As an autism parent, have you ever felt at a loss for words when you try to explain a social skill to your child? For example, how in the world do you explain personal space to your child, especially if (s)he currently doesn’t care about people? Rebecca Moyes, MEd, wrote just the book to help: Visual Techniques for Developing Social Skills.
Since kids on the autism spectrum usually need assistance in determining how to act in many social situations, and since they also need visual prompts, Rebecca Moyes created activities using everyday items to help them understand why a social skill is needed, and then how to perform it. She also gives parents and educators just the right words for explanation, without being overly verbose so that you lose the child.
The activity “Using a Colander [Strainer] to Teach Filtering of Thoughts to Avoid Inappropriate Language” pays for the book, in my humble opinion. In this one activity, Rebecca helps children visualize different kinds of words, names them green/red (go/stop) words, and discusses a variety of each kind to help the child understand that there is a need to filter what we want to say.
Here’s what I love about Visual Techniques for Developing Social Skills:
- Immediately practical
- A substitute teacher could pick it up, read it verbatim, and lead a social skills group
- IEP goals included
- Step-by-step instructions for each activity
- Verbiage included! Even if you’re not leading a group, you can use Rebecca’s words over and over again as you practice a skill set with your child.
- Materials list for each activity–and they’re already in your home or easy to get
- Resource list at the end
Future Horizons priced Visual Techniques for Developing Social Skills so that parents could get the help they need–$14.95! However, if you use my affiliate code, HATS, you can get 15% off! If you live in the continental US, you also receive FREE SHIPPING! Read more about the book here.You can also use that code for anything on the site, including conferences, so you may want to grab a cup of coffee and go browsing.
