Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Professional Book Review: Programming for Children and Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Klipper, Barbara. 2014. Programming for Children and Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Chicago: ALA Editions. p. 168. ISBN 9780838912065. $45. softcover.


        

Barbara Kippler’s book, Programming for Children and Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder, is a comprehensive guide for library professionals who are interested in developing programs for children and teens. This book includes a general overview of autism and details unique challenges librarians face when developing programs for children and teens that are on the autism spectrum. It is a wonderful resource for library professional looking to serve this special need population in their library.


Kippler is a veteran special needs educator. Within the ALA, she has chaired the Library Services for Special Population Children and Their Caregivers committee. She has been working on the front lines with children who have autism since 1986. Her journey started with founding a school for autistic children after her two sons were diagnosed with the disorder. Since founding the school, Kippler has developed grant funded sensory story-times, special need library collections, trained librarians in working with autism, and presented at national conferences.


This well organized book has story-time and program ideas broken down by age’s ranging from preschool to teen. Excellent well-developed sample programs for preschool children through teens are scattered through the book. These programs outline shopping/equipment lists, recommended books, room set-up, adaptations, and extension activities. These pre-made program ideas are a valuable resource for busy children librarians who need ready-to-go activities.


The first few chapters give readers a general overview of the autism disorder. Kippler includes both a layman’s explanation and briefly describes the diagnostic criteria for autism before delving into how this affects libraries in chapter two. The second chapter is a well thought out guide to the pre-planning process for librarians interested in starting programs for autistic children. Preparation, training, outreach, funding, and planning are all discussed. Lists of question are provided to guide library professional in developing the goals and logistics of their programs.


This book discuss developing or adapting story-times for children with sensory disorders. There are many well-built story-time example programs in these chapters. Kippler briefly talks about inclusion programs that combine special needs and autistic children on page eight. However, she verbalizes a preference for separate special needs story-times and does not offer many tools for librarians wishing to make their current story-time more inclusive for these children.


Programming for Children and Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder also outlines special autism specific programs for school age children and teens. These chapters included many great suggestions about integrating autistic children into regular programming Moreover, Kippler includes some very good separate program plans for children in this age group. These plans are littered with tips and tricks to make them run more smoothly and to be more all-embracing.

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