Rising Above Bullying: Powerful new book from Red Balloon shines light on 15 years of success in recovering bullied children

“Rising Above Bullying is a book for all those who encounter bullying. For those who are being bullied and their families, for the perpetrators and their families and for teachers and other adults who are in a position of influence. And for the bystanders – those who ‘turn a blind eye’ thinking it is not their business. We all have a shared responsibility to ensure the safety of our children; adults must be proactive in putting a stop to bullying behaviour. This involves doing something if you believe a child is being subjected to unkind and unpleasant treatment.”

February 21, 2011May 8, 2017Arts therapies

An Interview with author Claire Golomb on Child Development and ‘The Creation of Imaginary Worlds’

Claire Golomb is a Professor Emerita of the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts. For over 40 years she taught courses on child…

February 18, 2011Adoption and Fostering

My Parent has an Autism Spectrum Disorder: Barbara Lester talks about her new book for children and teens

“I always knew that my father seemed different from other fathers, but back then I didn’t know there was a name that described this difference or that there might be other people who had similar issues in their families. Once I realized that my father had an ASD, it helped me better understand and get along with him. I have found that over the past ten years there has been an exponential increase in the amount of information available to parents to help them understand their ASD children, but almost no information for children or teens to help them understand their ASD parents. I wrote this book to begin to fill that gap.”

February 15, 2011Arts therapies

The Importance of Fostering the Creation of Imaginary Worlds

By Claire Golomb, Professor Emerita of the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, USA, and author of the new book The Creation of Imaginary…

February 2, 2011Adoption and Fostering

When a Parent is on the Autism Spectrum: Tips for their Kids

by Barbara R. Lester, LCSW – author of My Parent has an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has led to…

January 19, 2011Autism

How to Make School Inclusion a Success for Children with Autism – An Interview with Kay Al-Ghani and Lynda Kenward

“Children with ASD are not good at generalising. They cannot transfer knowledge from one situation to another. Something as simple as having a different symbol to show ‘choosing’ for example, may result in the child being unable to understand what is expected. Not all schools have access to symbol writing programmes or they may be different from those used by early years practitioners. Parents usually have no access at all and are not even aware of the visual symbols they could be using to aid their child’s understanding at home…The aim of the book is to promote and foster collaboration between the home and the school. This will result in improved generalisation of skills and opportunities to exchange ideas and to decide what methodology works best for the child.”

January 11, 2011Autism

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…

January 10, 2011Autism

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.”

December 13, 2010Autism

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.”

December 13, 2010Adoption and Fostering

Autism and Animals: Community Opportunities for your Child

“Whatever your child’s level of verbal ability or behavior, don’t pass by the possibilities provided by animals. Non-verbal children are as capable as anyone of establishing a positive relationship with an animal. Your child may well surprise you with her compassion, connection and willingness to build a relationship with a non-human friend.”