Despite years of study and advanced technologies, we still do not fully understand how the "typical" brain works, much less how an autistic brain works. And while we have become increasingly familiar with the term autistic thinking, people with autism are still misunderstood, leading to frustration, depression and missed opportunities to reach one's potential. According to Peter Vermeulen, treatment of autism is still too focused on behaviour and minimally focused on observation or determining the way of thinking that leads to the behaviour. In this groundbreaking book, inspired by the ideas of Uta Frith, the internationally known psychologist and a pioneer in theory of mind as it relates to autism, Vermeulen explains in everyday terms how the autistic brain functions with a particular emphasis on the apparent lack of sensitivity to and awareness of the context in which things happen. Full of examples, often humorous, the book goes on to examine "context" as it relates to observation, social interactions, communication and knowledge. The book concludes with a major section on how to reduce context blindness in these various areas, vital for successful functioning. Due to the far-reaching consequences of context blindness, this book is a must for those living and working with somebody with autism.

Among the most commonly reported characteristics of individuals with learning and behavioral disabilities are significant and persistent problems with literacy acquisition. Applied research has revealed a number of methods for facilitating literacy learning among individuals with learning and behavioral disabilities. Included in this volume are chapters from a group of internationally-prominent authors, addressing important issues in the conceptualizing, assessing, and treating problems in literacy. These chapters include conceptual factors in reading assessment, reading comprehension, and a critique of the 'dyslexia' concept, implementation of Response to Intervention models for treatment of literacy deficits, applications for individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, reading instruction in the content areas, strategy instruction, and reading instruction for English learners with learning disabilities. In addition, current research in writing for students with learning and behavioral disabilities is described, including chapters on contextual factors in writing disabilities, persuasive writing for students with behavioral disabilities, writing instruction for young children with disabilities, and peer-mediated writing strategies. This volume is intended to be of interest to clinicians, teachers, researchers, graduate students, and many others interested in literacy and learning of individuals with learning and behavioral disabilities.

For all educators grades 3 and up, here is a proven, ready-to-use resource that lets you easily tailor writing experiences to the needs of any student having difficulty writing -- even your most reluctant writer!

Starting with simple written words and progressing to sentences, paragraphs, and reports, Let's Write! takes into account all ability levels and learning styles to help each student achieve success. Basic to more advanced skills are presented sequentially in lessons that devote small amounts of time to four diverse tasks.

For example, one lesson of moderate difficulty might ask students to do the following: Write a list of things that can fly. Write a paragraph about your favorite meal. Play a game that involves pantomiming verbs. Listen to a read-aloud like The Education of Little Tree.
Sequential presentation of the skills needed for writing helps students become successful right from the start of their program, and spending smaller amounts of time on diverse tasks engages students with attention issues.

The program gives you over 200 activities and over 110 worksheets, all printed in a big 8 1/4" x 11" spiral-bound format that folds flat for easy photocopying of any page as many times as needed. It is organized into two parts:

PART 1 focuses on teaching the basic structures of written language in seven sections: for example, Words ("A Category Game"), Sentences ("Write It with Nouns"), Paragraphs ("A 'What If' Paragraph"), Research Reports ("Write About Amazing Facts"), Book Reports ("Write a Testimonial"), Stories ("Five-Object Find"), and Essays ("Political Topics").

PART 2 offers a combination of specific skills development and opportunities forpractice in nine sections: for example, Grammar ("Search and Destroy"), Editing ("Find My Mistakes"), Poetry ("A Poem Full of Lies"), Literature Connection ("Animal Questions"), Holidays ("A Holiday From Another Culture"), Letters ("Hello Human"), Using the Newspaper ("Dear Gertrude"), Real Life Writing ("A Job Application"), and Gimmicks & Gags ("Write It with a Ridiculous Interview").

What's more, two appendices provide countless ideas for word, phrase, and sentence lists, plus suggestions for read-aloud and other books for use with students.

In short, Let's Write! gives you a tested sequential program for meeting the special needs of all of your students who are reluctant writers. It will help you turn a task that may now be overwhelming and agonizing for your students into a joyful and satisfying activity.

