BOOK
The Autism Discussion Page on anxiety, behavior, school, and parenting strategies
(2014)
Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
The Autism Discussion Page green book covers anxiety and stress, challenging behaviors, stretching comfort zones, discipline, and school issues. It also provides more general teaching and mentoring strategies for coaching children on the autism spectrum in basic daily living strategies to improve their day-to-day lives.
Based on posts on the popular online community page and organised by subject for ease of reference, this book offers an excellent understanding of how children with autism process and experience the world and effective strategies for coping with the challenges.
Many of us count among the 56,000 who have benefitted from Bill Nason's advice from his Autism Discussion Page on Facebook. Now Bill has shared his accumulated insights into autism in a comprehensive manual that translates autism--for the neurotypical community of teachers, parents and service providers--but also for those of us looking to enhance our own self-awareness of the inner workings of autism strategies and techniques. If you only buy two books this year, make them the Autism Discussion Page green and blue books!
Dena L. Gassner, MSW, Program Director of Center for Understanding, Board Member of GRASP, and Advisory Board Member of Autism Society of America
Bill Nason, MS, LLP, runs the Autism Discussion Page on Facebook which has 40,000 likes to date. He is a mental health professional with over 30 years' experience in the field of developmental disabilities, specializing in individuals with multiple severe behavior challenges. He currently works as supervisor of consultant services for a community behavioral health agency in Flint Michigan, USA, and contracts with Oakland University's Center for Autism to run sports programs for children with autism.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| THE AUTISM DISCUSSION PAGE: on Anxiety, Behavior, School, and Parenting Strategies | 2 | ||
| Introduction | 13 | ||
| Basic premises underlying these books | 14 | ||
| How to read these books | 16 | ||
| How to use the strategies | 17 | ||
| Things to consider | 18 | ||
| Chapter 1: Families, Caregivers, and Teachers | 21 | ||
| As your child’s voice, I “thank you”! | 21 | ||
| Be a “working partner” to become a “trusted guide” | 21 | ||
| Don’t beat yourself over the head! | 23 | ||
| Don’t take a back seat to anyone! | 23 | ||
| Anger after first receiving the diagnosis | 25 | ||
| Family-centered planning | 27 | ||
| Help the children feel “safe and accepted” and they will be attracted to you; help them to feel “competent” and they will follow your lead! | 28 | ||
| Look at yourself in the mirror and smile | 29 | ||
| Are you a good parent? | 29 | ||
| My hat goes off to all you grandparents out there! | 30 | ||
| Parents take the lead and drive the supports! | 31 | ||
| Siblings! Let’s celebrate them! | 31 | ||
| Mom/Dad, sleep well tonight! | 32 | ||
| Slow down, take a breath, and share the moment! | 33 | ||
| You’re the teacher, therapist, coach, and mentor! | 35 | ||
| Types of support! | 36 | ||
| When I think about being exhausted, I think of you! | 37 | ||
| Yes, I love you! | 38 | ||
| To parents and adults on the spectrum: “If they don’t make you stronger, get rid of them!” | 39 | ||
| If it doesn’t feel right, avoid it! If it makes sense, try it! | 41 | ||
| Chapter 2: Stress and Anxiety | 43 | ||
| Anxiety on the spectrum! | 43 | ||
| Anxiety is inevitable when you don’t “fit in” | 44 | ||
| Start with the nervous system! | 45 | ||
| Change conditions causing stress! | 47 | ||
| Make the world more understandable! | 49 | ||
| Identify, label, and cope with stress! | 52 | ||
| Teaching new coping skills | 54 | ||
