Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn & Why They Need to Play More & Memorize Less by Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Kathey Hirsch-Pasek, & Diane Eyer

When a book includes a quote that states "Put away your credit card and get out your library card" you know that you are in for an excellent review of play and development that focuses on the importance of social interactions with other people. Children of all ages really do learn the most through interacting with people in the world around them and the authors of this book explore how to make learning time fun time. Many "store bought" toys encourage children to play with them in certain ways. Those can be fun play options, but it's always nice to know that children can branch out and play with toys (and other items) in creative and engaging ways that the manufacturer of a toy may have never thought of. This is a practical and easy to read book for parents, teachers, and anyone else interested in promoting development through fun and socially reinforcing interactions!

The Baby Human: Geniuses in Diapers & The Human Baby 2

, Babies are pretty amazing little beings to say the least. In a few short months of life they learn to walk, talk, relate to the world around them, solve problems, and to think. It is astounding to realize that in just a few short months babies are able to accomplish so much! Both DVDs in their series (The Baby Human and the Baby Human 2) both focus development during the first 24 months of life. From the first moments of life through the becoming a vocal and independent toddler, these DVDs allow viewers to see the world from the point of view of the child. Illustrated through a series of different learning tasks presented in a research setting, the viewer is able to see how babies learn about language, problem solving, physical development, and social interactions. For example, it is fascinating to see how babies progress from being universal language learners to being able to identify the sounds of their primary language in just a few short months of age. This is a marvelous resource for parents (and educators or clinical practitioners) to watch if they want to see how their baby learns. It's not a "how to" activity guide, but there are great vignettes about how babies master new skills.

Beyond Baby Talk: From Sounds to Sentences - A Parent's Guide to Language Development by Ken Apel & Julie Masterson

On the back cover it states that the book goes "From 'Goo' to Gab - Guiding Your Child to Effective Communication" and I actually think that that's a pretty accurate description of the contents! The book thoroughly covers language development between the ages birth to five years. Naturally I was most attracted to the chapters that focused on social communicative development in infancy, but each of the nine chapters provides great information for parents about what to expect and how to promote those emerging skills. There's also a great chapter on how to support language development in a childcare setting. One aspect that I especially liked about the book was a chart published by the American Speech and Hearing Association (www.asha.org) called "How Does Your Child Hear and Talk?" It's a brief but helpful list of important developmental milestones related to speech, language, and hearing skills.

Look Who's Talking: How to Enhance Your Child's Language Development, Starting at Birth by Laura Dyer

This is a great book for parents and teachers that focuses on how children master the complex process of language learning. With chapters on red flags that could indicate a child has a language delay or disorder to a comprehensive overview of different developmental milestones important to the language acquisition process, Dyer covers an impressive range of topics about language development in children between the ages of birth to seven years. Although there is interesting information throughout the book, like using music to support language development and how to help children master pre-literacy skills, the information I enjoyed the most was related to preverbal and gestural communication. So often people focus on the acquisition of words in language development and don't appreciate the behaviours that must be developed in order for words to eventually emerge. Simple gestures like waving and pointing, eye contact, being able to shift gaze between a person and an object, and even learning that people respond to the cry of an infant are all necessary precursors to more formal language acquisition.

Talk to Me Baby: How You Can Support Young Children's Language Development by Betty S. Bardige

Many people don't know this but May is Better Hearing and Speech Month! So I thought that this would be the perfect time to talk about a resource that offers some outstanding ideas on how to best promote language development in young children. Playful and socially engaging interactions with infants, toddlers, and young children are much more than play activities. They are actually the basis for language, social-emotional development, and cognitive development. In Talk to Me Baby, Dr. Bardige explores six stages of language development starting with the "baby babbles" during infancy and ending with early literacy skills of preschool and kindergarten aged children. The book is a combination of research information and hands on activities that teachers and parents can use to promote social communicative skills in young children. Activities such as social games, songs, and sharing books are presented through actual vignettes of parent-child and teacher-child interactions. Each chapter also includes a list titled "20 Fun Things to Do With......" which I have found especially useful for sharing with parents and other caregivers.