Dyslexia: Theories, Assessment and Support offers a broad perspective on dyslexia, providing a range of views from theory to practice which help explain the continued controversy surrounding the condition. Offering a framework on which to understand the concept of dyslexia, the book considers procedures that can both identify the condition and help support those with it. With a focus on self-concept, the authors highlight ways to positively influence both literacy acquisition and individual well-being. This book is ideal reading for those taking courses on dyslexia or literacy learning difficulties within education, psychology and related disciplines. It will be of great interest to specialist teachers, special education staff, educational psychologists and those in related occupations.

Language for Learning in the Secondary School employs the same easy-to-use format as the best-selling Primary version of this book but has been adapted to meet the specific needs of secondary school teachers. This indispensable resource is packed full of practical suggestions on how to support students with speech, language and communication difficulties.

Colour coded throughout for easy referencing, this unique book supports inclusive practice by helping you to:

• Identify students with speech, language and communication needs
• Understand how language is processed
• Consider roles and responsibilities at secondary level
• Plan a differentiated curriculum
• Consider the language demands across the subjects
• Adopt a whole school approach
• Make use of a wide range of positive strategies
• Empower students to access the curriculum.

Language for Learning in the Secondary School comes complete with a wealth of photocopiable resources and activities, giving teachers and teaching assistants the confidence to help students with speech, language and communication needs more effectively in mainstream settings. It will also be an extremely useful resource for specialist teachers, speech and language therapists and educational psychologists.

The range of educational options available to a child with Autism and Asperger syndrome is broad, but choosing the right path can often be a complex task for all involved. This book provides information and advice for professionals and parents making crucial decisions about meeting the needs of children with autistic spectrum disorder. It covers the range of intellectual ability from those having severe learning difficulties to those of above average intelligence. Practical advice for those working with children from preschool to post-16 is given on: choosing the most appropriate educational placement; making decisions on which educational interventions to follow; creating an effective educational environment; working with staff and other children to maximum effect; writing effective individual education plans; working with parents and families; enabling a smooth transition between classes and stages of education; and life beyond school.

Developing Baseline Communication Skills is a practical resource designed to fit with baseline assessments in primary school. The second edition of this bestselling resource contains a programme of games and activities to foster personal and social development, and promote language and literacy skills in 3-5 year olds. The book seeks to address language and communication difficulties for children coming into reception class by providing a range of fun and engaging activities. Suitable for whole classes or small groups of children, the activities focus on both personal, social, emotional development as well as language and literacy in areas such as body language, independence, turn taking, listening, speaking and auditory memory. Features include: 200 games and activities which are differentiated for different ages and levels of ability; A clear aim, equipment list and instructions for each activity; Photocopiable templates for ease of use; Supplementary resource sheets including pictures and scripts to use with the activities. Now fully revised and updated in line with current policy and legislation, this book is suitable for young children in any school setting including nurseries, playgroups and reception classes. It also includes material that may be used as an effective part of a speech and language therapy programme in consultation with a therapist. This is a unique manual that will be an essential addition to the materials used by professionals working with young children.

Teaching Strategies for Neurodiversity and Dyslexia in Actor Training addresses some of the challenges met by acting students with dyslexia and highlights the abilities demonstrated by individuals with specific learning differences in actor training. The book offers six tested teaching strategies, created from practical and theoretical research investigations with dyslexic acting students, using the methodologies of case study and action research. Utilizing Shakespeare's text as a laboratory of practice and drawing directly from the voices and practical work of the dyslexic students themselves, the book explores: the stress caused by dyslexia and how the teacher might ameliorate it through changes in their practice the theories and discourse surrounding the label of dyslexia the visual, kinaesthetic, and multisensory processing preferences demonstrated by some acting students assessed as dyslexic acting approaches for engaging with Shakespeare's language, enabling those with dyslexia to develop their authentic voice and abilities a grounding of the words and the meaning of the text through embodied cognition, spatial awareness, and epistemic tools Stanislavski's method of units and actions and how it can benefit and obstruct the student with dyslexia when working on Shakespeare Interpretive Mnemonics as a memory support and hermeneutic process, and the use of color and drawing towards an autonomy in live performance This book is a valuable resource for voice and actor training, professional performance, and for those who are curious about emancipatory methods that support difference through humanistic teaching philosophies.

