Practical Sensory Programmes: For Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Special Needs

by Sue Larkey

Children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) often have sensory processing difficulties. They may be very sensitive to particular sounds or materials, or unresponsive to injuries most children would find painful. This practical book offers a six-step approach to developing a successful programme to help children cope with sensory input they find overwhelming, and to identify activities they may find relaxing or rewarding. Sue Larkey draws on her experience of working with children with autism to offer more than 30 activities using touch, sound, taste, vision and movement, and gives advice on how to use these activities as opportunities to improve children's communication skills. She provides detailed photocopiable checklists to assess children's sensory reactions, sleep patterns, sense of movement and use of eye contact. Parents, occupational therapists and educational professionals will find this workbook to be a rich source of fun ideas for improving sensory processing in autism, and easily adaptable for children with other special needs.

Genres: Psychology

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2006

Reviews

[Neko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I picked up this book. It's great if you have a child that you don't know properly and need to assess them. Or if you've got a child who started out on this program and you're following up on it.
There are many handy hints, very wise observations about children with Autism and there will probably be things you never thought of before. Example- A child might not like going to the hairdressers because the sound of the scissors cutting their hair is stressful.

I didn't completely read it from page to page as I didn't find this book for what I needed. I did learn little bits and pieces so it wasn't a waste of time skimming this book.

I could see this book being very handy if I was given a new child to look after and he/she wasn't assessed by anyone at the school.