not a cookbook. Korn does provide recipes for play-dough. She provides product lists of brand name items and meal suggestions here.

I wish I'd had this resource when my daughter went gluten free just over 10 years ago. (We removed gluten, first, as a trial, and removed casein and soy later.)

Gluten-Free Kids is a 228-page paperback an is regularly priced at $21.95. Woodbine House is offering a May, 2011, discount and this month you can purchase the book for $16.46.

Author Danna Korn's web site is here.

Gluten-Free Kids is packed with helpful informaton from a mother with years of experience with a child on a gluten-free diet. This book would be a wonderful new-member gift for celiac groups to include in membership packets. The book is a good resource for parents to give to family members or teachers, too. Gasterenterologists need a lobby copy; so do many autism consultants. It is a resource very library should have. Parents should have easy access to this resource.

Woodbine House sent me a review copy of GLUTEN FREE KIDS. I was not paid for this review. I do not benefit should you choose to purchase the book. I am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Off We Go... series from Avril Webster and Woodbine House

Parent Avril Webster and Woodbine House have created a wonderful series for parents of young children and parents of children with developmental delays and special needs. If you are the parent or teacher of a child on the autism spectrum, you know first-hand the difficulty that the dentist, the grocery store, and the salon or barber shop can bring. New situations can create high anxiety, and allowing your child to watch you first is one way to give them an idea of what will happen during a dental exam or haircut, and picture books and Social Stories® are another. Avril Webster gives us three delightfully simple picture books with minimal, yet carefully chosen and powerful text, illustrated playfully by David Ryley, to help us help our children.

I love these books. I wish I'd had them when Li'l Bit was little. Each book previews for children important pieces of each event/task. Parents of children with special needs will know that the author lives our life, too, when you see what she has spotlighted, things I forgot to prepare my child for. One example is how the barber or hairdresser will cover and rub the child's head with a towel after a shampoo. It helps to preview for children certain events to avoid unpleasant surprises, and Webster clearly 'gets' this.

The series uses some patterns that are so important when working with children with developmental delays. You'll see some sameness in the way the stories happen. The characters are the same in all books, too. The author and illustrator give us a really nice "same but different" experience among the books.

Webster provides info on how to use the books at home, and I thought of another use. I cannot wait for my sister's family to come for a visit now that we are geographically closer to them. Her children are younger than mine; I want Li'l Bit to read these books to my sister's littles. She's ready to share these experiences with someone else, and these books are the perfect activity to do just that, adding another layer to the usefulness of this series.

Individually priced at $9.95, the books are 20% off when purchased as a bundle.

In addition to having the series at home, the Off We Go series would be great additions to special ed early intervention and contained classrooms, to pre-school classrooms or libraries, to OT/PT/speech clinic waiting rooms, in dentists' waiting rooms, in the waiting area at the salon or barber shop.

Click on the pictures to go to the link for each book:

Off We Go To The Grocery Store

Off We Go to the Dentist

Off We Go for a Haircut

The Off We Go web site is here.

Woodbine House sent me review copies of the Off We Go series. I received no financial compensation for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

I apologize to Woodbine House for the delay in posting the review. Our big 600 mile move threw me off schedule much more than I anticipated.