'An extremely helpful, compact guide for anyone working in early years education... provides clear information for all professionals who work with children from birth to five with autistic spectrum disorders... A short, accessible and reader-friendly book that addresses the key issues' - Nursery Education Looking at the early years of a child's life, this book provides information on the services that are available for those from birth to five years, and addresses issues related to identification, assessment, teaching and learning and family support. It is illustrated with case studies provided by parents and practitioners. The following areas are discussed: o the Code of Practice for SEN & the SEN and Disability Discrimination Act o identification and assessment o good practice examples of multi-agency collaboration and provision o partnership with parents o social skills and behaviour o alternative intervention and home-based programmes o the transition from pre-school to school. Professionals in Health, Social Services and Education, pre-school playgroups, nursery staff, parents and carers will all find this book useful. Conference Information The Good Autism Practice (GAP) conference is based on the successful foundations of the Good Autism Practice (GAP) journal, which provides a platform for acknowledging and sharing good practice in autism.

'The layout and presentation of the material are very "user friendly" and the book is, therefore, easy to read. Those with less direct experience of living or working with children who are autistic, including teachers and learning support assistants, who require some help in appreciating the complex range of behaviours and responses such children present, will find this little book illuminating' - Support for Learning "This is a really practical tool........ the structure of the book is clear and uncomplicated for the reader to access. This book is based on a wealth of experience of working closely both with individuals with Autism and their families. It will be a revelation to professionals interested in this area and a comfort to carers who live the experience. Most importantly, it reminds us of the barriers to positive parent/professional partnership and challenges us to build supportive bridges to effective intervention for the individual with Autism. Autism NI (PAPA) was created out of such a dynamic approach and therefore welcomes this significant commentary on this critical issue." By giving a concise account of what life may be like following the diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) in the family, this book examines service provision at different stages, and provides information for parents, carers and practitioners' - Arlene Cassidy, Chief Executive, Autism NI Parents want support and advice during and after a diagnosis of ASDs, and professionals want to be able to give the right answers. This book will meet the needs of both. Issues dealt with include: " how to help the family " how to help brothers and sisters " preparing children with ASDs for the world outside " keeping expectations high " how to work together with schools and other agencies " finding community links 'In my view it would be a good read for relatives, friends and teachers in training to enable them to understand many of the issues associated with children who have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It points up the various facets of having and living with a child with autism - as far as possible from a positive point of view. The authors, from their obvious extensive experience, have identified many problems and circumstances that parents/carers are likely to meet and that can be tackled in a wide variety of ways. The book is designed to raise these for consideration - and this it does well' - Support for Learning, Volume 22, Number 2

Although initially equiped with very poor aircraft and robbed of effective leadership, due as much to Stalin's purges in the late 1930s as to the efforts of the Luftwaffe, Soviet fighter pilots soon turned the tables through the use of lend-lease aircraft like the Hurricane, Spitfire, P-39 and P-40, and home-grown machines like the MIG-3, LaGG-3/5, Lavochkin La-5/7/9 and Yak-1/3. The later Yaks and Lavochkins were easily superior to the Bf 109 and Fw 190 at low-level, the favoured "killing field" of pilots like Khozedub and Poryshkin, both of whom finished with higher scores than the leading pilots of the West. This volume aims to dispel many of the myths about combat on the Eastern Front.