Abstract

If you have a child on the autism spectrum who struggles with the challenges of daily life, then this book is for you! Hints and Tips… is peppered with vignettes and stories of real-life situations and successes, and offers clever ideas for tackling everyday difficulties, such as bathing, bedtime, school trips, and selecting the right child minder.

Dion E. Betts and Nancy J. Patrick provide creative, practical strategies to help parents and caregivers to support their child, and to enable their child to develop the social skills needed to manage and enjoy daily life to the fullest. The book is split into five parts: home life, hygiene, community, medical, and schools and organizations. Common problem areas are also tackled in a toolkit section, which includes checklists, ‘to do’ lists, visual schedules, and mnemonics to aid memory and retrieval.

Hints and Tips for Helping Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders is an essential aid for parents and carers to make small and simple changes that result in big improvements in the quality of life of children, their families, and carers.

The book's introduction gives a useful, practical overview of autistic spectrum diosrders and the effects that this range of conditions has on family life... The creative ideas are explained with the help of brief case-studies which are honest, heartening and positive; this book would be both helpful and comforting to parents who are caring for children who are on the autistic spectrum.
HEAS (Home Education Advisory Service) Bulletin
Dion E. Betts Ed.D. is a special education administrator, adjunct professor, writer, and presenter. He and his wife have five children, one of whom has AS. They live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Nancy J. Patrick Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Special Education at Messiah College, Grantham, Pennsylvania. She is both a certified school psychologist and licensed psychologist, an author, teacher, writer, and presenter. She lives near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with her husband and their three children, one of whom has a disability.
Any who work with kids diagnosed on the autism spectrum will find these stories of real-life problems and successes inspiring. They cover everything from bathing to school trips and childcare providers and provides parents and caregivers real-world tools to help support a child, encourage social skills development, and more. Common problem areas are also covered in a "toolkit" area, while chapters offer sidebars of easy reads on situations such as sleepovers or reading faces and emotions. Any library catering to parents needs this.
The Midwest Book Review