First published in 1985. Despite the vast number of books available on mental handicap, there had been little published about moral, philosophical or ethical issues. Yet such issues must be faced and indeed answered, either explicitly or implicitly, before any system of education or care for mentally handicapped people can be put into practice. This book reviews a number of issues in this field. Key topics addressed include: respect for retarded people; the notion of equal rights; terminating the lives of severely handicapped infants; and genetic engineering. With the current emphasis on recognising the rights and needs of the handicapped as individuals, this book should represent an important review and be of interest to all concerned with mentally handicapped people.

First published in 1986. Aimed at teachers, students and related professions this book serves to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of educating pupils with severe learning difficulties. In the light of the 1981 Education Act it is crucial to identify, and subsequently meet, the needs of these pupils. This can only be done by an in-depth understanding of curriculum design, child development and the learning process. This book incorporates these aspects together with an appreciation of teaching techniques and school and classroom organisation. It explains how the parents, school staff and linked agencies complement this procedure.

First published in 1994. The authors of this book aim to make recent developments in psychological research accessible to teachers of pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties. The authors present their own and related research in the areas of assessment, curriculum, and teaching techniques, taking care to point out the range, relevance and limitations of findings in the context of pupils with PMLDs. As this is an area of acute training need, the book will meet a real need for a broad current perspective on good practice. The needs of pupils at primary and secondary levels are considered and case studies are used to exemplify some of the challenges and approaches discussed.

First published in 1993. This book critically analyses the state of provision for special needs, exploring the problems faced by practitioners and suggesting that the area is fraught with such tensions that a radical reconceptualization is necessary. It considers how the field may be rethought and developed over the next decade and presents examples of innovatory practice which point the way forward to future provision and which are illustrative of the themes raised throughout the book.

First published in 1985. The responses to special educational needs in the 1980s prompted radical changes in the initial and in-service education of teachers. This title is the result of a major conference which was called to anticipate the combined effects on training and special educational needs work and to project a spectrum of positive responses. The authors are drawn from all branches of education in order to provide a critical review of developments since 1983 in teacher-education and to discuss the current recommendations on training to meet special educational needs both in Great Britain and the rest of Europe.

First published in 1981. Teaching handicapped children confronts us with the challenge of having to plan, deliberately and systematically, how to teach a child to look, listen, move, explore, play, relate to others and to understand and speak their own language - all skills which do not normally have to be taught at all. This book, based on a lifetime's experience of working with handicapped people of all ages, provides a basic understanding of the effects of a handicap on a child's development.

First published in 1974. This book defines the slow learner, identifies the size of the problem presented by them, and outlines the responsibility of the ordinary school for their education. Then, successfully, characteristics of slow learners are reviewed and re-stated in a way relevant to their education; research on the post-school experience of slow learners is summarized and related to the curriculum; and general curriculum literature is reviewed in presenting a plan for the continuous development of curricula for slow learners, consistent with the modern approach to curriculum development.

First published in 1986. Following the Warnock report, schools attempted to integrate the teaching of children with special needs into ordinary classrooms. Many teachers had no experience of teaching children with special needs and the new developments were likely to pose a substantial challenge. This book provides a guidance for inexperienced, especially new, teachers in how to teach children with special needs in ordinary classrooms. An important feature of the book is realism - the book grows out of the author's own experiences and research. The author describes what really happens and bases his suggestions on practices which are likely to bring results.

This book, originally published in 1995, is about ability, not disability. It is about what children can do and how they can progress. All children have the moral, ethical and legal right to be educated, no matter what barriers society puts in their way because of their physical disabilities. Dual sensory impaired children, like all others, have the right under the Education Reform Act, 1988, to a broadly-based and balanced curriculum that is appropriate to their needs since they, like any children, will not develop educationally unless that curriculum is appropriate to their needs. This book aims to show some of the ways in which individual children can demonstrate and develop their individual abilities.

