Special Education highlighted in the Learning Commons
The Learning Commons offers some wonderful books and kits for children with special needs. Check out a few of our titles:
5 Is Against the Law! Social Boundaries: Straight Up! Pack
An honest guide for teens
Author(s) Buron, Kari Dunn
1 book, 1 card game with 101 cards, instruction sheet.
Building on Kari Dunn Buron s popular The Incredible 5-Point Scale, this book takes a narrower look at challenging behavior with a particular focus on behaviors that can spell trouble for adolescents and young adults who have difficulty understanding and maintaining social boundaries. Using a direct and simple style with lots of examples and hands-on activities, A 5 Is Against the Law! speaks directly to adolescents and young adults. A section of the book is devoted to how to cope with anxiety before it begins to escalate, often leading to impulsive and unacceptable behavior. Throughout the book, the reader is encouraged to think about and create his own behavior on an anxiety scale that applies to his particular emotions and situations.
The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children
Author(s) Greene, Ross W.
Screaming, swearing, crying, hitting, kicking, spitting, biting…these are some of the challenging behaviors we see in kids who are having difficulty meeting our expectations. These behaviors often leave parents feeling frustrated, angry, overwhelmed, and desperate for answers. In this fully revised and updated book, Dr. Ross Greene helps you understand why and when your child does these things and how to respond in ways that are nonpunitive, nonadversarial, humane, and effective. Dr. Greene describes how best to: Understand the factors that contribute to challenging episodes. Identify the specific situations in which challenging episodes are likely to occur. Reduce or eliminate challenging episodes by solving the problems that cause them. Solve problems collaboratively (rather than unilaterally) and proactively (rather than reactively). Help your child develop the skills to be more flexible, solve problems, and handle frustration more adaptively. Reduce hostility and antagonism between you and your child. With Dr. Greene’s practical, expert guidance, you and your child will forge a new relationship based on communication and mutual respect.
Also contains a card game: Bully Free Zone
101 Cards and Instructions.
Helping your anxious child: a step-by-step guide for parents /
Author(s) Rapee, Ronald M.
Most children are afraid of the dark. Some fear monsters under the bed. But at least ten percent of children have excessive fears and worries – phobias, separation anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder – that can hold them back and keep them from fully enjoying childhood. If your child suffers from any of these forms of anxiety, the program in this book offers practical, scientifically proven tools that can help. Now in its second edition, Helping Your Anxious Child has been expanded and updated to include the latest research and techniques for managing child anxiety. The book offers proven effective skills based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to aid you in helping your child overcome intense fears and worries. You’ll also find out how to relieve your child’s anxious feelings while parenting with compassion. Inside, you will learn to: – Help your child practice detective thinking” to recognize irrational worries – What to do when your child becomes frightened – How to gently and gradually expose your child to challenging situations – Help your child learn important social skills This book has been awarded The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit – an award bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives. “
How to Make & Keep Friends Pack
Tips for Kids to Overcome 50 Common Social Challenges
Author(s) Briggs, Nadine
1 book, 2 card games
How to Make & Keep Friends: Tips for Kids to Overcome 50 Common Social Challenges by Nadine Briggs and Donna Shea offers social skills and friendship advice presented in an easy to read, reference guide format. While geared toward elementary school kids, many teens and adults report they are finding these tips to be a helpful resource. Included are simple and immediately actionable tips to navigate common social situations that can be challenging, such as: • How to Join a Group • How to Safely Handle Angry Feelings • Handling Rejection and Exclusion • Working Things Out & Sharing Fairly • Being a Good Guest and Host • Playground Success • … and much more!
Model Me Kids Series includes Airplane, Job Skills, Tips and Tricks:
Model Me: Movement
Ages 9-17
Local Call Num. 302.12 MOD
1 DVD, 60 min.
What do gross motor and movement skills have to do with social skills? Studies show that children with Autism who have better motor skills show greater ability in socializing. Synergies article. A study at Indiana University also found a strong correlation between hand-eye coordination and social communication skills. Psychology Today article.
Model Me Movement™: Balance, Core, & Calming is a video of short, easy-to-follow movement activities developed by Occupational Therapist Dr. Fabiane Curro. The video is designed to improve balance, increase core strength, and promote self-calming. The DVD contains six 8-11 minute movement segments each modeled by a child and guided by an adult. The activities are designed to target skills that help with coordination, body awareness, self-regulation, and promote an overall feeling of physical well-being.
SuperFlex Series:
Superflex : a superhero social thinking curriculum kit
Superflex takes on Rock Brain and the Team of Unthinkables
Author(s) Madrigal, Stephanie.
1 CD-ROM (4 1/2 in.)
Provides educators and parents with fun and motivating ways to teach elementary school students with Asperger Syndrome and high-functioning autism how to build social skills. Superflex combines a book, comic book and CD to create a curriculum that develops in the students’ brains a superhero who overcomes the social thinking challenges that arise in different social contexts.
Why does Izzy cover her ears?:dealing with sensory overload /
Author(s) Veenendall, Jennifer.
Includes discussion questions.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-39).
Illustrated children’s book dealing with the challenges at home and at school of sensory overload– symptoms and tools for mitigating them and enabling children to function and learn more successfully.
Why Does Izzy Cover Her Ears? Dealing with Sensory Overload is the picture book story of Izzy, an intelligent young girl just starting the first grade. Izzy has sensory processing disorder, which makes her over-responsive to environmental stimuli, including sounds, accidental bumps from other kids, and visual distractions. Her reflexive tendencies to cry, lash out, or cover her ears have caused other kids to accuse her of being mean, or deride her as a “crybaby”. But with help from her parents, her teachers, and an occupational therapist, she is learning how to adjust. She feels calmer and ready to learn, and she’s made a lot of friends! The story is told from Izzy’s point of view, but does not talk down to the reader. A highly recommended and educational book for parents and children to share, especially if the child has sensory processing disorder or knows relatives or friends with it.
The Out-of-sync child has fun :
activities for kids with sensory processing disorder
Author(s) Kranowitz, Carol Stock.
This revised edition of the companion volume to The Out-of-Sync Child includes new activities that parents of kids with Sensory Processing Disorder can do at home with their child, along with updated information on which activities are most appropriate for children with coexisting conditions such as Asperger’s, autism, and more.
So, where do you find all of these amazing resources? In our L4U library catalogue! Just log in, go to Topic Search, scroll to 003 Special Education and scroll through the lists!