Growing and In-Sync Child: Simple, Fun Activities to Help Every Child Develop, Learn, and Grow by Carol Stock Kranowitz and Joyce Newman

Just like the other two books in this series, Growing and In-Sync-Child focuses on the importance of incorporating motor and sensory activities into the routines of children on a daily basis. Although this volume doesn't specifically focus on children with Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) it provides an outstanding range of ideas for helping all children become more sensory aware and physically active. It provides valuable information about typical developmental patterns as well as guidelines for helping parents and other adult caregivers choose activities that will be most beneficial to their children in specific situations (for example, using an activity called Angel Wings to help a child calm down when he/she is a little bit out of sorts. These activities can be used successfully with children who demonstrate more overt characteristics of SID, but are really great for those kids who are considered to be typically developing. I use it a lot to help with ideas in the therapy room to help my clients get and stay organized during a session.

The Out-of Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder (Revised Edition) by Carol Stock Kranowitz

This is a companion volume for the book The Out-of-Sync Child. For children who have been given a diagnosis of Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) this is a wonderful resource filled with play activities that are designed to promote sensory awareness as well as help children learn how to meet their own need for sensory input. Along with general information about SID, the book has seven specific chapters that are dedicated to each sense: Touch (tactile), Balance and Movement (vestibular), Body Position (proprioceptive), Seeing (vision), Hearing (auditory), Smelling (olfactory) and Tasting (gustatory). Each chapter offers a wide range of play ideas for children of different ages and developmental abilities. The book also provides information related to the best activities appropriate for children with coexisting conditions such as Asperger's, Autism. I have found this book to be an invaluable resource for me in therapy and have encouraged many of the families I work with whose children have ASD to check it out. 

The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Integration Dysfunction (Revised Edition) by Carol Stock Kranowitz

Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) is a challenged faced by many children. Although the diagnosis is common for children with ASDs, SID can affect children who may be described as difficult, picky, oversensitive, or clumsy. Simply put, SID is considered to be a condition in which the nervous system misinterprets information from the senses, making it difficult for individuals with SID to organize and process the sensory information they encounter in their everyday lives.  From being overly sensitive to the tag in a shirt to wanting to sit in small or cramped spaces, SID can have a profound impact upon being able to successfully engage with other people in meaningful social relationships. This book provides guidance for parents who may be concerned that their child is experiencing some type of SID. This book is an excellent overview of all of the sensory systems, including vision, touch, balance, proprioception, hearing, taste, and smell. It also discusses the typical pattern of sensory development and provides checklists for parents (and professionals) related to possible areas of sensory dysfunction. If you're interested in the basic of SID this is a wonderful resource to have.

TalkAbility: People Skills for Verbal Children on the Autism Spectrum - A Guide for Parents by Fern Sussman

This is another tremendous resource from the Hanen Centre (http://www.hanen.org/) that focuses on helping verbal children affected by Autism, Asperger's, or other socially based communicative impairments to build more positive social relationships with people in their immediate environments. Like all of the Hanen publications, TalkAbility is filled with practical information and tips for parents and other adult caregivers, teachers, or therapists that can be used to support the development of more advanced language skills. This is a great upper extension program for children who have outgrown More Than Words but still need some support when it comes to accessing social and peer relationships. The TalkAbility guidebook is very user friendly and offers suggestions on how to help children develop better conversational skills, learn to be better story-tellers, become more adept at pretend play, and most importantly, learn how to make friends. There's also an excellent chapter that discusses how adults can become their child's "play coach" in order to help facilitate peer interactions.