First published in 1986. This book is concerned with the problems children have in learning in normal or remedial classrooms, within ordinary primary schools. It deals with children in the 5 to 11 age range but much is also applicable to children at the lower end of the secondary school. It looks at a wide range of difficulties and for each area it classifies and describes the difficulties, considers the numbers of children with the difficulty; and discusses problems of diagnosis and remediation. It reviews certain psychological theories and research findings and relates them to practice; and it describes the work of professionals such as speech therapists, showing how the classroom teacher can support such professionals; but the major concern of the book is to help practicing teachers and teachers in training to work out intelligently for themselves how to improve their performance in this area.

First published in 1986. The teaching of children with severe learning difficulties had received little coherent critical analysis. Long-held assumptions and implicit beliefs were embedded in curriculum content and teaching methodology, thus creating and maintaining handicapping conditions. This book raises questions about underlying value judgments relating to the status and rights afforded to children with severe learning difficulties and the implications for education and teaching. Possibilities for change are discussed in relation to the curriculum, the content of the educational programme and the teacher-pupil relationship.

Originally published in 1989. This book is designed as an introduction to the field of special education for all those students and professionals - teachers, social workers, psychologists, medical officers, nurses, speech therapists and others - who encounter children with special needs. The authors first discuss current legislation in its historical context and draw attention to the major issues and controversies. They go on to analyse a variety of learning difficulties. Physical and sensory disabilities, emotional and behavioural problems, may all give rise to special educational needs. The book then considers how children's special needs may be met in terms of curriculum, resources and provisions. It concludes with some prognostications and a critical review of current practice.

First published in 1987. This annotated bibliography in the field of special education is designed for teachers of exceptional pupils and other educational personnel so that they may be aware of the research that exists in various areas and so that they may have to hand a source book to which they can refer to when necessary.

First published in 1984. Screening and prevention are key issues in health, education and welfare, yet they are also extremely vague. Many professionals are unaware of what can be done and who should do it, particularly in the important area of screening young children for special educational or medical provision. This book considers the problem from the standpoint of a whole range of professionals involved in education, health or social provision. Each chapter focuses on a number of points: problems faced by the professional in question; the sort of job screening procedures that exist or are possible; the sort of tests and assessments that are used; referral; and the sort of intervention procedures that are possible. Case study material is included throughout and the book concludes with a review of the problems of collaboration and of establishing an effective screening system. The book should thus be of immediate interest to students and professionals in a wide range of work that involves children.

First published in 1995. This book concerns aspects of decision-making by, or on behalf of, children who have special educational needs. This is an area of concern, given that little attention had previously been given to the views of children on matters relating to their education. The book examines various themes relating to 'advocacy', in relation to classroom practice, school organisation and professional development in all phases of education. Additionally, the role of parents and of support agencies is considered. Each theme is developed by an author with expertise in that field, and the emphasis of the book is upon the practical considerations of implementing advocacy programmes in schools.

First published in 1981. The inadequacy of traditional 'solutions' is nowhere more apparent than in the area of problem behaviour in secondary schools. Neither tough-minded punishment nor tender-minded treatment seems to be the answer. But the practical failure is also a theoretical one, since it misconstrues the determinants of behaviour. Taking a system perspective, Bill Gillham argues in his introductory chapter that 'our conception of the individual has been too narrow', so that both treatment and punishment approaches have missed out important elements in an adequate psychology of individuals: the roles they fill, the tasks they perform, the people they encounter - and the institutional settings where all these are experienced. Drawing together a wide range of theory, evidence and practice, the present book makes out a case for a school-centred, interactionist, approach to dealing with problem behaviour.

First published in 1979. This report discusses the existing practices of over 500 primary, secondary and special schools with their special needs pupils. The study outlines the variety of provisions, facilities and equipment in the schools, and the extent of use with slow learners. It maps out the curricular activities in many organisational contexts and across all subject areas, and discusses comparative strengths and weaknesses. It relates the findings to the problems of improving the quality of education offered to slow-learning pupils, suggesting areas where improvement is needed and outlining possible new approaches.