Asperger’s, Autism & Non-verbal Learning Disorders; Screening, Assessing & Diagnosing. John Ortiz, $39.95

Divided into 25 practical chapters, this book is designed as a practical, comprehensive guide for the early identification of Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), High-Functioning Autism (HFA), and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities/Disorder (NLD). Highlights include:

• Dozens of user-friendly checklists to help to identify—and differentiate between—AS, HFA, NLD, and their primary secondary conditions
• Tables and Charts to assist in assessing and diagnosing AS, HFA and NLD
• Hundreds of “Research Gems” containing excerpts from research findings
• Reviews and descriptions of nearly 100 formal screening and assessment tools
• Short-Form Scales recommended for testing AS, HFA and NLD populations

The Big Top Game™. Franklin Learning Systems, $53.95

The Big Top Game™ has been developed with special attention to the needs and learning styles of PDD and NVLD children. In order to accomplish this goal, the game employs (1) Effective Sensory Stimuli, (2) Behavioral Reinforcement, (3) Social/emotional development, and (4) Educational skills development. The game is a tool to be used by psychologists and counselors in schools, support groups, and other organizations. This is a cooperative game; there is no competition. The animals are separate parts of a puzzle. As players rescue animals they add pieces to the puzzle until all animals are rescued, and the puzzle is completed.

Can the World Afford Autistic Spectrum Disorder? Nonverbal Communication, Asperger Syndrome and the Interbrain. Digby Tantam, $29.95

How is nonverbal communication carried out, and why do people on the autism spectrum find it so difficult? What are the consequences of this for them, and how do these consequences affect their personality, self-awareness, and sense of place in the world?

Digby Tantam explores the latest theories on nonverbal communication and how it shapes social behaviour. He provides abundant evidence for it being impaired in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). He shows how knowledge of this difference can be used to overcome some of the impairments in nonverbal communication in people with ASD, but also how acknowledging these problems can result in more positive development elsewhere.

This book will be fascinating reading for anyone interested in communication, and particularly for people who have ASD themselves, for their families, and all professionals working with people on the autistic spectrum. It sharpens our understanding of the mysterious phenomenon of human communication and clarifies the special status of people with ASD, showing how much we can learn from their experience.

Exploring Feelings: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to Manage Anxiety, Sadness and Anger, DVD. Tony Attwood, $119.95 (3 hours)

In this DVD presentation, psychologist Tony Attwood teaches caregivers how to implement CBT — Cognitive Behavior Therapy. The DVD offers important advice on assessing emotional needs; avoiding and correcting misinterpretation of emotion; defining physical and social tools; building self-esteem and improving self awareness.

Getting the Message: Learning to Read Facial Expressions. Pat Crissey, $56.95

Getting the Message looks at non-verbal communication as a highly complex and subtle language, an essential one that students need to master. To this end, the book provides facial expression cards and written scenarios for use in assessments as well as in teaching activities. Students learn to “read” the expressions on the cards and in the scenarios and once mastered, to generalize this knowledge and effectively read critical social interactions and situations.

Helping Children with Nonverbal Learning Disabilities to Flourish: a Guide for Parents and Professionals. Marilyn Martin, $19.95

“In Helping Children with Nonverbal Learning Disabilities to Flourish, Marilyn Martin presents a comprehensive developmental profile of children with NLD. She explores the controversies surrounding the disorder so parents and professionals can identify learners with NLD and insure they receive early intervention. Offering practical advice on NLD at home and at school, she describes step-by-step interventions for improving a range of skills from penmanship to social acumen.”

Making Sense of Children's Thinking and Behavior: a Step-by-Step Tool for Understanding Children with NLD, Asperger's, HFA, PDD-NOS, and other Neurological Differences. Leslie Holzhauser-Peters & Leslie True, $19.95

Making Sense of Children's Thinking and Behavior offers parents and professionals a tool for understanding children with neurological differences. These children have an atypical view of the world, unique to their particular disability, which can make their behaviour confusing and at times challenging. Each child therefore requires individualized accommodations in understanding and responding to them.

The Systematic Tool for Analysing Thinking (STAT) offers such a system. It provides a step-by-step method for forming a hypothesis about a child's behavior, by laying bare the thinking behind it. It then suggests appropriate ways of responding, in order to try and both explain and eventually remedy the difficult behavior.

Mind Reading: the Interactive Guide to Emotions - Version 1.3. Simon Baron-Cohen, $130.00 (DVD or CD-ROM)

Mind Reading Emotions Library. University of Cambridge with Simon Baron-Cohen, $49.95

Mind Reading is a unique reference work covering the entire spectrum of human emotions. Using this software you can explore over 400 emotions, seeing and hearing each one performed by six different people.

Mind Reading has been designed with awareness of the special needs of children and adults who have difficulties recognizing emotional expression in others. It enables the user to study emotions and to learn the meanings of facial expressions and tone of voice, drawing on a comprehensive underlying audio-visual and text database. People who might find Mind Reading particularly useful are those with autism spectrum conditions, including Asperger Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Semantic-Pragmatic Disorder, Atypical Autism, Classic Autism, and Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities.

The New Social Story™ Book, Revised and Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition. Carol Gray, $39.95

Over 100 social stories that teach everyday social skills to children with autism or Asperger’s Syndrome and their peers. The book includes a CD-ROM of printable, editable social stories. This new edition is a bright, colourful and practical update to writing, modifying, teaching and using Social Stories at home and at school.

Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: a Clinical Perspective. Joseph Palombo, $52.50

A nonverbal learning disability (NLD) is a developmental disorder that impairs a person's capacity to perceive, express, and understand nonverbal (nonlinguistic) signs. The dysfunctions affect behaviors, social interactions, perceptions and feelings regarding self and others, and emerging personality patterns. NLD constrains an individual's capacity to function in a wide variety of domains, including the academic, social, emotional, and vocational.

