An Interview with Bo Hejlskov Elvén: Making Behaving Positively Possible for People with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

“Most of the methods used in changing challenging behaviours contain a degree of force or lack of respect for the choices of the service-user. My main principle is that the service-user always has the right to say ‘no’. My job is to encourage her say ‘yes’. That means that if she says ‘no’, I need to figure out what I did wrong. In that way I actually can change her behaviour by focusing on my own behaviour, not on hers.”

September 8, 2010Adoption and Fostering

Help children set goals with this sample activity from Deborah M. Plummer’s latest workbook

School is back in full swing this week, and with it come new challenges for students – especially those who have difficulty coping with change, stress…

August 25, 2010Autism

Exploring Bullying with Adults with Autism and Asperger Syndrome: An Interview with authors Anna Tickle and Bettina Stott

Exploring Bullying with Adults with Autism and Asperger Syndrome is the new workbook by Anna Tickle, a clinical psychologist, and Bettina Stott, who after many…

August 19, 2010Autism

Video clips from Phoebe Caldwell’s DVD, Autism and Intensive Interaction

We’re very pleased to bring you these clips from Phoebe Caldwell’s latest JKP title! Autism and Intensive Interaction is a three part film following Phoebe…

August 12, 2010Autism

Video clips from the new Animated Introduction to Asperger Syndrome DVD!

**Winner – International Animation Award, Edinburgh Mental Health & Arts Festival 2008** Created by pioneering science and youth arts project Biomation, An Animated Introduction to…

June 1, 2010Autism

Inmate to Artist: Jeanette Purkis’ Misadventures with Asperger Syndrome

“When I was young, I had no self-esteem and figured the difficulties my Asperger’s caused made it impossible for me to achieve anything. I gave up on myself and the world. Now that I am older, I realise that Asperger’s is probably the main reason that I have been able to achieve so much…”

May 5, 2010Social work

Michael Mandelstam’s hopes and fears for the future of social care

“[My hope is] That the new policy of personalisation and self-directed support should not be not implemented crudely and with cost cutting in mind, and that it is not used as a cover for abandoning people, particularly older people, and leaving them to sink or swim…”

April 27, 2010Autism

Phoebe Caldwell on her new DVD, Autism and Intensive Interaction

“Although the approach know as Intensive Interaction has been available since the 1980’s, it has relied on direct person-to-person teaching and until recently there has been remarkably little training material generally available. It really is important to see it done.”

April 27, 2010Autism

Jude Welton on Asperger Syndrome, metaphors and literal thinking

“Since children with Asperger Syndrome are literal thinkers, some parents and professionals try to avoid metaphorical language, so as not to confuse or distress – but this can’t prepare the child for the real world. And non-literal language can be fun! If metaphors are explained and explored in a relaxed, playful way, they can enrich children’s understanding of language and the world, and help them to use language in a less formal and more ‘natural’ sounding way.”

February 26, 2010Counselling

Deborah Plummer on Imagework and Helping Children to Cope with Change, Stress and Anxiety

“When a child comes up with an image that represents how he feels about a situation, he is tapping into something that goes way beyond logical thought processes. And when he realises that he can ‘play’ with these images and be creative in forming new images, then he can begin to take more control. Imagework often triggers insights and shifts in perspective which may not come through logical thinking alone.”