| Anxiety: distortion of two appraisals | 56 | ||
| Cognitive treatment strategies | 57 | ||
| Physical activity and stress management | 58 | ||
| Chapter 3: Comfort Zones | 60 | ||
| Novelty and uncertainty: essence of learning | 60 | ||
| Safety in comfort zones! Define them, respect them, but slowly stretch them! | 61 | ||
| Rigidity in comfort zones | 64 | ||
| Stretching comfort zones | 65 | ||
| “Just right” challenge | 66 | ||
| Principles of stretching | 67 | ||
| Tools for stretching: exposure plus support! | 68 | ||
| Example | 69 | ||
| Example | 71 | ||
| Trying new things: stretching comfort zones | 73 | ||
| Don’t pressure me or shield me; support me! | 75 | ||
| Chapter 4: Challenging Behavior | 77 | ||
| Do you think I am having fun? | 78 | ||
| Irrational behavior! | 79 | ||
| Change conditions first, before trying to change the child | 80 | ||
| Validating emotions before punishing behavior | 82 | ||
| Hyperactivity and autism | 83 | ||
| Sensory diet, biomedical, and structure for hyperactivity | 84 | ||
| Difficulty sleeping | 86 | ||
| Dealing with oppositional behavior | 88 | ||
| Impulsive or oppositional? Purposeful or intentional? | 91 | ||
| Help, my child is always resistant, oppositional, and non-compliant! | 93 | ||
| Making transitions easier! | 100 | ||
| Repeated questioning! | 101 | ||
| Self-abuse | 104 | ||
| Severe self-injurious behavior | 106 | ||
| Treating self-injurious behavior | 108 | ||
| Treating acting-out, escape behavior | 110 | ||
| Finger picking | 113 | ||
| Teaching “soft hands” | 115 | ||
| Problems in the community | 116 | ||
| Wandering: safety and protection first | 119 | ||
| Wandering: personal observations | 120 | ||
| Wandering: proactive strategies for seeking behavior | 122 | ||
| Wandering: proactive strategies for escape/avoidance | 125 | ||
| Wandering: proactive strategies—focus on what you want them to do! | 126 | ||
| Wandering: proactive strategies for calming the nervous system | 130 | ||
| Frustration during video games | 131 | ||
| Chapter 5: Labels, Diagnoses, and \nCo-Occurring Disorders | 134 | ||
| All a matter of degree! | 134 | ||
| Asperger’s: the often hidden social disability | 135 | ||
| IQ and autism! Are they valid and reliable? | 136 | ||
| Labeling: high and low functioning | 137 | ||
| Low/high functioning vs. severe/mild autism | 138 | ||
| Differences vs. disabilities! | 139 | ||
| Co-occurring disorders in autism | 141 | ||
| Bipolar and autism | 142 | ||
| Differences between tics, compulsive behavior, and self-stimulation | 144 | ||
| OCD or autism? | 144 | ||
| PTSD and autism | 145 | ||
| Medication: when, what, and how? | 147 | ||
| Wow effect | 149 | ||
| Chapter 6: Mentoring Children on the Spectrum | 151 | ||
| Conditioned dependency | 151 | ||
| “We-do” activities | 152 | ||
| Expect active participation | 152 | ||
| Don’t do for me; do with me! | 154 | ||
| Don’t tell me; show me! | 155 | ||
| Get me started, but let me finish! | 156 | ||
| How much do you expect; how hard should you push? | 157 | ||
| “Affect” (emotion) is the glue for learning! | 159 | ||
| Basic training principles | 160 | ||
| Task analysis | 161 | ||
| Verbal prompting: don’t over-use it! | 165 | ||
| Physical guidance! Teaching a new skill | 166 | ||
| Block, ignore, and redirect! Keeping the child on task | 168 | ||
| Support, do not pressure! | 170 | ||
| When in doubt, let the child set the pace! | 171 | ||
| Don’t force; invite! If I don’t respond, find out why! | 172 | ||
| Mentor/apprentice relationship | 172 | ||
| “Learning” through “relating”! Activate the right-side brain! | 173 | ||
| Mentoring through guided participation | 175 | ||
| Teaching visual strategies | 176 | ||
| Stop, think, and act; then check! | 179 | ||
| The challenges of tooth brushing! | 181 | ||
