Suggested Reading List
Children’s books:
Approximate Ages 4-8:
- How to Lose All Your Friends by Nancy Carlson
- The Doorbell Rang by Pay Hutchins
- How To Be A Friend: A Guide to Making Friends and Keeping Them by Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown
- Helping Out by George Ancona
- Feeling Left Out by Kate Petty and Charlotte Firmin
Ages 8 and older:
- I want to Play by Elizabeth Crary (this is one of a series of interactive books for children to problem solve various social situations).
Adult/Reference Book List:
- Thinking About You Thinking About Me, Michelle Garcia Winner: (2002)
- Inside Out: What Makes The Person With Social Cognitive Deficits Tick? Michelle Garcia Winner: (2000)
- Solving the Relationship Puzzle by Steven Gutstein
- The Autism Social Skills Picture Book by Jed Baker. Ph.D.
- Asperger Syndrome, a guide for parents and professionals. Tony Attwood
- Activity Schedules for Children with Autism, teaching independent behavior. L. McClannahan and P. Krantz (1999)
- What Does It Mean To Me? A workbook explaining self-awareness and life lessons to the child or youth with high functioning autism or Aspergers. Catherine Faherty (2000)
- Asperger Syndrome and Sensory Issues, practical solutions for making sense of the world. Brenda Smith Myles, et al. (2000)
- Incorporating Social Goals in the Classroom Rebecca Moyes (2001)
- Asperger Syndrome in Adolescence. Ed by Liane Holliday Willey (2003)
- Asperger Syndrome and the Elementary School Experience: Practical Solutions for Academic and Social Difficulties. Susan Thompson Moore (2002)
- Nonverbal Learning Disabilities at School: Educating students with NLD, Asperger Syndrome and related conditions. Pamela Tanguay (2002)
General Pragmatic Tips
- Facilitate play dates/community outings with age appropriate peers.
- Arrange extra-curricular group activities (e.g. boy/girl scouts, drama, sports).
- Be a good role model (e.g. clearly express your emotions, exaggerate body
language, be a good listener, etc.)
- Develop a support team: get all professionals, teachers, and supportive staff involved and inform them of your child’s needs and goals.
Suggested Games to Build Pragmatic Language
- Listening/following directions: Simon Says, Mother May I, I Spy, Follow The Leader, cooking, barrier games, 20 Questions.
- Detective games: Charades, social spying (watch people in the community and identify how they are feeling and what their body language means), watch TV or videos with no sound (e.g. Wallace and Gromet) and interpret their facial expressions and/or body language.
- Conversation building: Set aside a time of the day to share (with questions and answers) what you did that day, keep the conversation going by using visual cues (building a tower or rolling a ball for each comment made on topic).
- Role-playing: Act out various situations that your child might encounter or that you have observed during a social interaction at school or home.
- Pretend play: Facilitate interactive imaginative play (e.g. picnic, fishing, house, restaurant, store, etc.)
- Turn Taking: Board games, card games, paper games (e.g. hangman, boxes, etc.)
