Enabling Communication in Children with Autism

Carol Potter, BA(Hons), PGCE, M.Ed, has worked extensively in the field of autism as teacher, lecturer, consultant and researcher. She currently combines teaching with independent research and freelance staff training consultancy. Chris Whittaker, DAES, M.Ed, has taught, lectured and published in the field of special education for the last thirty years, with a particular interest in children with complex learning disabilities and autism. He is currently a Research Fellow at the University of Durham, and also works as a freelance consultant through CIRA-UK.

• Introduction. 1. The research: Approaches and findings. 2. A minimal speech approach. 3. Proximal communication: An autism specific interactional approach. 4. Prompting for spontaneous communication. 5. Developing early communication systems. 6. Creating communication rich environments. 7. Facilitating interaction between children with autism. 8. Enabling styles of classroom management. 9. Communication within the curriculum. 10. Conclusions and ways forward. Appendix. References. Index.

This book discusses research into educational provision for children with autism who have minimal or no speech. The authors argue for a focus on the strengths of the child rather than a 'deficit model' of autism and for the creation of 'communication-enabling environments' with a view to encouraging spontaneous communication. I believe the book will be very appropriate to its target audience since it contains much practical advice, for example, concerning the provision of high quality communication opportunities and communication environments. It is a very readable and well-structured book, and readers are likely to appreciate the 'summary points' at the end of each chapter and the 'key research findings' sections. Interesting case studies are used throughout the book. A general strength of the book is that the approaches and strategies advocated are clearly grounded in research, so that the authors can provide 'clear evidence that they were enabling for the children'. A further strength lies in the authors' attempts to raise and address challenges that their strategies might pose to practice.