An Interview with Josh Muggleton, author of ‘Raising Martians’

“There is lots of information in the book, and I really hope that people take that on board, but to me, what is more important is that they gain an understanding of, and an insight into life with Asperger Syndrome. If you understand someone with Asperger Syndrome, then knowing that it is named after Hans Asperger is redundant. While that sort of information might be interesting, it is far more useful to know how the person with Asperger Syndrome thinks: what he or she might find hard and why, what things might set them off, and what things will calm them down, what things they will be really good at, and what things they might struggle at.”

Using solution focused approaches to connect with young service users with behavioural difficulties

“When we begin our work with children, young people and their families we work towards establishing what their goals for the work would be by asking such a question as: ‘How will you know that the work of The Junction has been helpful?’ Inevitably there are times when a young person will make reference to no longer needing to come to the service. Whilst this could be construed as a negative comment it is clearly understandable. Furthermore, it enables us to ask questions that appropriately place responsibility on the young person: What needs to happen? What do you need to do differently? What do you need to demonstrate to others for them (professionals) to be confident that you no longer need to come?”

Using creative activities to help young people achieve their therapeutic goals and build a positive self-concept

“I think the most common problem I encounter with the students I work with is defiance – not doing what is asked of them in the classroom setting. However, after working with the student and finding out more about him, there are almost always other issues that are impacting the student and influencing his behavior. He may be behind his peers academically and feel embarrassed in the classroom… She may not have a consistent place to live or not know where her next meal is coming from each day. Arts-based activities provide students with a safe outlet to discuss these issues and allow the student and counselor to identify ways to handle them.”

Equipping Young People to Choose Non-Violence

“The continued need for comprehensive and co-ordinated policies to address the disadvantaged and troubled familial, social and cultural experiences of many young people will always be critical in dealing with many aspects of societal violence. To expect individual young people to be able to always choose ‘non-violent’ approaches just through individual work without cognisance being given to the bigger picture of their lives is unrealistic.”

Bullyproofing – Four Steps to Build Your Daughter’s Personal Power

“Bully behavior occurs in overt forms, such as hitting, name calling, and teasing as well as through relational aggression – a virulent style of bullying most prevalent among girls, in which relationships are manipulated to settle grudges. This more covert style of rumor spreading and social exclusion is bred by the round-the-clock availability of popular social networking sites… Even when the final school bells rings, many young girls deal with relational aggression 24/7.”

Incorporating Music into Speech and Language Therapy for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders – An Interview with Dr. Hayoung Lim

“Children with ASD appear to have intact pattern perception and production ability. They also tend to follow the Gestalt style of language acquisition which is based on the pattern perception. In parallel, all of the musical behaviors require pattern perception and production; and these abilities are commonly found in children with ASD. It follows that patterns in music can facilitate the Gestalt style of language acquisition and the consequent speech- language development in children with ASD.”