Learning About Friendship

Stories to Support Social Skills Training in Children with Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism

K.I. Al-Ghani
Illustrated by Haitham Al-Ghani

Paperback: £12.99 / $19.95

2010, 246mm x 173mm / 10in x 7in, 144pp
ISBN: 978-1-84905-145-3, BIC 2: YXL JNS

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Making friends can be a challenge for all children, but those with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) can struggle more than most. This collection of ten fully-illustrated stories explores friendship issues encountered by children with ASD aged four to eight and looks at how they can be overcome successfully.

Key problem areas are addressed, including sharing, taking turns, being a tattletale, obsessions, winning and losing, jealousy, personal space, tact and diplomacy, and defining friendship. The lively and entertaining stories depersonalize issues, allowing children to see situations from the perspective of others and enabling them to recognize themselves in the characters. This opens the door to discussion, which in turn leads to useful insight and strategies they can practise and implement in the future. Each story has a separate introduction for adults which explains the main strategies within it.

This book will be a valuable resource for all parents and teachers of children with ASD, along with their friends and families, and anybody else looking to help children on the spectrum to understand, make and maintain friendships.

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2 April 2012

Happy World Autism Awareness Month (WAAM) to all of our readers! In this special post, JKP authors share their personal plans for the month ahead, what they’ll be doing to raise awareness, and what their hopes are for the future. Susan Moreno Susan Moreno is the Founder and president of MAAP Services, Inc. and co-author of...

Kay and Haitham Al-Ghani on ‘Learning About Friendship’ – Stories to support social skills training for children with ASD in the classroom

8 November 2010

"One small boy in my class was having great trouble going on school outings because he would not wear a seat belt. The bus driver came to tell me that he would not be allowed to go on any more trips. I thought this was rather harsh and so the very next day I told my class a story about Tedrick the teddy who would not wear a seat belt...We role-played the parts of the driver, the teachers and the other children on the bus. I emphasised how happy the driver was when all the children wore their seat belts and I asked the boy in question if he would mind taking Tedrick on the next trip. Guess what, that boy was the first one on the bus doing up his own and Tedrick’s seat belt!"

By the same authors

Author information

• K.I. Al-Ghani
• Haitham Al-Ghani

Subject areas

• Education
• Asperger Syndrome, Autism and other Syndromes

Keywords

• anger management,
• anxiety,
• applied behaviour analysis,
• Asperger syndrome,
• autism,
• bullying,
• challenging behaviour,
• child development,
• child psychology,
• children,
• communication,
• education,
• educational psychology,
• emotions,
• families,
• high functioning autism,
• inclusive classroom,
• occupational therapy,
• parenting,
• personal hygiene,
• pervasive developmental disorder,
• play,
• relationships,
• resilience,
• self esteem,
• social skills,
• social stories,
• special education,
• speech and language pathology,
• speech and language therapy

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