Full of simple strategies for happiness in children and teens with autism, this book is a must read for anyone dedicated to the wellbeing of a child on the spectrum. Bringing a refreshingly positive approach to mental health and autism, the guide is full of practical ideas for helping children strengthen their self-worth, optimism and receptivity to happiness. It also reveals how children can build resilience and better understand their feelings, giving them the skills to flourish and thrive and to ward off negative thoughts. The activities are ideal for all learning levels and can be done individually or in groups, at home or in the classroom. Talking about mental health in autism is all too often reduced to ways of 'curing illness' - this book helps to prevent poor mental health by making happiness a priority and an attainable goal.

Psychopathology at School provides a timely response to concerns about the rising numbers of children whose behaviour is recognised and understood as a medicalised condition, rather than simply as poor behaviour caused by other factors. It is the first scholarly analysis of psychopathology which draws on the philosophers Foucault, Deleuze, Guattari and Arendt to examine the processes whereby children's behaviour is pathologised. The heightened attention to mental disorders is contrasted with education practices in the early and mid-to-late twentieth century, and the emergence of a new conceptualization of childhood is explored. Taking education as a central component to the contemporary experience of growing up, the book charts the ways in which mental disorders have become commonplace in childhood and youth, from birth through to college and university, but also offers examples of where professionals have refused to pathologise children's behaviour. The book examines the extent of the influence of psychopathology on the lives of children and young people, as well as the practices that infiltrate education and the possibilities for alternative educational responses that negate the diagnosis of mental disorder. Psychopathology at School is a must read for anyone concerned about the growing influence of psychopathology in education and will be of particular interest to educated readers and to scholars, students and professionals in education, psychiatry, psychology, child studies, youth studies, nursing, social work and sociology.

A key issue for researchers and practitioners is how to support the social engagement of children with autism in ordinary, everyday social processes that are transactional in nature and involve mixed groups of children, with and without autism, in rich and varied relationships. Autism and the Social World of Childhood brings together current understandings about the social engagement of children with autism, gained from psychology-based research into autism, with well-established ideas about children's everyday social worlds, gained from sociocultural theories of childhood. It describes the experiences of interaction, friendship and play from children's own point of view as a way of giving insight into children's lives as they are lived and understood by them. Such an understanding serves to inform educational practice and aids the provision of more effective learning environments. Autism and the Social World of Childhood includes sections on: the nature of play, social interaction and friendship in autism the nature of children's ordinary social worlds, including children's cultures of communication and variation in children's play research approaches to investigating the social engagement of children with and without autism in natural contexts educational approaches to supporting the integration of children with autism within a school setting the importance of assessment in autism education. Autism and the Social World of Childhood includes real life descriptions of children's social experiences taken from ethnographic research into the play and interaction of children with and without autism. Practical guidance is provided on educational approaches to supporting the inclusion of children with autism within the ordinary social worlds of childhood.

As children's digital lives become more relevant to schools and educators, the question of play and learning is being revisited in new and interesting ways. Children's Virtual Play Worlds: Culture, Learning, and Participation provides a more reasoned account of children's play engagements in virtual worlds through a number of scholarly perspectives, exploring key concerns and issues which have come to the forefront. The global nature of the research in this edited volume embraces many different areas of study from school based research, sociology, cultural studies, psychology, to contract law showing how children's play and learning in virtual spaces has great potential and possibilities.

In recent years, the intersection of cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and neuroscience with regard to deaf individuals has received increasing attention from a variety of academic and educational audiences. Both research and pedagogy have addressed questions about whether deaf children learn in the same ways that hearing children learn, how signed languages and spoken languages might affect different aspects of cognition and cognitive development, and the ways in which hearing loss influences how the brain processes and retains information. There are now a number of preliminary answers to these questions, but there has been no single forum in which research into learning and cognition is brought together. The Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies in Learning and Cognition aims to provide this shared forum, focusing exclusively on learning, cognition, and cognitive development from theoretical, psychological, biological, linguistic, social-emotional, and educational perspectives. Each chapter includes state-of-the-art research conducted and reviewed by international experts in the area. Drawing this research together, this volume allows for a synergy of ideas that possesses the potential to move research, theory, and practice forward.

