The Ziggurat Model


Book Description

This book presents a process and framework for designing interventions for individuals of all ages with ASD, while staying consistent with current trends in education, including response to intervention (RTI), evidence-based practices, and positive behavioral supports.




Designing Comprehensive Interventions for High-functioning Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders


Book Description

This textbook presents a process and framework for designing interventions for individuals of all ages with ASD while staying consistent with recent special education trends, including response to intervention (RTI), evidence-based practices, and positive behavioral supports. The Ziggurat Model 2.0 is updated and expanded with the latest research and a new version of the Underlying Characteristics Checklist for Early Intervention (UCC-EI).







The Comprehensive Autism Planning System (CAPS) for Individuals with Asperger Syndrome, Autism, and Related Disabilities


Book Description

The CAPS, which originated and was published by Shawn Henry and Brenda Smith Myles, is a tool to help teachers and educational teams to plan and implement a student's program across the school. This includes planning for the implementation of the IEP and the curriculum relevant to the student. It takes the team through the process of planning out the goals/objectives to be targeted in each activity of the day, the modifications and accommodations that should be provided to support the student in each activity, the sensory supports to help the student stay engaged, and the communication and social supports that the student needs to be successful. In addition, it identifies the type of data that should be collected for each area and the reinforcers that have been chosen for use for success. As with many tools, while this system was developed for use with individuals on the autism spectrum, it can be an essential tool for any student regardless of the types of supports and needs they have. There are various forms of this system that focus on targeting specific skills for each activity and identifying the communication, sensory, and reinforcement supports that will be needed for each situation.




The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind


Book Description

National Book Award Finalist: “This man’s ideas may be the most influential, not to say controversial, of the second half of the twentieth century.”—Columbus Dispatch At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes's still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only three thousand years ago and is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion—and indeed our future. “Don’t be put off by the academic title of Julian Jaynes’s The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Its prose is always lucid and often lyrical…he unfolds his case with the utmost intellectual rigor.”—The New York Times “When Julian Jaynes . . . speculates that until late in the twentieth millennium BC men had no consciousness but were automatically obeying the voices of the gods, we are astounded but compelled to follow this remarkable thesis.”—John Updike, The New Yorker “He is as startling as Freud was in The Interpretation of Dreams, and Jaynes is equally as adept at forcing a new view of known human behavior.”—American Journal of Psychiatry




Autism Spectrum Disorders and Visual Impairment


Book Description

When a child with an autism spectrum disorder is also visually impaired, the effects on learning and behavior and complex and varied. Two exceptional educators condense their years of personal and professional experience into a one-of-a-kind handbook of effective ways to work with such students, including suggestions and approaches for assessment, instruction, and program planning; forms and tools for capturing vital information; information on assessment instruments, instructional materials, and web sites rich in important advice. Professionals and educators, as well as parents, will find critical guiding principles and valuable strategies.




Collaborate, Communicate, and Differentiate!


Book Description

This book takes collaboration out of the abstract and applies it to daily tasks of differentiating instruction, implementing technology, student assessment, and communicating with families.




The Buddha from Babylon


Book Description

The sudden death of the Persian Emperor in 522 BCE is one of history’s great mysteries. Was his demise self-inflicted, accidental, an assassination or due to natural causes? The author contends that during this incident Siddhartha Gautama may have been the leader of Babylon's Magi, an interfaith order that assumes governance of the region. The situation explodes when Darius the Great seizes the throne. Simultaneously the Magi Order is purged as Siddhartha, prince of the Saka nation, heads back east to the Indus. Could this event have inspired the creation of Buddhism as a pacifist movement dedicated to the pursuit of self-transformation, goodwill, and universal compassion? The Buddha from Babylon: The Lost History and Cosmic Vision of Siddhartha Gautama uncovers new evidence that solves this ages-old mystery and discovers Babylonian influences in the Buddha's revelations.







Excelling with Autism


Book Description

Most individuals with ASD and other related disorders are taught skills only to a certain point. For example, an individual may learn to read a calendar of assignments and check it the night before; however, he is not totally independent on this task because he has not learned that you often need to check your calendar more often than one night before an activity, such as a test. As adults, people on the spectrum may be taught to pay bills and pay them on a timely basis when an invoice is provided. However, what if there is no invoice -- such as with rent. These challenges are directly related to a lack of success in independent living, employment, and social interactions. How do we change this trajectory? We can help individuals reach critical mass. Think of critical mass as beyond generalization -- ber generalization, if you will. It is the point where an individual has gained enough information to apply it to situations, activities or skills in which instruction has not been provided. This book focuses on describing the factors that lead to critical mass for those on the spectrum or other related disorders when providing instruction and supports. Learn easy-to-use strategies that can help individuals with ASD to move about their world as independently as possible, making informed decisions about their wants and needs. Teaching to critical mass will help learners to be successful not only with tasks they have been taught to do, but will also help them to be successful with activities on which they have not received instruction. "What distinguishes excellent and autism-friendly teachers is that they know why a certain teaching strategy is a good strategy for learners with autism. This book offers exactly that knowledge and it is therefore indispensable in the library of every setting that has learners with autism" -- Peter Vermeulen, PhD; Co-director of Autisme Centraal, AAPC author, international speaker, and thought leader. "To excel with autism requires excelling teachers. This book offers teachers the ingredients for excellent and autism-friendly teaching" -- Peter Vermeulen, PhD; Co-director of Autisme Centraal, AAPC author, international speaker, and thought leader. "This outstanding book serves as a wake-up call to do things differently within autism education in order to change outcomes for individuals with autism. This book one of the most important autism books to ever be written." -- Kelly Mahler, MS, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist, autism consultant, AAPC author, and international speaker. According to Lee Stickle, individuals with autism have unlimited potential. Finally, a book that shows how to reach that potential. We shouldn't settle for poor outcomes, individuals with autism deserve better. Learn how to help them reach their unlimited potential. With excellent tools, you get excellent outcomes. Beyond coping, beyond getting through the day... this book teaches how to help students with autism truly thrive. Revolutionary concept. Entirely changes the way we teach students with autism. If fully implemented, this book would change the way students with autism are taught from the beginning and with it, the outcomes.