PlaySteps Books

Marlene Breitenbach of New York has designed some excellent books for children with classic autism. The PlaySteps books encourage constructive play and I recommend them for children with autism between the ages of 3 and 8 years. Sequential pictures are used to provide clear visual cues to enable the child to build simple toy constructions. The books are primarily designed for children with autism, but the approach could be adapted for children with Asperger's Syndrome. For more information, visit: www.playsteps.com

The Art of Communicating: Achieving Interpersonal Impact in Business

Bert Decker, published by Crisp Publications Inc., California.

This book is written for adults and provides strategies to improve behavioural skills such as body posture, vocal tone and listening skills.

Teaching Children with Autism to Mind read: A practical Guide

Patricia Howlin, Simon Baron-Cohen and Julie Hadwin, published by John Wiley, 1999. ISBN 0 471 97623 7

As mentioned in the title, this is a practical book for teachers and parents on teaching Theory of Mind skills from how to interpret facial expressions to understanding another person's knowledge and beliefs.

Socially Speaking. A social skills program for pupils with mild to moderate learning disabilities

Alison Schroeder, published by LDA, Cambridgeshire England. ISBN 1 85503 252 X

This excellent program covers a wide range of activities from developing eye contact to the art of conversation.