Socially ADDept: Teaching Social Skills to Children with ADHD, LD, and Asperger's, Revised Edition

Socially ADDept

Teaching Social Skills to Children with ADHD, LD, and Asperger's

Many children who have special needs like ADD, Asperger's Syndrome or ADHD, struggle with basic communication and social interaction.  In Socially ADDept, author Janet Giler utilizes her twenty years of experience as a family therapist to provide parents and professionals a way to teach children social skills and navigate through the often confusing rules of social behavior.

Presented in a concise, easy-to-read format, the book offers field-tested strategies that decode the complex rules of nonverbal language in a way that children can understand.  It includes ways for children to see themselves and how their behavior might look to others.  The book is divided into eight sections that educators can use as teaching units or parents can work through one week (or month) at a time.  

"The real beginning of Socially ADDept started when my son was diagnosed with a learning disability - it inspired me to make it a focus of my doctoral studies.  Teaching my son social skills was of the utmost importance to me, and through my own studies realized that there wasn't a lot of information out there.  I wanted to fill the gap and help other families who have special needs children give them the skills to succeed socially." 

 Working with the ADDept approach, parents and teachers can help children:

• Handle teasing
• Increase self-awareness
• Understand rules of friendship
• Handle anger appropiately
• Increase respect for others

Unlike other social skills programs, Giler's approach teaches parents and professionals how to mirror their child's behavior so they can see themselves.  That way children get a real understanding of how they're being perceived, as well as how to interact in a more appropiate way that aligns with what they are trying to express.

This book is a must-read for all people who have, or work with, special needs children.  It provides the tools that children need to succeed in the world and build lasting relationships.