Steps to Independence: Teaching Everyday Skills to Children with Special Needs

Parents are their children's first and most influential teachers. That's an important job--and this popular, highly respected guidebook makes it much easier. A trusted resource for thousands of families, this lively book gives parents of children from age 3 through young adulthood proven strategies for teaching children the life skills they'll need to live as independently as possible. Parents will start with a reader-friendly overview of the basics of teaching and then go deeper with a step-by-step guide to teaching seven different types of skills: get-ready, self-help, toilet training, play, self-care, home-care, and information gathering skills. In this fourth edition, they'll also find helpful updates and additions, such as

• an expanded section on managing behavior problems, including guidance on identifying the problems, examining behavior, initiating a behavior management program, and encouraging alternative behaviors
• a chapter on technology that reflects recent advances and shows how to benefit from using email, instant messaging, Internet communities, search engines, and software
• a chapter on strengthening partnerships with other teachers in the child's life during IEP meetings, through classroom volunteer work, and in everyday communication with them

Based on years of work with parents and laced with humor, helpful illustrations, and vignettes, this is a must-have resource for families and all professionals who work with them.

Author: Bruce L. Baker, Alan Brightman, Jan Blacher
Publisher: Brookes Publishing Company
Published: 12/19/2003
Pages: 359
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.42lbs
Size: 10.02h x 7.02w x 0.82d
ISBN: 9781557666970

About the Author

Bruce L. Baker, Ph.D., has been Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, since 1975, where he formerly chaired the clinical psychology program and presently conducts research on the development of mental disorders in young children with developmental delays. Dr. Baker received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Yale University in 1966, then taught at Harvard University for 9 years. During his career, he has developed many intervention programs for children with mental retardation and their parents. He is presently a consulting editor to five journals concerned with mental retardation and/or families, and he is involved with a number of professional and service organizations that focus on children and families. Dr. Baker lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Jan, and their two children.

Alan J. Brightman, Ph.D., Founder, Apple Computer's Worldwide Disability Solutions Group, Saratoga, CA. Dr. Brightman created Apple Computer's Worldwide Disability Solutions Group as well as the Teenage Division of AT&T labs. He received his doctorate in education from Harvard University and received an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Massachusetts. He has produced a wide variety of media to combat the stereotypes associated with children with disabilities and children with chronic illness. Presently a private consultant working with education organizations around the United States, Dr. Brightman has served on the Board of Directors of Steven Spielberg's Starbright Foundation as well as Microsoft's Access Advisory Panel. He lives in Northern California with his wife, Melissa, and their two teenage sons, Alex and Jesse.