How Social Enjoyment Groups Work: An Interview with John Merges
In December, JKP author John Merges shared some thoughts about his passion: helping young people on the autism spectrum enjoy social interactions – an important skill…
Tag: counselling
Something Different: John Swogger on his innovative new graphic novel that helps children understand their Asperger’s parent
“Finding out about something as important and life-changing as your parent’s AS has the potential to overwhelm…I think using comics and graphic formats when talking about things to do with behaviour, health or illness can help integrate the very dense, sometimes technical and “clinical” information into the practical, emotional and deeply personal side of the issues.”
Video: JKP author Tony White on Working with Suicidal Individuals
In this video, JKP author and psychologist Tony White talks about some key features of his new book, Working with Suicidal Individuals, including subjects rarely covered…
Tips and Ideas for Grandparenting During the Holidays
by Charlotte E. Thompson, M.D., author of Grandparenting a Child with Special Needs With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, parents often turn to…
Mary Mountstephen on her new book ‘How to Detect Developmental Delay and What to Do Next’
“The important thing for me is that every child is valued and that we look at the causes of their difficulties rather than just the presenting symptoms: Why are they struggling in school and what can we do about it that is simple and easily implemented as the first stage in supporting them?”
Working with Suicidal Individuals – An Interview with JKP author Tony White
“There is a group of people who have made what is known as the suicide decision in childhood. From a psychological point of view this person could be considered the ‘truly’ suicidal person. Their psychological make up is structured such that suicide is a viable option for them to solve difficult problems at some point in their life. These people can be treated such that they can make a change to that early suicide decision and thus the likelihood of suicide being used as a problem solving technique in the future is greatly reduced.”
JKP attends the 2010 American Music Therapy Association Conference (AMTA)
The 2010 American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) Conference took place at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, this year and JKP was, once…
John Merges on Social Enjoyment Groups for young people with Autism Spectrum Disorders
“Social enjoyment, as both an important life and employment skill, needs to be taught and practiced as early as possible. We need to provide our young people with safe, predictable situations to practice enjoying a social interaction. The successes I’ve seen in my own work demonstrate that social enjoyment is indeed a skill – and thus, can be learned.”
Pioneering Play and Dramatherapist Dr Sue Jennings on Healthy Attachments and her theory of Neuro-Dramatic-Play (NDP)
“True empathy is part of a very genuine understanding of the other person. And we learn this through dramatic playing which we can observe in the first few hours after a baby is born: they will try to imitate the expression on the mothers face…the baby is responding as if they are the mother; this ‘dramatic response’ continues to develop in those early weeks and months, like a life rehearsal for the development of empathy.”
How Teachers and TAs can help Students with Asperger Syndrome access the curriculum in inclusive classrooms
By Gill D. Ansell, author of Working with Asperger Syndrome in the Classroom: An Insider’s Guide Being a Teaching Assistant is not what it once…