More Than Words: Promoting the Communication Development of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Social Communication Challenges DVD by the Hanen Centre

This is the companion DVD for the guidebook discussed in the previous post. It's a wonderful supplementary piece to the book and provides terrific video illustrations of how to apply the concepts presented in the More Than Words guidebook. What I like about this DVD is that it is a collection of taped segments of parents interacting with their children that clearly show how the More Than Words strategies can be used with children at a wide range of developmental levels. Often I hear parents say things like "Well my son does these things for the therapist but he won't do them with me" and this DVD is a great way to show families that they can be successful social and communication partners for their children. There is narration that accompanies the taped segments and each section corresponds to a specific chapter in the More Than Words guidebook.  As good as this DVD is, it certainly can't replace actually participating in a More Than Words training program with a Hanen certified Speech-Language Pathologist. However, if a program isn't available, the DVD and guidebook can go a long way in helping adults best prepare themselves for working with children from this population.

More Than Words: Helping Parents Promote Communication Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder by Fern Sussman

As a professional who works with children with ASD and their families there are just some resources that are an absolute must have and for me More Than Words is definitely one of those resources! The guidebook, which is typically used by parents when participating in a More Than Words Training group facilitated by a Hanen Certified Speech-Language Pathologist, is filled with outstanding information about how to effectively promote social communicative development in children  with ASD. What is so wonderful about this book is that it shows parents (teachers, other caregivers, and therapists) how to apply a core group of language support strategies to children at four different levels of developmental functioning. Beginning with children at the "Own Agenda" stage (children who prefer are not yet intentionally communicating with other people) and continuing until children reach the "Partner" stage (children who stay longer in interactions with other people and who are beginning to use words, gestures, or picture exchanges for a wider range of reasons), this guide provides practical suggestions on how adults involved in the lives of children with ASD can encourage these children to participate in more socially directed exchanges, which is the best place for meaningful language to develop. The book also helps parents identify and manage other factors, such as sensory issues, that may be contributing to their child's inability to engage in social exchanges. The guide helps parents (and professionals) to identify developmentally appropriate communication goals for young children based on current levels of social communicative development. It is an outstanding resource that is a perfect hands-on guide for helping adults tackle the challenge of engaging a child with ASD. The guide is published by the Hanen Centre located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Hanen Centre has a world-wide reputation for creating educational programs and materials that are designed to help parents, caregivers, teachers, and therapists promote language development in young children within the context of meaningful social relationships. If you're looking for more information about the Hanen Centre, check it out at www.hanen.org.

Playing, Laughing, and Learning with Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Practical Resource of Play Ideas for Parents and Carers, 2nd edition by Julia Moor

As any parent of a child with Autism knows it is very difficult to find activities that encourage their child to socially engage in activities with other people. This book is a great great resource for parents of children with ASD who are about 2-years-old or older. The book starts out talking about why social play is so difficult for children with ASD and why it is so important for parents and other who care for children with ASD to promote play skills that require these children to engage and interact with us. Moor discusses structured play activities where principles of ABA can be applied to help the child become more successful in play based exchanges. She provides suggestions for table-top games and activities, music, physical games, water play, and outdoor play activities that are appealing to children of many different ages at various levels of functioning. There is also a very interesting chapter on how to find websites that present interactive games appropriate for a child with ASD. Personally, I have found some great activities in the book that have worked well in therapeutic settings. Perhaps the greatest strength of the book is that the activities are written in very family friendly language that would be easy for someone who didn't know a great deal about how to play with a child with ASD to understand and implement.

Communication Temptations - Part 2

As I mentioned in the post about wind up toys, communication temptations are activities that are designed to encourage the child to interact with other people. Wind up toys are a great temptation device, but other activities can be equally successful. Here are others that I have used over the years.

Bubbles: Open a container of bubbles, blow some bubbles, put the wand back in the jar, and close the lid tightly. Hand the bubble container to the child and wait to see what happens. When the child hands the bubbles back to you, open the jar again, and repeat the sequence. Every time you close the bubble container you're giving the child another opportunity to practice communication skills.

