Abstract

For a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), even everyday activities like brushing your teeth, washing your hands or visiting the doctor can cause anxiety and stress because of the sensory, cognitive and communication impairments they experience.

Caring for Myself is an entertaining and educational social skills storybook that will help children with ASDs to understand the importance of taking care of their bodies. Fully illustrated with colour photographs, it sets out fun, simple steps that explain what caring for yourself actually involves - how you can do it, where it is done and why it is important.

At the end of each story is a handy `Pause for Thought' page for parents which offers tips and strategies to help a child with each activity. This charming book will be much loved by children with ASD and will enable them and their parents to cope with the daily activities that can be such a challenge.

An amazing book! Christy Gast and Jane Krug have provided a fun and informative text that will assist children on the autism spectrum in learning important life skills. Each step is broken down clearly and concisely with great visual representation. As an individual on the autism spectrum who has trouble with fine motor tasks, tasks which involve multiple directions and the fact that I tend to be a visual learner, I would have greatly benefited from a book like this as a child. Highly recommended!
Nick Dubin, presenter and author of Asperger Syndrome and Bullying
Children love looking at photos of themselves. That is why they will enjoy the personalized pages in Caring for Myself. Parents and teachers will enjoy the easy-to-use way to tap the visual learning strengths of students with ASD.
Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, author of Visual Strategies for Improving Communication
These picture/word stories are to be enjoyed as they teach practical life skills to our children by making the information explicit and user friendly. The information is clearly presented and sequenced so it makes sense to our children, pairing language with pictures. It also helps parents learn how to break down these tasks into smaller steps that can guide them as to how best to teach this information to their children.
Michelle Garcia Winner, Center for Social Thinking, Inc
Mastering the daily habits of personal care are challenging for all young children, but brushing teeth and hand washing can be a real stumbling blocks for children suffering from various forms of autism, Caring for Myself, a realistic resource book, specially targets an audience of parents and teachers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is designed to help acquaint children with the activities they will encounter on a regular basis, including visits to the doctor.
ForeWord Reviews
This is a resource for young children that is certain to stand the practical tests of time and application! Simple and complete, parents and professionals will find themselves reaching for it time and again.
Carol Gray, President, The Gray Center for Social Learning and Understanding and pioneer of Social StoriesTM
An educational but entertaining book to support children with ASD in understanding why they should look after their bodies and how to do so.
Current Awareness Service
Christy Gast is a publications and event co-ordinator for the Gray Center for Social Learning and Understanding with sixteen years' teaching experience. She is co-author of The Social StoriesTM Quarterly, and has two sons, one of whom has Asperger's Syndrome. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Jane Krug is a speech-language therapist, and has specialized in working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder for nearly ten years. She volunteers her time at The Gray Center, lives in Ada, Michigan, and has a young daughter.
As adults, we frequently take for granted the daily routines which have become such an integral part of our lives. For many children, however, the unfamiliarity of these activities can instill fear or uncertainty, or promote the impression that the tasks are overwhelmingly difficult or complicated. With beautiful photos and simple, reassuring text, the authors and illustrator have created a remarkable resource. The step-by-step information will enable children to become familiar with basic routines so that they can approach them with both confidence and competence.
Laurel A. Hoekman, Executive Director, The Gray Center for Social Learning and Understanding
Aimed at children on the autistic spectrum, this book will also be useful for any young child learning basic social skills. Five sections Washing my hands, Getting my hair cut, Taking my bath, Going to my doctor, and Brushing my teeth contain careful, detailed step-by-step explanations, accompanied by beautifully clear colour photographs of children performing each task A practical and endearing approach to helping autistic children learn specific social skills.
www.healthybooks.org.uk