What's the biggest challenge facing teachers today? Behavior. And which students present the most baffling and unique behavior problems? Our awesome kids on the autism spectrum. We love them, but it can be difficult to understand and deal with their challenging behaviors. But behavior analysts aren't in the classroom; teachers are. And most teachers can't call a behavior analyst every time a behavior problem crops up. Even when they do call in a behavior analyst, they might not understand all that talk about the "discriminative stimulus" and the "conditioned reinforcer." It's all so dry and confusing. Teachers don't have time to wade through all that jargon, they're too busy teaching. So what's a teacher to do when a student throws a chair, or bites her hand, or refuses to work? It's up to teachers to figure out solutions before the behavior gets worse. They need help. The ABCs of Autism in the Classroom: Setting the Stage for Success was written by a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst who was also a teacher for many years, as well as an autism mom. Here you will find evidence-based, research-supported behavioral tools presented in teacher-friendly language. You'll meet a virtual village of students with problem behaviors you might find in your own classroom. You'll also read stories shared by kids and adults on the autism spectrum, in their own words.

Includes tips and strategies for kids, teens, and adults with dyslexia
Understand what dyslexia is, assess schools and programs, and help your child succeed
Does your child mix up d's and b's? Does he or she have trouble reading? If so, the cause may be dyslexia. But don't worry -- these days, there are many ways to overcome dyslexia. This hands-on guide leads you step by step through your options -- and explains how anyone with dyslexia can achieve success in school and life.
Discover how to
* Recognize the symptoms of dyslexia
* Understand diagnostic test results
* Set up an Individualized Education Program (IEP)
* Work effectively with teachers
* Improve your child's reading skills

Educating College Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders is one of the first books to specifically address the accommodation of students with significant learning differences in postsecondary education. Developed with the support of Autism Speaks, and piloted at Pace University, each component of this book is scientifically-based and provides a model of emerging best practices for college instruction involving students with ASD. The text is designed to give college faculty a deep understanding of students with ASD and help faculty to productively engage students with ASD, while also meeting the needs of all students in their classes. The strategies included in the manual are solidly grounded in principles of universal design and will prove indispensible for teaching college students of varying ability levels and diverse learning styles. A companion video shows clips of students and educators that are engaged in inclusive practices to illustrate approaches that have been successful in dealing with challenging situations in the classroom.

Disability is an increasingly vital contemporary issue in British social policy especially in education. Education, disability and social policy brings together for the first time unique perspectives from leading thinkers including senior academics, opinion formers, policy makers and school leaders. Key issues covered include: law and international human rights frameworks; policy developments for schools and school leaders; educational inequalities for disabled children and young people and curriculum design and qualifications changes for children who are being failed by the current education system. The book is a milestone in social policy studies, of enduring interest to students, academics, policy makers, parents and campaigners alike.

The Early Years Intervention Toolkit provides a range of ready-made activities to enable early years practitioners and health visitors to address observed difficulties in a child's development prior to starting school. It includes a checklist of observed behaviours which links to a range of effective and engaging activities to support children's development across the three prime foundational areas of learning: Communication and Language; Physical Development; and Personal, Social and Emotional Development. Activities focus on a variety of crucial skills such as speaking and listening, moving and handling, and forming relationships, making use of materials that are readily available in every early years setting. This toolkit offers: A time-saving approach to interventions, with additional guidance on planning, providing, and recording appropriate interventions Advice and activities to share with parents for them to try at home A framework to enable early years practitioners to identify specific difficulties in key areas of development Downloadable resources to support activities and interventions The Early Years Intervention Toolkit is an inclusive programme and all children in the early years will benefit from taking part in the activities. It will be an essential resource for early years practitioners to effectively identify and support learning needs in child development and will boost the confidence of young children as they prepare for Key Stage One.

'Offers great suggestions on how to read and interpret important information for children with behavioral issues.'uRamona Marquez, Director of Special EducationHatch Valley Public Schools, Hatch, NMBecause every behavior has a reason behind ita Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) is a highly effective, student-centered approach to improving challenging behavior. The method helps educators figure out why students act the way they do and then make the appropriate environmental or instructional adjustments.Ideal for general and special educators new to FBAs, this concise, accessible guidebook offers a practical overview of how to use classroom and behavioral assessment data to make the learning environment enjoyable for alluincluding the teacher. Readers will learn how to:Identify and understand the underlying factors of challenging behavior Observe, collect, and analyze classroom dataAdopt evidence-based intervention strategies to correct problem behaviorPrepare a proactive plan for serious disruptionsBlending light-hearted humor with personal experiences and case studies, the author provides concrete methods for positive, effective behavioral intervention.