Based on current neurobehavioral research, this book brings together perspectives drawn from the three major domains of knowledge about NLD - neurobehavioral, social, and intrapersonal. Addressed to clinicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, and other psychotherapists, Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: a Clinical Perspective is a fund of knowledge and clinical wisdom for working with youth with NLD.

Nonverbal Learning Disorder: Understanding and Coping with NLD and Asperger’s. Rondalyn Varney Whitney, $16.50 (previously published as Bridging the Gap)

Nonverbal Learning Disorder is a neurological deficit that impairs the understanding of nonverbal cues like tone of voice and facial expressions. Though they can be exceptionally bright and articulate, children with NLD often have difficulty in social situations, and can become depressed, withdrawn, or anxious. In this revised edition (previously published as Bridging the Gap), Rondalyn Varney Whitney offers practical solutions and all-new activities that will help parents understand and work with their NLD children.

Raising NLD Superstars: What Families with Nonverbal Learning Disabilities Need to Know about Nurturing Confident, Competent Kids. Marcia Brown Rubenstien, $18.95

Instead of suggesting the one-size-fits- all model of intervention, Raising NLD Superstars looks at the individual nature of NLD children and offers practical, easily-adaptable advice on helping them find their place in the family, at school and other social groups. Marcia Brown Rubenstien is an educational consultant and the parent of a child with nonverbal learning disabilities. She looks at the practicalities of day-to-day life as well as planning for a child's future independence with humor and practical, supportive insight. This book will help parents and caregivers alike to support NLD children in reaching their potential.

The Social Skills Picture Book for High School and Beyond. Jed Baker, $45.95

The Social Skills Picture Book for High School and Beyond offers parents and educators of teens (and young adults) photos of actual students engaging in a variety of social situations. This visual learning format shows, rather than tells, students the right (and wrong) ways to interact in different circumstances. The photos illustrate the positive and the negative consequences of social interactions in a wide variety of real-life situations that are important to teens.

Socially Curious and Curiously Social: a Social Thinking Guidebook for Teens and Young Adults with Asperger’s, ADHD, PDD-NOS, NVLD or Other Murky Undiagnosed Social Learning Issues. Michelle Garcia Winner & Pamela Crooke, $25.95

This book is a “get real” discussion about what really goes on inside the mind of people as we share space together. From discussing the “ins and outs” of what it means to be a “Social Thinker” to figuring out texting, dating, the many different levels of friendship and the many and varied emotions we experience as we relate to others, the authors describe the “real world” of being with other people.

Thinking about YOU, Thinking about ME: Teaching Perspective Taking and Social Thinking to Persons with Social Cognitive Learning Challenges, 2nd Edition. Michelle Garcia Winner, $57.25

Thinking about YOU, Thinking about ME is one of Michelle Garcia Winner’s best-selling works. This newly revised edition includes 140 new pages of information, including two new chapters and an updated philosophy throughout. The assessment chapter has been re-written and expanded to include a Social Thinking Dynamic Assessment Protocol®, with more detailed assessment techniques. As well, this second edition includes:

• Winner's 3 Levels of Social Cognitive Perspective Taking
• Review of Social Cognition and Related Theories
• The 4 Steps of Communication Explained and Related Treatment Activities
• Concrete Strategies to help students become aware of the impact their words and actions have on other people's thoughts, emotions and actions
• Sample IEP Goals and Benchmarks

Understanding Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: a Common Sense Guide for Parents and Professionals. Maggie Mamen, $19.95

This easy-to-read guide offers a complete overview of Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLDs) and the wide variety of symptoms which different types of NLD present.

Maggie Mamen enables readers to select the most relevant strategies for coping with and managing particular symptoms. She provides a wealth of practical advice on key skills such as developing written and verbal communication, understanding social clues, managing behaviour, self-regulation and improving organization. She also covers relevant teaching methods for the classroom.

Watch Me Learn® videos, $30.95 each

Watch Me Learn® videos are for children on the Autism Spectrum, including PDD and Aspergers, Nonverbal Learning Disorders, Social Anxiety as well as other developmental delays and speech delays. The format of Watch Me Learn® videos engenders skill generalization across multiple platforms. A free ’Progress Tracker’ is available for download for each DVD.

A New Beginning, Volume 1, features basic communication and socialization skills including: object naming and identification, greetings, simple game like stacking blocks and story time. Recommended for developmental ages: 18 months and up. DVD format, 25 minutes

Let’s Play, Volume 2, features play and socialization skills including: coloring, Simon Says, duck-duck-goose, and outdoor play. Volume 2 depicts acclaimed standards of child development and communication through play. The result is an engaging video that captures the attention of children of all abilities. Recommended for developmental ages: 3 and up. DVD format, 42 minutes

School Days, Volume 3, features communication and socialization skills for children preparing for or attending school. Among some of the featured activities are: getting ready for school, getting on the bus, classroom centers, gym and interacting with fellow students. Recommended for developmental ages: 3 and up. DVD format, 53 minutes

Friends, Volume 4, features the common activities of play dates including: playing catch, snack time, charades, an exciting treasure hunt and baking with friends. Recommended for developmental ages: 4 and up. DVD format, 36 minutes

What's That Look on Your Face? All About Faces and Feelings. Catherine Snodgrass, $20.95 (Gr. 2-5)

Recognizing and interpreting facial expressions and the feelings they represent poses a great challenge for children with language and communication difficulties, including those with an autism spectrum disorder. This strikingly illustrated book helps young readers link faces to feelings by presenting situations they can all relate to. Each page spread is devoted to a feeling expressed through an exaggerated facial expression accompanied by a short poem that further elaborates on the expression to reinforce its meaning.