By Woodbine House, for The Children’s Book Review
Published: April 13, 2011
The OFF WE GO! books, a new series from Woodbine House’s Special-Needs Collection, help children with developmental disabilities prepare for and participate in potentially overwhelming outings to the grocery, dentist, and hair salon.
Unexpected people and sensations—the masked dentist and his metal tools, the stream of warm air from a hair-dryer, the bright lights of the grocery store—can be disturbing to many children, but especially so for children with intellectual disabilities, and difficulties with sensory processing, impulse control, and attention.
The author of the OFF WE GO! series, Avril Webster, knows this firsthand. She created these social stories to help her son Stephen, a child with an intellectual disability, manage these routines. The books’ use of predictable story lines and pictures with familiar characters, show children what to expect, thereby reducing anxiety. Ms. Webster achieved this winning formula by working with a speech-language pathologist to craft simple, reassuring text, and an illustrator to create twelve, uncluttered, and friendly illustrations for each book.
Read Off We Go to the Dentist, Off We Go to the Grocery Store, and Off We Go for a Haircut with children with a wide variety of issues—autism, Down syndrome, speech and language delays, ADHD, Executive Function Disorder, and even children for whom English is a second language—and you’ll see improved language development, communication skills, self-esteem, and confidence emerge.
Published February 2011
Ages 4-8
Children’s paperback
14 pages
Price: $9.95 each
Available from Woodbine House at www.woodbinehouse.com or call 800-843-7323
The Author Showcase is a place for authors and illustrators to gain visibility for their works. This article was provided by Woodbine House. Read more …