Tackling Behaviour in the Primary School provides ready-made advice and support for classroom professionals and can be used, read and adapted to suit the busy everyday lives of teachers working in primary schools today.

This valuable text sets the scene for managing behaviour in the primary classroom in the context of the Children Act 2004 agenda, making it highly relevant to trainee primary teachers, learning school mentors, classroom assistants, behaviour specialists and senior management teams. As experts in the field of behaviour management, the authors draw on their many years of experience to provide evidenced whole-school strategies, extensively-researched concepts and step-by-step behaviour programmes. Topics covered include:

• Understanding behaviour
• How to measure behaviour and why this can be an effective approach
• Using and implementing whole-school behaviour policies
• Honing your classroom management skills
• Managing bullying
• Dealing with specific classroom difficulties
• Working effectively and supportively with parents.

Drawing on case-studies throughout, this handbook will help you to understand and deal with the most confrontational of classroom behaviour. Tackling Behaviour in the Primary School provides all staff, parents and carers engaged in health, education and social services with a ready-made resource packed full of strategies, ideas, activities and solutions to help manage behaviour in even the toughest of classrooms.

The importance of enhancing students' well-being is recognised around the world, yet the well-being of autistic students remains largely unexplored. With the increasing enrolment of autistic students in mainstream schools, it is imperative to develop a comprehensive understanding of the well-being of autistic students to facilitate their sense of well-being in school. Enhancing the Well-Being of Students on the Autism Spectrum offers an in-depth understanding of the well-being of students on the autism spectrum using the innovative research methodology, Photovoice. Throughout the text, the author incorporates photographs taken by students on the autism spectrum, as well as interviews with the students, their teachers, and parents, to bring the authentic experiences of these students to the fore. The book also covers: An overview of the well-being of autistic students; Barriers to the well-being of autistic students and ways to overcome them; Protective factors of the well-being of autistic students and ways to develop these within the school context. This book is a necessary companion for postgraduate students in the field of education and special education, practitioners within the school context, and researchers interested in the area of autism spectrum condition or student well-being.

Artists have always had a role in imagining a more socially just, inclusive world - many have devoted their lives to realizing this possibility. In a culture ever more embedded in performance and the visual, an examination of the role of the arts in multicultural teaching for social justice is timely. This book examines and critiques approaches to using activist art to teach a multicultural curriculum. Examples of activist artists and their strategies illustrate how study of and engagement in this process connect local and global issues that can deepen critical literacy and a commitment to social justice. This book is relevant to those interested in teaching more about artist/activist social movements around the globe; preparing pre-service teachers to teach for social justice; concerned about learning how to engage diverse learners through the arts; and teaching courses related to arts-based multicultural education, critical literacy, and culturally relevant teaching.

This book has received the AESA (American Educational Studies Association) Critics Choice Award 2012. Community Service Learning (CSL) is, potentially, the most powerful and far-reaching educational reform movement in recent memory. Yet, that potential has yet to be realized. One major reason for CSL's limited success is found in its runaway conceptual confusion: in becoming everything to everyone, CSL has lost its philosophical bearings and, not surprisingly, its practical value. This study attempts to restore CSL's philosophical bearings, arguing that there are particular understandings of its components that imply particular kinds of educational practices. In this philosophical clarification lies the hope that CSL can meet its immense potential as a transformative school and community practice. This book is a must-have for teachers, school administrators, educational scholars, and students who have an interest in making schools a vital community resource.

An effective evidence-based programme, this practical handbook provides everything schools need to make the transition from primary to secondary school as smooth and successful as possible for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The first part of the book explains how to create individualised transition plans for each child, and describes how school staff can collaborate successfully with parents and carers. Part two contains a wealth of practical, photocopiable resources for use directly with pupils on the autism spectrum that help to address their most frequent support needs, including sensory sensitivities, anxiety issues and difficulties with planning and organisation. The resources can be used in a pick and choose way based on the individual needs of the child. Developed and trialled extensively by the Social Communication Disorders Clinic at Great Ormond Street Hospital, this handbook will be an invaluable resource for SENCOs, teachers, autism support workers, educational psychologists and other professionals working with pupils with ASD.

