Resource of the Month
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2016 Resources of the Month
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December 2016: "The Book with No Pictures"
December 2016
Something fun just in time for the holidays!The Book with No PicturesBy BJ NovakRecommended by CD, Spring ISD(A silly book for adults to read to children) -- A #1 New York Times bestseller, this innovative and wildly funny read-aloud by award-winning humorist/actor B.J. Novak will turn any reader into a comedian. You might think a book with no pictures seems boring and serious. Except . . . here’s how this book works. Everything written on the page has to be said by the person reading it aloud. Even if the words say . . . BLORK. Or BLUURF. Even if the words are a preposterous song about eating ants for breakfast, or just a list of astonishingly goofy sounds like BLAGGITY BLAGGITY and GLIBBITY GLOBBITY. Cleverly irreverent and irresistibly silly, The Book with No Pictures is one that kids will beg to hear again and again. (And parents will be happy to oblige.) -
October 2016: "Out of My Mind"
October 2016
Out of My MindBy Sharon M. DraperRecommended by LH, Katy ISDSynopsis:From award-winning author Sharon Draper comes Out of My Mind, the story of a brilliant girl who cannot speak or write. “If there is one book teens and parents (and everyone else) should read this year, Out of My Mind should be it” (Denver Post).Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom—the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged, because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she’s determined to let everyone know it…somehow.In this breakthrough story—reminiscent of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly—from multiple Coretta Scott King Award-winner Sharon Draper, readers will come to know a brilliant mind and a brave spirit who will change forever how they look at anyone with a disability. -
September 2016: "Building Sensory Friendly Classrooms: Implementing Data-Driven Strategies
September 2016
Building Sensory Friendly Classrooms: Implementing Data-Driven Strategiesby Rebecca A Moyes
Recommended by CB, Katy ISDSynopsis:Rebecca Moyes, a teacher, author, renowned lecturer, and mother of a child with Asperger's Syndrome, helps walk any regular education or special education teacher through the process of setting up a sensory-friendly classroom in this easy-to-use book.This is currently the only book that discusses the importance of data-driven strategies, and then helps teachers implement them! Sensory integration disorder often presents as a behavioral problem; thus, although it’s an internal state, it has to be addressed based on what observable behaviors are seen in the child. Rebecca is able to take the data and work out how to make any student's, (and teacher's!), life easier. -
July 2016: "Just Take a Bite"
July 2016
Just Take a Biteby Lori Ernsperger and Tania Stegen-Hanson
Recommended by WL, OTR, Katy Independent School District
Synopsis:
"Just Take a Bite" takes parents and professionals step by step through the myths about eating to the complexity of eating itself, which leads to an understanding of physical, neurological and/or psychological reason why children may not be eating as they should.
Helpful chapters include:
· Who Are Resistant Eaters?
· Oral-Motor Development
· Environmental and Behavioral Factors Contributing to Problems with Eating
· Sensory-Based and Motor-Based Problems Affecting the Resistant Eater
· Motor-Based Eating Problems vs. Sensory-Based Eating Problems
· Designing and Implementing a Comprehensive Treatment Plan
· Environmental Controls
· Gastrointestinal, Physical and Oral-Motor Development
· Stages of Sensory Development for Eating
· A Recipe for Success
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June 2016: "Best Practices for Occupational Therapy in Schools"
June 2016
Best Practices for Occupational Therapy in Schools
by Gloria Frolek Clark
Recommended by TF, OTR, Spring Independent School District
Synopsis:Nearly 22% of school occupational therapy practitioners work in school settings, creating demand for current, effective, and evidence-based best practices for students. Reflecting the extensiveness of occupational therapy practice in schools, this exciting publication contains best practices from preschool to postsecondary transitions, from ADLs to driving.
Highlights include
· Section I. Foundations of School Practice
· Section II. Evidence-Guided Practices: Systems-Level Considerations to Support Participation
· Section III. Evidence-Guided Practices: Population-Based Planning to Support Participation
· Section IV. Evidence-Guided Practices: Performance-Based Considerations to Enhance StudentParticipation
· Section V. Evidence-Guided Practices: Activity-Based Considerations to Enhance Student Participation
With a deliberate focus on student participation, Best Practices for Occupational Therapy in Schools provides practical applications of evidence-based research to daily practice. This comprehensive text guides readers through issues particularly relevant to occupational therapy in schools, such as RtI and positive behavioral supports, 504 plans, IEPs, and students’ rights and eligibility for occupational therapy services under relevant laws such as IDEA.
Destined to become an occupational therapy classic, Best Practices for Occupational Therapy in Schools is the most comprehensive publication available for practice in schools. -
May 2016: "Behavior Solutions for the Inclusive Classroom: A Handy Reference Guide that Explains Behaviors Associated with Autism, Asperger's, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, and other Special Needs"
May 2016
Behavior Solutions for the Inclusive Classroom: A Handy Reference Guide that Explains Behaviors Associated with Autism, Asperger's, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, and other Special NeedsBy Beth Aune, Beth Burt, Peter GennaroRecommended by CB, OTR, Katy Independent School DistrictSynopsis:As inclusion becomes the norm in general education, teachers are faced with behaviors they have never seen before. Special needs educators may recognize the telltale symptom of a sensory need or a textbook-case of an avoidance behavior, but this is all new territory for the general-ed crowd!Written by Director of Special Education Peter Gennaro, occupational therapist Beth Aune, and special needs mom and advocate Beth Burt, this book illuminates possible causes of those mysterious behaviors, and more importantly, provides solutions! Teachers can quickly look up an in-the-moment solution and learn about what the child is communicating, and why. -
April 2016: "The Special Needs School Survival Guide"
April 2016
The Special Needs School Survival Guide
by Cara Koscinski
Recommended by MW, OTR, Houston Independent School DistrictSynopsis:A Family Choice Award Winner for 2015, The Special Needs School Survival Guide is a handbook for anyone teaching, living with, homeschooling, or working with students who have: autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, ADHD, learning disabilities, behavioral concerns, handwriting difficulty, fine motor delays, trouble with transitions, homework concerns, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and more! It contains an easy to read Q&A format. Every section answers common questions teachers, parents, and homeschoolers ask about teaching a student who has special needs. The "Out of the POCKET" activities are specially designed to be carried out easily in either a group setting or individually. Included are facts on Individual Education Plans; 504 plans; classroom modifications; accommodations for all types of students and disabilities; behavior issues; transitions; ADLs; handwriting; cutting; gym class; sensory rooms and sensory accommodations galore; ADHD and attention; dysgraphia; dyscalculia; dyslexia; warm-up and cool-down activities for classroom use and so much more! This book is written by a pediatric occupational therapist who is also the homeschooling mother to two children with autism and Sensory Processing Disorder. It will be an invaluable reference for parents, caregivers, teachers, students, classroom aides, school districts, therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, special needs teachers, psychologists, physicians, principals, and teaching assistants. The Special Needs SCHOOL Survival Guide will be a "go-to" resource that you'll refer to time and time again!