Balloons: For older children balloons can be a safe option for play. Blow up a balloon, let it deflate, and then hand an identical balloon to the child. Wait for the child to hold the balloon out to you as a request for you to blow more. You can do this task with just one balloon, but I prefer to use two for sanitary purposes. If the child hands me his/her balloon I quickly switch it for my own balloon.

Treasure Box: Find a toy or other object that the child really enjoys using. Put it in a clear plastic container that the child is unable to remove the lid from ( large, clean plastic peanut butter jar with a screw on lid works well). Show the child you can open the lid, but close it again before he or she takes the toy. Hand the container (with the lid screwed on tightly) to the child and wait to see what happens! Initially the child my become frustrated, but that's okay. If you are patient and stick to your plan, eventually the child will realize that in order to obtain the desired object you have to be involved in the process.

Snack: This is a lot like the treasure box but it involves an activity that many children love - Eating! Sit down for snack with the child and get some juice or crackers for yourself, but don't offer any to the child. Quickly the child will let you know that he or she wants something (maybe by screaming) and then you say something like "Oh, you want juice too?" and pour a tiny bit of juice into a cup (also give cookies in small pieces). By only giving the child a little bit a time, he or she will have to keep coming back to you to get more. The more children interact with us for specific purposes the greater their chances are for using language (verbal, signs, or pictures) more spontaneously.

These techniques work for most young children learning language but are especially useful when used with children with Autism.

Communication Temptations Using Wind Up Toys

When speech therapists work with children who have social communicative disorders or children with Autism, one of the most effective techniques for promoting interactions is through the use of something called communication temptations. These are activities that are designed to increase the child's interest in communicating by making communication a meaningful and fun activity. There are many different forms of communication temptation that can be used, but the basic premise is that an adult is able to use, obtain, or manipulate an object that a child is interested in but that the child cannot operate independently. I like to use simple wind up toys as communication temptations (especially with young children with Autism). I wind up the crab or alligator just enough to make it briefly move so the child is attracted to the toy. When it stops I wait to see what the child doesn't. Typically a child will reach for the toy and try to activate it without any help from an adult. When the child is unsuccessful often they will go to an adult for help and a communicative exchange has been established. It might not be truly social initially, but as the child learns that another person can actually help make toys fun it's a great hook for building more complex communicative turns. The most important thing when choosing a wind up toy (or any object) to use as a communication temptation there are two things you must consider. First, the object must be something that the child is interested in. Toys that have lights, makes sounds, or move are good first choices to try. Second, the object must be something that the child cannot operate, open, or obtain independently. In order for a communication temptation to work the child must need to involve another person in the activity. Finally, when choosing a wind up toy (or any cause-effect toy for that matter) make sure that it is something that poses some challenge for the child to operate. The purpose of playing with these toys is not for the child to immediately be able to operate the toys independently, but rather to learn how to use them with the help of another person.

Early Intervention Games: Fun, Joyful Ways to Develop Social and Motor Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum or Sensory Processing Disorders by Barbara Sher

Children who has been identified as having Autism or a Sensory Processing Disorder typically have difficulty actively engaging in fun social play activities with the people in the world around them. Sher, who is a teacher and occupational therapist, provides a wonderful range of different activities that can be used to help support these children develop meaningful social relationships with their primary caregivers and peer groups members as well. I was impressed with a variety of activities suggested and how easy the majority of them are to implement in a therapy setting. She uses simple materials that could be found in most homes and turns everyday items into creative toys. With games titles like "Pudding Party", "I'm Here!", and "What's in the Sock?", it's impossible to not want to read further in this wonderfully written and straightforward book. Sher also provides an excellent overview of what sensory processing issues actually are and an excellent chapter on why certain types of games can help children with sensory processing challenges. Personally, I have found this book to be invaluable in my own clinical practice and am thrilled that I have a great resource to go when when I'm feeling "Stuck" in terms of coming up with a new activity a child might enjoy. This book is never far from my fingertips! It's also available for Kindle, so on-the-go reading is a breeze as well! It's an excellent resource for parents, teachers, and clinicians alike and has enough diversity of activities that you're bound to find one that works for that especially challenging child.

