Book Review: Asperger Syndrome and the Elementary School Experience by S.T. Moore

Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger Publishing Company.

The book Asperger Syndrome and the Elementary School Experience gives an overview of Asperger Syndrome, as well as strategies for the teacher to use in the classroom to help teach these exceptional students. The book was written by a woman that is the mother of child with Asperger Syndrome. She is also a teacher. She uses her insight from being both a mother and a teacher to give valuable information about this disorder.

The book begins with a brief explanation and history of Asperger Syndrome. The book then moves on to discuss the five areas of impairment. Asperger Syndrome effects language development, social interaction, sensory integration, motor functioning, and cognitive processes. There is a detailed description of each of these areas. The book gives great insight into how a child with Asperger Syndrome must feel when faced with everyday tasks. The syndrome has great effect on how a student is able to communicate and relate to the people around him. This can make living with Asperger Syndrome very difficult. It can also make teaching a child with Asperger Syndrome a trying task.

One particular difficulty many of these students may have is handwriting. While a child may have brilliant ideas, they can be locked away inside the mind because they child may not be capable of writing them down. Moore suggests several programs that are available to address this problem. She recommends AlphaSmart, Co:Writer, Co:Writer SmartApplet, or Write: OutLoud to be used when a child has the ideas but can not effectively communicate those ideas. All of these are software programs that give various levels of support for writing. Many students that have used these programs have found great success in writing and will write much more than if they were forced to simply write by hand.

A common problem with students that have Asperger Syndrome is that they are not able to organize themselves. Many students are unable to organize their work and work areas and find it very difficult to function in an unorganized environment. Moore offers a lot of information on helping a student become organized in the classroom as well as ideas to help make the transition to becoming organized at home. These are important skills for children with Asperger Syndrome to learn. Some ideas were to use planners, schedules, option cards, and checklists. If the teacher and the parent work together on these strategies they will find great success.

Next, the book discusses accommodations in the curriculum. This section is broken into different subjects, and it offers strategies for each one. The book even includes suggestion for specialists to use in art, music, and gym classes.

The final section of the book deals with the social skills of a child with Asperger Syndrome. This is an area that is extremely difficult for these students. Most of these children suffer from low self-esteem and feelings of lonliness. They long to communicate with their peers but lack the social skills to do so. It is very important to teach these children how to communicate. Moore discusses the anxiety these children feel and suggests way the classroom teacher can help to calm some of the anxiety that occurs throughout the school day. Many of the difficult moments in the classroom can be dealt with by using the advice found in this book.

Children with AS need direct social skills instruction to learn the skills that most children instinctively know or are able to pick up on their own. Social Stories, Social Language, and Friends For Me are all programs to help teach students these skills. These require the teacher to work with modeling, scripting and guided practice for the child to learn how to act appropriately in social interaction.

This book is an excellent resource for the parent or a teacher that is trying to find the best ways to teach a child with AS. Since the author is a teacher and a mother of a child with Asperger Syndrome, she has a unique view of what it is like to deal with these children. The book is full of useful strategies to use in the classroom and should be in the library of every teacher.