WRITING A BOOK FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM: ITS UNIQUE CHALLENGES AND JOYS By: Justine M. Hoewing Mentor: Dr. Janet Koysarch-Coy

Why did I choose this topic? I want to be a special education teacher I believe in giving every child opportunity I believe in equality and exchange of ideas through books

Schedule Introduction Social skills/cognitive problems Views of friendship Interventions Reading comprehension Bibliotherapy My book- The final project

Introduction In the past, children with autism got dismal prognoses Boys outnumber girls 5 to 1 No racial differences in terms of number of children

Symptoms of Autism Primary symptoms –Trouble with social skills –Relationship skills –Communication skills Secondary symptoms –Repetitive movements –Self-stimulatory behaviors

Social Skills Will not attempt to play with other children The attempts may not be seen as invitations to play Some have no play skills

Social Skills Continued Secondary symptoms intrude Only a small range of interests Children cannot imitate typical children Generally cannot have relationships with typical children

Cognitive Problems Deficits in self-perception/self- concept Trouble developing sense of self –Interpersonal self How one sees oneself affects how one sees others –Problems with friendship

How do children with autism view friendships? Social statement does not include friends However, they did not report being less close to friends Desire friendships! Tend to think about activities with friends rather than emotional closeness Just think about friendship differently

Interventions for Children with Autism Need social training to be social Visuals and prompting Peer modeling DIR model

Reading Comprehension of Children with Autism Comprehension tends to be low while readability/accuracy is high Difficulty with spoken word Difficulty understanding and recognizing pronouns

Recommendations for Help with Reading Anaphoric cuing Abstracts before reading Comprehension questions after the reading

Bibliotherapy AKA Social stories A short story used to help children understand social situations –Target negative social behavior Used daily Include comprehension questions afterwards Positive results in research with bibliotherapy

The Finished Product: “My Friend David” In the book, I used: –A before-text summary –Some ideas of bibliotherapy –Anaphoric cuing –Large pictures –After-text comprehension questions

Thank you to: Dr. Janet Koysarch-Coy, my wonderful mentor Corey Ahearn, the artist of the book Dr. Dana Van Abbema, my advisor My parents, family, and friends!!! Anyone else who I’ve missed