This book re-examines the case of Nadia, discovered as a child aged six, who had been drawing with phenomenal skill and visual realism from the age of three, despite having autism and severe learning difficulties. The original research was published in 1977 and caused great international interest. Nadia Revisited updates her story and reconsiders the theories that endeavour to explain her extraordinary talent. As well as summarising the central issues from the original case study and presenting her remarkable drawings, the book explains Nadia's subsequent development and present situation in light of the recent research on autistic spectrum disorders and representational drawing in children. The book also considers the phenomenon of savant syndrome: the condition in which those with autism or other learning disabilities have areas of unusual talent that contrast dramatically with their general functioning. Lorna Selfe uses this single case study to discuss theories of developmental psychology and considers the possible links between prodigious talent and underlying neurological dysfunction. The book is especially valuable for students and teachers of developmental psychology and neuropsychology, education and special education, as well as art and art education. Parents of autistic children or those with related disorders, learning difficulties or special needs will also be interested in the discussions presented in this book.

Edna Edith Sayers has written the definitive biography of T. H. Gallaudet (1787-1851), celebrated today as the founder of deaf education in America. Sayers traces Gallaudet's work in the fields of deaf education, free common schools, literacy, teacher education and certification, and children's books, while also examining his role in reactionary causes intended to uphold a white, Protestant nation thought to have existed in New England's golden past. Gallaudet's youthful social and political entanglements included involvement with Connecticut's conservative, state-established Congregational Church, the Federalist Party, and the Counter-Enlightenment ideals of Yale (where he was a student). He later embraced anti-immigrant, anti-abolition, and anti-Catholic efforts, and supported the expatriation of free African-Americans to settlements on Africa's west coast. As much a history of the paternalistic, bigoted, and class-conscious roots of a reform movement as a story of one man's life, this landmark work will surprise and enlighten both the hearing and Deaf worlds.

'Michael Farrell offers well sourced overviews of the conflicting and contradictory advice that is available to schools, suggests a variety of solutions to challenges, empowering the reader to make their own choices.' - Carol Smart, Special Needs Information Press

Fully updated with the latest research and advice on best practice, this new edition of The Effective Teacher s Guide to Sensory and Physical Impairments covers a range of conditions that cause learning difficulties for children, including visual impairment, hearing impairment, deafblindness, orthopaedic impairment, motor disorders and health impairments, as well as a brand new chapter on traumatic brain injury.

Teachers are likely to meet children with varying types and degrees of sensory and physical impairments. This comprehensive guide equips you with informed and practical strategies to ensure that all pupils are included and provided for in the best possible way. The new edition has also been adapted to be more widely relevant to readers in different countries, focusing more on the strategies that work regardless of national context.

Writing in his popular accessible style, Michael Farrell suggests the best ways of dealing with a variety of conditions, always with practical classroom situations in mind. In each section, the book:

• explains the legal contexts
• looks at the range of provision
• suggests intervention and support strategies
• gives points for reflection and suggested further reading.

Highly accessible and authoritative, this book provides teachers with an invaluable resource to help you create a truly inclusive classroom.

'Girl Power': Girls Reinventing Girlhood examines the identity practices of girls who have grown up in the context of 'girl power' culture. The book asks whether - and which - girls have benefited from this feminist-inspired movement. Can girls truly become anything they want, as suggested by those who claim that the traditional mandate of femininity - compliance to male interests - is a thing of the past? To address such questions, the authors distinguish between 'girlhood' as a cultural ideal, and girls as the embodied agents through which girlhood becomes a social accomplishment. The book identifies significant issues for parents and teachers of girls, and offers suggestions for 'critical social literacy' as a classroom practice that recognizes the ways popular culture mediates young people's understanding of gender. 'Girl Power' will be of interest to researchers of contemporary gender identities, as well as educational professionals and adult girl advocates. It is relevant for students in gender studies and teacher-education courses, as well as graduate student researchers.

