Discover the Visual Immersion System (VIS), a practical, research-based intervention framework that taps into the strong visual processing skills many children on the spectrum have.

Just as autism is a continuum of disorders, it is associated with a broad range of neurodevelopmental, social, and communication deficits. For individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) has a major impact on their daily lives, often reducing the occurrence of challenging behaviors. Aided Augmentative Communication for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders is a practical guide to the field, offering readers a solid grounding in ASD, related complex communication needs (CCN), and AAC, especially visual and computer-based technologies. Widely used interventions and tools in AAC are reviewed—not just how they work, but why they work—to aid practitioners in choosing those most suited to individual clients or students. Issues in evaluation for aided AAC and debates concerning its usability round out the coverage. Readers come away with a deeper understanding of the centrality of communication for clients with ASD and the many possibilities for intervention. Key areas of coverage include: AAC and assessment of people with ASD and CCN. Interdisciplinary issues and collaboration in assessment and treatment. AAC intervention mediated by natural communication partners. Functional communication training with AAC. The controversy surrounding facilitated communication. Sign language versus AAC. Aided Augmentative Communication for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders is an essential resource for clinicians/practitioners, researchers, and graduate students in such fields as child and school psychology, speech pathology, language education, developmental psychology, behavior therapy, and educational technology.

When making the transition to adulthood, young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder can find their opportunities limited by their impaired prosody. Through a program of evidence-based lessons and resources, this book helps to develop verbal and nonverbal skills essential to adult life, particularly in the context of looking for a job or social situations. It is a complete curriculum, covering everything from self-calming to fluency and conversational skills, and includes lesson plans, handouts, and homework. The program has been successfully used by the authors in their work with people on the autism spectrum and will be a life-changing resource for professionals as well as for parents and people on the autism spectrum wanting to improve their ability to communicate well.

Presents three hundred games and play therapy activities for children with autism, covering ways to use food, toys, social and outside games, and other techniques for motivation and engagement.

Visuals of all kinds (photographs, checklists, line drawings, cartoons, flowcharts, stick figures, etc.) are commonly used as supports for individuals on the autism spectrum who tend to think and learn visually. However, not all visuals are created equal and, therefore, visuals don't all work equally well. This companion to Learning With a Visual Brain in an Auditory World helps the reader understand how to match the developmental levels of pictures and visuals to the developmental level of the person looking at the visual. In this way, appropriate visuals provide the language development for children with autism spectrum disorders. Drawing from their experience with children and youth for decades, the authors also show how effective communication can help reduce the confusion and anxiety that often lead to behavioral outbursts. --Google Books.

This book first explains autism, its prevalence, and some conventional intervention techniques, and it then describes how virtual reality technology can support autism intervention and skills training. The approaches and technologies covered include immersive virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. The tasks covered include emotion recognition, affective computing, teaching communication skills, imparting literacy skills, training for imitation skills, and joint attention skills. Most of the chapters assume no prerequisite knowledge of autism or virtual reality, and they are supported throughout with detailed references for further investigation. While the author is an engineer by profession, with specialist knowledge in robotics and computer-based platforms, in this book she adopts a user perspective and cites many real-life examples from her own experience. The book is suitable for students of cognitive science, and researchers and practitioners engaged with designing and offering technological assistance for special needs training.