Since We're Friends: An Autism Picture Book By Celeste Shally and David Harrington
Children with autism struggle to make friends and navigate social situations. However, one child can make a significant difference in the life of a child with autism by offering compassion, understanding and friendship. Since We re Friends is about two boys. One has autism, the other does not. The story of their relationship provides practical examples of how to make such a friendship work. It will help children see that their peers with autism can make a fun, genuine contribution to friendship.
I Am Utterly Unique: Celebrating the Strengths of Children with Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning AutismBy Elaine Marie Larson
Discover the unique characteristics and abilities of children with Asperger Syndrome and high-functioning autism – from A to Z. This book, laid out in an A-to-Z format, celebrates the extraordinary gifts and unique perspectives that ASD children possess. Each page of this playful alphabet book presents one of the children’s many talents and abilities. The kid-friendly illustrations and clever text create a positive portrayal of children with ASD. Designed to help the children with ASD grow in self-awareness of their many capabilities, I Am Utterly Unique also encourages dialogue with siblings, friends, parents and teachers.
My Brother is AutisticBy Jennifer Moore-Mallinos and Marta Fabrega
The sensitively written Let's Talk About It Books encourage preschool-age and early-grades children to explore their feelings, deal with problems that trouble them, and understand others who have problems of their own. Each title speaks to a particular concern that children might encounter in the course of growing up. All books in this series have appealing color illustrations on every page, and are available in both English and Spanish language editions. A short section at the back of each book offers related advice to parents. My Brother is Autistic describes a condition that affects many families. Medical experts are just beginning to understand varying degrees of autism and its impact on both the autistic child and his family. This book describes an autistic child from his brother's point of view. It talks about ways autistic kids can be helped and how they can better relate to their family and surroundings.
Autistic PlanetBy Jennifer Elder and Marc Thomas
Autistic Planet is a magical world where all trains run exactly to time, where people working in offices have rocking chairs, and where all kids dream of winning the chess World Cup. Join us on a journey to this alternative reality, where being different is ordinary, and being "typical" is unheard of! Full of color illustrations and written in child-friendly rhyme, this book will be much loved by children, particularly those on the autism spectrum, their parents, teachers, carers and siblings.
Stop by next Saturday for another Weekly Trip to the Library. If you have a book review you would like to suggest email Stephanie@BestNannyNewsletter.com.
Great book suggestions!
ReplyDeleteThere are a few children in my previous charges class who are on the Autism Spectrum Disorder.
She would tell me she wanted to be friends with them, but they were "different". I tried to explain to her, to be patient with them, but really could not find the right words to explain this on a level that a 6 year old would grasp.
I plan to find these books and share them with her- to hopefully help her gain a better understanding.
FABULOUS LIST
ReplyDeleteI have been avoiding inviting an autistic boy in one of my charge's class over for a playdate. All of the parents and nannies are always so scared to have him over because the boy "misbehaves" like crazy in class. But, he is a sweet child.
ReplyDeleteThe discussions over the past few days and now this list of books makes me feel hopeful.
It's not like the child has a contagious illness. It's not that he is bad. He is different, lots of energy, lack of common sense for sure, trouble sitting still, too much talking, and so on, but not a bad kid.
Thanks, I will take out these books from the library this week and plan to invite the boy over sometime soon.
Nanny of 10 years, Francine, Portland