Winter vacation is around the corner and most likely your child who is on the low functioning end of the autism spectrum is not going to be busily playing with their new toys they received as holiday gifts. The focus of their attention could be directed at the box or wrapping paper.

I first learned of this book, Recipe Handbook Of Easy To Use Activities For Teaching Autistic Children And Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Other Learning Disabilities while at the Los Angeles CAN Resource Fair written by Barbara Bazeghi and available through Reach Publications.




I had mentioned this would be suitable for summer vacation use and now adding my recommendation after purchasing this spiral bound book comprised of 142 pages that sells for $29.95 via paypal. There are 87 activities, ideas and methods. This handbook will simplify daily planning and includes a progress chart.

I first brought the book with me in September to a meeting I had with the AAC and SLP at my son Matthew's classroom. We stayed in the back of the classroom observing my son and coming up with ways to integrate the communication device known as the Cheap Talk into his daily schedule. This device is on loan from Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The Augmentative and Alternative Communication Specialist (AAC) and the Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) both wrote down the name and details of ordering this book. They were impressed with the simplicity and usefulness of this workbook, for both parents and professionals.

When the class went outside for recess the teacher joined us and we discussed the overlays and programming of the device. My higher functioning son Nicholas is the one who spoke into the device for the levels with the key words. This is when I showed the teacher the book, Recipe Handbook Of Easy To Use Activities For Teaching Autistic Children And Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Other Learning Disabilities and gave her the brochure for it with details.

In October we had an emergency IEP meeting that I requested to update Matthew's Behavior Support Plan. The previous behavior outlined was scratching the aide, but he has escaped from his classroom several times and ended up at the gate to leave the premises, warranting a new Behavior Support Plan

I mentioned at the IEP meeting that I felt the Antecedent to the behavior of leaving the classroom had to do with Matthew relying on an adult to prompt him through his work, and no one really promoting independent work. At this point I then brought out the book and showed two pages I had marked that show a slant board with a student doing similar matching type work as Matthew, but independently.

The teacher happened to mention that she did purchase the book and felt it to be a good tool to consult with her daily planning. I prefer visual supports within the context of a book with this being a prime example of easy to follow guidelines in how to teach a child with a variety of activities.

Not only does the handbook show you the product you will be making or buying, it also gives lists at the end of where each product is available with the website, address and phone number. These indexes are known as the Book List Index, Inclusion Activities, Methods Section, Supplies Index and Catalog Index.

The activities are broken into steps - Objectives, Materials and Ideas for use. The accompanying figures are self explanatory and will help guide and assist families into having their child trace and cut using stencils, letter writing, ink stamping numbers, letters and shape formation, magnetic letters, categorizing, spelling with objects, word match to picture, name and match using PCS, shapes dot to dot and our favorite that was already being utilized - Color Shape Bingo by Trend Enterprises.



For the professionals there are some supplies and examples to assist you through this plan of activities - a filing system for your activity packets, dot to dot pictures, grids for picture communication symbols (PCS), instructions for making choice cards, sample letters for inclusion to parents of classmates, temper tanstrums and toilet training suggestions and making a photo book for a field trip.

This is an easy to use handbook/guidebook for any parent or professional to follow along and implement any of these activities. The student profiled is Allison who is now twelve and started with the author, Barbara Bazeghi when she was six years old, nonverbal in Kindergarten.




Recipe Handbook Of Easy To Use Activities For Teaching Autistic Children And Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Other Learning Disabilities is available at www.reachpublications.com for $29.95 plus tax for California residents.

This is a book I suggest parents purchase to work on over the holiday break and for vacations and weekends. Therapists can gain insight into teaching techniques and teachers can incorporate some of these activities into their daily planning.

A superb book that fits into any budget and is the most useful one I have come across for my nonverbal son to help him learn basic skills and be productive at home.

Here is a resource for teaching that is not related to this book -

Teaching Components include Work Systems and Visual Strategies


Educational Autism Tips for Families 71 page resourceful ebook for families entering the school system with a recent autism diagnosis. Find out what issues take place over the course of a school day and meet these challenges head on.