| GF Meals | 
|
|
|
|
Between Their World and Ours: Breakthroughs with Autistc Children | 
| Author: Karen Zelan
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $2.14
You Save: $24.81 (92%)
Rating:  12 reviews
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0312313756
Dewey Decimal Number: 618.92898206
EAN: 9780312313753
ASIN: 0312313756
Publication Date: May 22, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Autism has reached epidemic proportions. The latest studies suggest that as many as one in 150 children ages ten and younger may be affected by autism---a total of 300,000 children in the United States alone. Adults included, there are more than a million people in the United States suffering from autistic disorders. Since autism has had a bleak prognosis, and since the isolation of autistic children is so painful to parents, Karen Zelan’s accounts of her breakthroughs with autistic children in Between Their World and Ours present a particularly hopeful perspective. Zelan illustrates how diagnostic labels reflect the preconceptions and prejudices of the diagnostician, but reveal nothing about the unique person who carries the label and his potential as a human being.
Describing nine of the forty-five autists with whom she has worked, Zelan documents how psychotherapy with autistic youth helps them to overcome their problems in communicating, playing, feeling, thinking, and interacting with people more companionably. Her riveting narratives, showing her growing understanding of her young patients, capture how it is to be autistic. She describes the ways these young people meet the challenges of being the way the are. Her work demonstrates how the social context in which autistic children find themselves can make a significant difference in their development, their self-esteem, and their ability to think through problems in living.
Zelan, a gifted and intuitive psychotherapist, shows how the autist’s sense of self emerges during childhood. She details how these autistic children’s first friendships originate, the pitfalls and pleasures they experience in relating to their peers, their dreams, and their fears of social contact. These real-life stories reveal what worked with autistic children and why. Zelan offers prescriptive suggestions for parents and teachers based on her discoveries, demonstrating humane ways of dealing with the often troubling problems of autism and of closing the gap between their world and ours.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 I read it as a point of interest... October 31, 2005
Just me
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
To be fair, let me say first that I went into this book as someone who does not particularly believe in a psychodynamic approach to autism treatment, so I began with an inherent bias. That said, there were many things in the book that I agreed with more than I thought I would, and many other things that I disagreed with but were well written enough to make me really stop and think about why I disagreed.
Temple Grandin once said "I have observed that good teachers (of autistic children) do the same things regardless of the theoretical basis". I see that in this book. Even though it sometimes wanders into psychoanalysis land (Did that autistic child just emphasize the "pain" in painting? Are pronouns reversals caused by an existential battle within the self and not simply delayed echolalia, as is more commonly accepted?), the basic tenets of most theraputic programs are there: honor the child's interests in order to draw them out, give frequent one-on-one attention, acknowledge sensory needs, provide an environment where they can see the effects of their communication. I wholeheartedly agree with this.
A few points did rankle. First and foremost, the underlying idea in the book that autistic children can be most helped simply by being placed in an environment that accepts and understands them so as to allow for personal growth and a sort of 'coming out of their shells'. In my experience, this is often not enough. Many autistic children need speech therapy to develop better speech, occupational therapy to develop fine motor skills, educational programs tailored to them to learn academics, etc. Most of them DO have wonderful, reciprocal, loving relationships with their parents that aid in their emotional growth and yet do not, by themselves, magically advance their other skills.
Also, the author attempts to discredit the well-known Sally Anne theory of mind test by saying, more or less, that maybe the autistic children involved didn't want to answer the questions correctly or didn't see the need to answer them in a conventional way. I'm open to the fact that this test may or may not be valid, but I need a lot more evidence than the idea that the kids involved didn't feel like answering correctly. That same argument could be used in literally any situation for any kind of test that's ever been given.
Overall, I would recommend as an interesting viewpoint to those interested in the broad field of autism treatment. If you are a parent or professional looking for a few treatment resources of this sort, however, I would recommend The Child With Special Needs by Stanley Greenspan instead. It emcompasses the same respectful attitude of the child and message of using their natural interests to draw them out and to interact joyfully. Greenspan focuses more on the development of language and cognitive skills, however, and gives an organized step-by-step approach based on developmental sequences.
|
|
|
|
Gluten Free Live has made arrangements for payment and shipping to be handled by our partner Amazon. It is possible to find food items that are not gluten free by using our search facility, always read food product labels if you have celiac disease.
|
| |