WHY won't he stay in his seat? WHY does she flap her hands? And WHAT should I do? As inclusion becomes the norm in general education, teachers are faced with behaviors they have never seen before. Special needs educators may recognize the telltale symptom of a sensory need or a textbook case of an avoidance behavior, but this is all new territory for the General-Ed crowd! Written by Director of Special Education Peter Gennaro, occupational therapist Beth Aune, and special needs mom and advocate Beth Burt, this book illuminates possible causes of those mysterious behaviors, and more importantly, provides solutions! Teachers can quickly look up an in-the-moment solution and learn about what the child is communicating, and why. The authors collaboratively address problem behaviors such as: out-of-seat behaviors, fidgeting, hand-flapping, covering ears, hiding or running away when upset, putting head down or "shutting down", difficulty with class work and homework, losing materials and missing assignments, poor handwriting, not following directions, saying rude or inappropriate things, clothing issues, difficulty making decisions, excessive talking, laughing excessively or being silly, little or no eye contact, temper outbursts, and many others! Teachers, it is possible to accommodate learning differences and sustain a positive learning environment for ALL students. This book is a must-have for every inclusive classroom!

This collection of research in deafness and education should be of interest to UK and overseas readers alike. It addresses key aspects of research in the UK within the areas of learning support, understanding progress and achievement and interaction at home and at school. Its content should be of interest to a wide range of professionals: teachers; doctors; audiologists; habilitation staff; speech and language therapists; and academics such as lecturers and researchers. For students of deaf education and special educational needs, as well as some parents of deaf children, it should serve as a useful contemporary text.

The editors' aim has been to make current and on-going research from a variety of disciplines accessible to this wide range of readers. Descriptions of research context and up-to-date referencing in each chapter should prove useful as sources and hints for further reading.

"I don’t need to be scared of reading anymore"

17-year-old woman describing the use of coloured overlays.

Reading Through Colour tells the story of the discovery and development of the use of coloured overlays and tinted glasses to help overcome reading difficulty, which can sometimes result in almost miraculous improvements. Arnold Wilkins, the scientist who was one of the first to provide the evidence that coloured filters can work, explains how sufferers are often unaware of the effects of visual stress, having no way of realising that others see print differently. They frequently suffer headaches or migraine, but at school can be considered simply lazy.

Reading Through Colour explains what the overlays are and how to select them. Throughout, the voices of parents, children and adults tell how improvements in reading speed and fluency have changed their lives. Clear, "how-to" advice on testing and using overlays is included for teachers and other professionals, along with information on where to get further help and advice.

"Every reading teacher needs a copy of this book and their own set of filters. Optometrists and pediatricians will also find this work to be a valuable resource. It is a ‘must read’."

Alan Kwasman M.D., Behavioural Pediatrician, Associate Professor, University of California, Riverside

We live in a time of unprecedented planetary ecocrisis, one that poses the serious and ongoing threat of mass extinction. What role can critical pedagogy play in the face of such burgeoning catastrophe? Drawing upon a range of theoretical influences - including Paulo Freire, Ivan Illich, Herbert Marcuse, traditional ecological knowledge, and the cognitive praxis produced by today's grassroots activists in the alter-globalization, animal and earth liberation, and other radical social movements - this book offers the foundations of a philosophy of ecopedagogy for the global north. In so doing, it poses challenges to today's dominant ecoliteracy paradigms and programs, such as education for sustainable development, while theorizing the needed reconstruction of critical pedagogy itself in light of our presently disastrous ecological conditions. Students and teachers of critical pedagogy at all levels, as well as those involved in environmental studies and various forms of sustainability education, will find this book a powerful provocation to adjust their thinking and practice to better align with those who seek to abolish forms of culture predicated upon planetary extermination and the domination of nature.

Recent policy initiatives illuminate the need for greater teacher awareness about dyslexia in secondary and tertiary education. Yet the debates about dyslexia are often narrowly based and can exclude some teachers. This book attempts to open up the debate by bringing together different ways of talking and thinking about dyslexia. Fundamental questions about how to respond to dyslexia in teaching and support contexts are addressed and the significance of ???exploratory conversions??? between learners and tutors is recognised. The need to restructure ???the structured approach??? and to consider meta-affectivity as well as metacognition is explored. Practitioners in both secondary and tertiary sectors can gain ready access to contributions from internationally respected writers and teachers in the field. Alan Hurst??'s preface refers to ???this important book??? as paving the way to a more truly inclusive attitude and approach to education in and beyond compulsory schooling.