Customer Reviews
navigating the social world 
2008-04-05
This book is for a teacher or the like to use to design a curicullum for a child with aspergers it is not a curiculum
good book if you are looking for answers 
2007-10-27
this book was recommended to me by my son's doctor. the copy I received was as advertised and it was enlightening to read.
Very helpful 2007-05-25
Although I haven't purchased a copy of this book, I once read a copy that I borrowed from a library, and I found it very helpful.
As someone with Asperger's Syndrome myself, I know that if there had been books like this 30 years ago, I would have learned much earlier in life what things are appropriate to do and say in what situation. It's too bad that there were no books like this until recent years!
Great Book 
2006-11-05
This book has been very helpful and my child enjoys learning from it, glad I made the purchase.
A detailed and excellent guide 2006-07-06
This book contains valuable documentation of individuals with Asperger's or HFA, problems that arise and how many of the situations can be resolved. There are some great ideas on making worksheets and charts for the individual to track his/her own emotions. This book really helps someone to realize their potential as functioning members of society. It really gives the tools to one with Asperger's to understand and comprehend the world around them.
Wonderfully practical book on HFA and Aspergers disorder 2006-06-22
Because of its unique focus on teaching the critical social skills that autistic children lack, this book has been cited by "Library Journal" as "Essential to All Collections."
From parent and future educator 2005-08-02
This manual is very easy to follow and extreemly user friendly. This is part of the curriculum that my son is using in his school and I thought I'd get a copy to work with him at home. Best money I've spent in a long time!A must for anyone dealing with High-functioning Autism/Asperger's at home or in their classroom.
More technical than parents might want 
2005-05-14
I am a parent of a child with social skills difficulties akin to Aspergers. I ordered three books at the same time including this one. I found this the least approachable and chose to return it-- something I rarely do. You'd have to really sit down and dig into this book to get anything practical out of it for your child. The information is here, but it's not layed out well visually or in casual vocabulary.
Instead I was most impressed with and plan to start using Social Skills Training by Jed Baker. I also found useful Good Friends are Hard to Find by Frankel.
Navigating the Social World 2004-06-15
This is a fabulous resource for professionals working with children and teens with ASD. It well laid out and easy to implement. The activities are fun and educational for the kids.
An Aspie/NLD Reader 2004-05-17
This is an excellent resource for parents of children with Asperger's Syndrome, HFA, or similar disorders such as NLD (Nonverbal Learning Disorder, a dual diagnosis of mine). Several of the techniques are of at least some potential use for adults on the spectrum.
Once the autistic traits that are academic barriers have been overcome, it is of secondary importance to overcome the social barriers that will make it difficult for your child to function in society. This book looks very useful for that purpose, though I suspect that educating the public as to the talents and the truly neurodevelopmental basis of our differences and getting society to accept these differences would be of greater and longer-lasting importance. Alas, lacking a perfect world where J.Q. Public would be knowledgable about every "disorder" that could prevent a person from acting like the average neurotypical (NT), this book runs a close second.
This book is probably not as helpful for parents with children on the lower functioning end of the autistic spectrum, since the academic barriers (especially sensory integration dysfunction) are still in place, and the child is frequently nonverbal. It is almost impossible for a nonverbal autistic child to master social techniques of any kind. Aspie, HFA, and NLD children and adults rely almost entirely upon language to achive even a minor level of social "success". I think it might be useful to note that the "best" way to pick out a child on the autistic spectrum at an early age, NO MATTER WHAT THE LEVEL OF FUNCTIONING is to (as a toddler) have the child spend time with other toddlers. I highly suggest this "early diagnostic tool" to families that have several people on the autistic spectrum - including families with multiple engineers and/or computer programers ;-). NT children can "communicate" with each other, somehow, without language. They can hold whole "conversations" preverbally (it is truly an amazing sight for adults on the spectrum). NT adults can do this to a great degree as well, and can "converse" with people who speak a different language from them by using body language. From LFA to HFA to Aspergers, children and adults on the spectrum do not have this ability. It is similarly lacking in people diagnosed with NLD.
For the academically advanced child, or for the high-functioning adult, a college-level class on primate behavior is also likely to be useful. I took one in an anthropology department that showed me some of the common characteristics between the body language of "lower" primates and humans and gave me some basic interpretation tools (even if I have to think of them cognitively, which is far slower than the instinctual reaction most people have to kinesics/body language). My class included time at a zoo and observation periods (mostly of other students from a balcony) in which we made cross-species comparisons (some of which were truly eye-opening, such as the degree of self-grooming female primates tend to subject themselves to when being regarded by a desirable male primate - a process which was drastically INCREASED in noticability in the college students).
I should mention, however, that no matter how early the intervention with an autistic child, skills such as the minimal amount of reading of body language/facial expression that can be achieved are still performed at a cognitive level, rather than at an instinctive level. This being the case, reaction/response time is markedly slower, leading to many "well-trained" children acting like social robots. Again, I am not entirely sure that this is more "functional" than educating people about the autistic spectrum and the various forms of social "blindness" that are an integral part of these disorders.
In many ways, my attempts of learning body language and their meaning to NTs has been characterized by an "intellectual-only" understanding. For me, characterizing the physical responses of NTs to the feeling of anger is like a blind person explaining that red is a color just below "infra-red" in the visual range, or that Monet is an impressionist painter noted for his wide range of color and paintings of flowers in France. This intellectual understanding of the subject does not mean that I can really utilize the information, just as the blind person cannot tell red from green or a Monet from a Picasso. All the techniques and explanations in this (or any other) book cannot change that.
Good luck!
