Jeannie grew up with autism, but no one around her knew it. Twirling Naked in the Streets will take you on a journey into the mind of a child on the autism spectrum; a child who grows into an adolescent, an adult, and becomes a wife, mother, student, and writer with autism. This is a gripping memoir of a quirky, weird, but gifted child who grows up never quite finding her niche. It took 38 years to discover that all the issues, problems, and weirdness she experienced were because she had Asperger's Syndrome (AS), a form of high-functioning autism. The tale begins at age three and takes us all the way through her diagnosis. Along the way she explains autism in a way that will have fellow "Aspies" crying tears of joy at being understood, and "neuro-typical" people really starting to grasp the challenges that autistic people face every moment of every day.

Transform Your Blog into a Book! The world of blogging changes rapidly, but it remains one of the most efficient ways to share your work with an eager audience. In fact, you can purposefully hone your blog content into a uniquely positioned book--one that agents and publishers will want to acquire or that you can self-publish successfully. How to Blog a Book Revised and Expanded Edition is a completely updated guide to writing and publishing a saleable book based on a blog. Expert author and blogger Nina Amir guides you through the process of developing targeted blog content that increases your chances of attracting a publisher and maximizing your visibility and authority as an author. In this revised edition you'll find: • The latest information on how to set up, maintain, and optimize a blog • Steps for writing a book easily using blog posts • Advice for crafting effective, compelling blog posts • Tips on gaining visibility and promoting your work both online and off • Current tools for driving traffic to your blog • Strategies for monetizing your existing blog content as a book or other products • Profiles of bloggers who received blog-to-book deals and four new "blogged-book" success stories Whether you're a seasoned blogger or have never blogged before, How to Blog a Book Revised and Expanded Edition offers a fun, effective way to write, publish, and promote your book, one post at a time.

A highly original account of how literature and neuroscience interact to explain the relationship between the mind, body, and brain

Building on the success of the first volume of Researching Play from a Playwork Perspective, this book further develops the crucial research of playwork as an emerging and unique discipline. The first volume explored how an understanding of playwork theory and practice can inform research into children’s play. From the seven contributors, four common themes to researching play from a playwork perspective were identified: rights-based; process, critical reflection and playfulness. This second volume aims to explore these four factors from two angles. The first considers how four more playworkers have researched play in four different contexts: prison, gender and toys, in Dutch play provision, and in the area of autism. In the second part of the book, the four pillars of playwork research are explored by academics from other disciplines with an interest in playwork research. This will be of great interest to researchers and upper-level students in the fields of playwork, childcare, early years, education, psychology and children’s rights. It will also appeal to practitioners in a wide variety of professional contexts, including childcare and therapy.

Understand the unique needs of teens and adults with autism and how to adapt existing library programs to be more inclusive. Autism spectrum disorder is a lifelong condition, but programs and services are mostly for children. As this population ages and the number of adults receiving autism diagnoses grows, are public libraries serving this group? Serving Teens and Adults on the Autism Spectrum offers practical strategies for delivering better service to individuals with autism, from library programming to technology, collections, library volunteers, and the information desk. Relying on feedback and help from the autism community in her area, Carrie Rogers-Whitehead created programs for children, teens, and young adults on the autism spectrum. In this book, she shares advice on developing programs that focus on teamwork, transitions, and social skills. She explains best practices for reference interviews and teaches readers how their libraries can partner with nonprofit and government entities to develop workforce skills and connect adults with autism to jobs. Ready-made program activities for teens and adults with autism make it easy for libraries to better serve this often misunderstood group.

Taking an innovative approach to autism and play, this practical text focuses on the particular form play and friendship takes for children with autism and their peers. Autistic children have clear preferences for play, with sensory-perceptual experience remaining a strong feature as they develop. Play and Friendship in Inclusive Autism Education offers a framework for supporting children’s development through play, with step-by-step guidance on how to facilitate the playful engagement of children with autism. Up to date research findings and relevant theoretical ideas are presented in an accessible and practical way, highlighting what theory means to ordinary practice in schools, whilst focusing on practical knowledge in autism education. Split into five chapters, this book covers some of the main issues surrounding inclusive education and play: discourses and definitions of play the difference between play and playfulness autism, play and the inclusion agenda in education the nature of sensory-perceptual experience in children’s play cultures effective ways of supporting children’s friendships. With practical guidance on how to support children with autism through play, this book will be essential reading for teachers, learning support assistants, SENCos and play workers, as well as professionals working in an advisory capacity. Students studying courses that cover autism will also find Play and Friendship in Inclusive Autism Education a valuable resource.