Just Give Him The Whale!: 20 Ways to Use Fascinations, Areas of Expertise, and Strengths to Support Students with Autism

by Kluth, Paula

• ISBN13: 9781557669605
• ISBN10: 1557669600
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-02-28
• Publisher: BROOKES PAUL H. PUBLISHING CO.

Summary

When learners with autism have deep, consuming fascinations?trains, triangles, basketballs, whales?teachers often wonder what to do. This concise, highly practical guidebook gives educators across grade levels a powerful new way to think about students' "obsessions": as positive teaching tools that calm, motivate, and improve learning. Written by top autism experts and nationally renowned speakers Paula Kluth and Patrick Schwarz, this guide is brimming with easy tips and strategies for folding students' special interests, strengths, and areas of expertise into classroom lessons and routines. Teachers will discover how making the most of fascinations can help their students learn standards-based academic content, boost literacy learning and mathematics skills, develop social connections, expand communication skills, and minimize anxiety. Just Give Him the Whale! is packed from start to finish with unforgettable stories based on the authors' experience, firsthand perspectives from people with autism themselves, research-based recommendations that are easy to use right away, and sample forms teachers can adapt for use in their own classrooms. An enjoyable read with an eye-opening message, this short book will have a long-lasting impact on teachers' understanding of autism?and on their students' social and academic success.

Author Biography

Patrick Schwarz is Professor of Special Education and Chair of Diversity in Learning and Development for National-Louis University, Chicago.

Table of Contents

To Develop a Relationship with the Student	p. 1
To Expand Social Opportunities	p. 13
To Expand Communication Skills and Opportunities	p. 19
To Help Minimize Anxiety	p. 25
To Plan for Inclusive Schooling	p. 29
To Build Classroom Expertise	p. 35
To Boost Literacy Learning	p. 41
To Comfort	p. 47
To Inspire Career Ideas	p. 53
To Encourage Risk Taking	p. 59
To Connect Students to Standards-Based Content	p. 65
To Encourage In-Depth Study	p. 71
To Make Sense of a Confusing World	p. 77
To Let Students Shine and Showcase Talents	p. 83
To Give Students "Power"	p. 87
To Encourage Chit-Chat	p. 93
To Boost Mathematics Skills and Competencies	p. 97
To Teach Manners, Cooperation, and the Expression of Empathy	p. 103
To Encourage Greatness	p. 109
To Make Life Worth Living	p. 115
References	p. 121
Frequently Asked Questions	p. 125
Additional Resources Focused on Strengths, Abilities, and Interests	p. 135
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