E-book: Managing Family Meltdown: The Low Arousal Approach and Autism

As a therapist working with children with autism and their families, you often have conversations with parents about "how things are at home". Discussing challenging behaviour can make you feel useless as a professional if you aren't able to offer any help. If the family are into reading self-help books, this is one you could definitely suggest. -- Speech & Language Therapy in Practice, Gillian Welsher, speech therapiust, Newcastle upon Tyne ...books such as this are long overdue in the marketplace. It is my hope that many family members will not only read this material but hopefully support others in the process... If this book empowers only a handful of families to manage these situations more positively then it will have achieved a great deal -- From the Foreword by Andrew McDonnell, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Director of Studio III Training Systems A fine survey of the challenging behaviors and outbursts that can strain the entire family of a child diagnosed with autism. It offers a guide to many different strategies to diffuse and resolve common challenging behaviors, using a low arousal approach to behavior modification based on avoiding confrontation and reducing stress. Any family handling an autistic kid needs this. -- The Midwest Book Review It starts with a clear and accessible description of autism spectrum disorders, and moves on to a handy assembly of tips and techniques on various aspects of living with a child with autism. Co-author Linda Woodcock is the parent of an adult with autism who speaks from experience on matters both trivial and terrifying... It's nice to hear that adivce from a parent with experience dealing with the aggressive behavior of an older child, and the low-arousal point of view is also an interesting alternative to books that paint a hellish picture of autism, or focus hard on cures. Even families of children with disabilities outside the autism spectrum may find valuable advice and insight here -- about both your kids' meltdowns and your own. -- Terri Mauro - About.com