| Toilet training: ten-step habit training | 183 | ||
| Can my child ever learn to live on his own? | 185 | ||
| Who can live on their own? | 187 | ||
| Making it happen! Promoting independence | 188 | ||
| Chapter 7: Building on Strengths and Interests | 192 | ||
| Deficit model verses strength-based model | 192 | ||
| Differences vs. disabilities! | 194 | ||
| Fixations = interests = strengths = learning! | 195 | ||
| Preference-based learning! | 197 | ||
| Turning deficits into assets! Rigid inflexibility expressed as commitment and dedication! | 198 | ||
| Using your strengths to compensate for weaknesses! | 199 | ||
| Turning video games into strengths! | 200 | ||
| Using preferences to safely engage | 201 | ||
| You can kill the weeds, or strengthen the grass! | 203 | ||
| Chapter 8: Effective Discipline | 205 | ||
| Autism “explains” behavior, but does not “excuse” behavior! | 205 | ||
| The world according to me! | 206 | ||
| Set clear boundaries and expectations! | 207 | ||
| Boundaries and expectations: principles of teaching! | 209 | ||
| Educate, don’t just punish! | 211 | ||
| Be a “working partner” and “trusted guide” | 213 | ||
| We promote what we look for, spotlight, and highlight! | 215 | ||
| Functional assessment: understanding the behavior | 217 | ||
| Support and teach! | 220 | ||
| Setting up your consequences | 222 | ||
| Making consequences clear and effective! | 224 | ||
| Reaction strategies: redirection | 226 | ||
| Reaction strategies: social disapproval | 229 | ||
| Reaction strategies: time out | 229 | ||
| Reaction strategies: response cost; taking away privileges | 232 | ||
| 1–2–3 warning | 234 | ||
| Let the consequences teach the behavior! | 236 | ||
| Chapter 9: Challenges at School | 238 | ||
| “Stop the world, I Want off!” | 238 | ||
| Change conditions first, before trying to change the child | 239 | ||
| Building strong supports in school | 241 | ||
| Helping your child feel safe at school! | 243 | ||
| Three conditions for matching the demands to the child! | 246 | ||
| Match teaching to the child’s learning style! | 247 | ||
| Dealing proactively with behavior problems at school! | 248 | ||
| Maximizing motivation and learning! | 250 | ||
| Homework | 252 | ||
| Parents as advocates | 254 | ||
| Change at school! Focus on the positive and expand the strengths | 256 | ||
| Building an effective team at school | 258 | ||
| Fitting a square peg into a round hole! Making changes at school | 260 | ||
| Making the most out of OT and speech therapy! | 261 | ||
| Build social goals into the IEP | 262 | ||
| Inclusion/mainstreaming | 263 | ||
| School or home school? Education is not just an either/or process! | 264 | ||
| Navigating the IEP meeting! | 265 | ||
| What to ask for in an IEP | 267 | ||
| Beyond the IEP meeting | 270 | ||
| Chapter 10: Empowerment | 272 | ||
| Does your child understand his autism? \nSelf-awareness equals empowerment! | 272 | ||
| Don’t let them tell you “he can’t”! | 273 | ||
| If you want them to communicate, give them a “voice”! | 274 | ||
| Teach the words “no” and “help”! | 276 | ||
| Teaching children to advocate for themselves at school! | 278 | ||
| Teaching self-advocacy! Promoting “voice” and “choice”! | 279 | ||
| Empowering teens and adults | 282 | ||
| Where to Go from Here | 288 | ||
| Appendix A: Fragile World on the Spectrum | 289 | ||
| Appendix B: Comfort Zones Profile | 293 | ||
| Appendix C: Functional Assessments of Challenging Behaviors | 298 | ||
| Appendix D: Funcional Behavior Assessment | 309 | ||
| Appendix E: Activities of daily living (ADL) Assessment | 315 | ||
| Appendix F: Core Deficit Assessment | 329 | ||
| Appendix G: Evaluating Strengths and Preferences | 333 | ||
| References | 336 | ||
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