Relationship Development Intervention with Children, Adolescents and Adults: A Father's Memoir about Raising a Gifted Child with Autism »

Friendship, even for the most able, requires hard work, and the odds are heavily stacked against those with autism spectrum conditions. Designed for younger children, typically between the ages of two and eight, this comprehensive set of enjoyable activities emphasizes foundation skills such as social referencing, regulating behavior, conversational reciprocity and synchronized actions. The authors include many objectives to plan and evaluate a child's progress, each one related to a specific exercise. Suitable for parental use, the manual is also designed for easy implementation in schools and in therapeutic settings. A comprehensive website, free to purchasers, acts as companion to the book.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Nicholas Greco IV, MS, BCETS, CATSM(Abbott Laboratories)
Description:This book successfully provides a complete and age-appropriate collection of therapeutic activities for children, adolescents, and adults with Asperger syndrome, PDD, autism, and NLD.
Purpose:The purpose is to present activities and exercises specifically designed and based upon the authors' six-level, 24-stage Relationship Development Intervention model. This workbook focuses on activities that are based upon the model and it covers the full range of social and emotional development. The structure and design of the book is mindful of the population at hand and therefore the book presents the reader with an unquestionably worthy contribution to the field. The book exceeds the authors' objectives.
Audience:The book is targeted toward parents, adolescents and adults, teachers and special educators, and therapists. The authors are credible, experts in the field, and their writing is user-friendly, clear, and an excellent display of their years of knowledge and experience.
Features:This workbook provides over 150 activities and exercises, carefully designed and easily implemented by both novice and expert. Based upon the authors' development intervention model, the workbook is broken up further into six levels: novice, apprentice, challenger, voyager, explorer, and partner. The sections cover such topics as synchronization, co-creation, imagination, ideas, conversations, family roots, and intimate relations. The illustrations are appropriately minimal.
Assessment:This is a well-written and carefully thought out workbook which wisely uses the developmental model. The workbook emphasizes fun for both the clinician and the client, positive social changes in the individual, and a structured set of activities to either follow as they are presented or custom design for your own program. The authors have written a worthy contribution to the field in a time when more information is needed about developmental disorders.