Talking on the Go: Everyday Activities to Enhance Speech and Language Development by Dorothy P. Dougherty & Diane R. Paul

This little activity book, written by two Speech-Language Pathologists, is published by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. It's an intuitive book that offers practical suggestions on how to engage young children (birth - 5 years) in activities that are designed to enhance speech and language development. The book which is divided into age levels (birth-6 months; 6 months-1 year; 1-2 years; 2-3 years; 3-4 years; and 4-5 years) offers about 16 different activities at each age that can be used with children who are in the process of learning to talk. If you're looking for a book that provides ideas for therapy activities at home for children with specific speech and language disorders, this isn't the book you should look for. But if you want some fun ideas that will help to turn daily activities into opportunities for conversation this book offers fun and simple suggestions.

The Sensory Processing Disorder Answer Book by Tara Delaney

For every parent who has ever wondered "Why does my child like to (1)hide in tight spaces, (2) pile all of his toys and blankets of top of himself, or (3) only wear one shirt day after day?" or any other behavior that seems to be related to processing information in the world around them, would find this book to contain a wealth of information about Sensory Processing Disorder (SPA). The Occupational Therapist who wrote the book takes families through understanding what a SPD, recognizing the disorder, getting a diagnosis, finding viable treatment options, and other important aspects of seeing how your child's behavior may meet the criteria for a SPD. A mother of a child I work with actually recommended the book to me and since that time I have shared it with a number of my other families. It's written in family friendly language and offers some very practical suggestions on how to manage a child with SPD and other related disorders.

The Late Talker: What to Do If Your Child Isn't Talking Yet by Marilyn Agin, Lisa Geng, and Malcolm Nicholl

As a speech-language pathologist, I'm not really a big fan
of lots of books that tell you "why" your child might not
be talking. But this book not only addresses why some children can really be identified as late talkers, it tackles the issue of apraxia of speech in a way that makes sense to families. This is not a "How to Book" or something that will give you great hands-on activities to do with a child who is not yet talking, but it does offer some great insights to parents, teachers, and therapists about what could potentially be the cause behind this developmental difference. The book isn't for everyone, and if you're looking for a "This is how I teach my child to talk" book - this one is definitely not the one for you. I found it to be very interesting and shared some of the chapters with families I work with and have received very positive feedback from them.

Dr. Toy's Smart Play, Smart Toys: How to Raise a Child with a High PQ (Play Quotient) by Stevanne Auerbach

It has been said that play is the work of the child! Therefore being able to build strong play skills early in life is a wonderful foundation on which to build all kinds of developmental, communicative, and social skills. Dr. Toy (aka Stevanne Auerbach) provides an excellent advice on ho to choose and use toys with young children.Often actors such as safety, durability, flexibility, and age appropriateness complicate the challenge parents face in choosing the right toys for their children at the right time, but don't worry Dr. Toy is here to help. There are excellent tips on how to choose toys for children at different developmental stages, how to present toys to children, and how to use these toys to build exciting social relationships between parents and their children. This is an outstanding resource that should be on the shelf of every parent, teacher, therapist, and any other person who has important children in their lives. Where to Buy: Most major bookstores would carry this title.

Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox

Mem For is not just a prolific writer of best selling children's picture books, she also talks to parents about the importance of reading aloud with their children from a very young age. Because babies are born learners, Fox discusses the importance of books from a very early age. She also provides suggestions for parents about How to read to their children so they will develop a life long love affair with books and the printed word. Additionally she provides ideas about things parents can do to help their children become more independent readers. Sadly she doesn't provide examples of age appropriate books for children, but there are so many other wonderful aspects to this book that it actually seems like just a minor flaw. Where to Buy: Large bookstores with a children's book section should carry it. It can also be found through many on line retailers.