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Ten Things Your Student With Autism Wishes You Knew
2nd edition updated and expanded (Future Horizons, Inc.)
Winner of the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Reference/Education and the Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal for Nonfiction Series
In this exciting companion to Ellen Notbohm’s beloved classic Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew, the unique perspective of an autistic child’s voice returns to describe for teachers, in the classroom and in the larger community, how to understand thinking and processing patterns common in autism, how to shape an environment conducive to their learning style, and how to communicate with autistic learners of all ages in functional, meaningful ways. It’s the guidebook every educator and family member, worldwide, needs to create effective and inclusive settings wherein child and adult are both teachers and learners.
This vibrantly updated and expanded edition includes an imaginative, all-new guide adaptable for group discussion, self-reflection, or self-expression, added perspective from autistic adults about their experiences in education, and an afterword by Bryce Notbohm. Perennially popular since 2006 and translated into multiple languages, Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew now brings fresh perspective to a new generation of educators and autistic learners.
Available in English and Spanish print and ebook editions, and in English audiobook edition.
Awards
- Gold Medal, Independent Publisher Book Awards, Nonfiction Series (with Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew)
- Winner, Eric Hoffer Book Awards, Reference
- American Book Fest Best Book Award finalist, Education
- Chanticleer International Book Awards Awards finalist, Instruction and Insight
- Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist, Education
- ForeWord Book of the Year finalist, Education
Praise for Ten Things Your Student With Autism Wishes You Knew
The two biggest take-home messages from this book are the importance of parents and teachers working together as a team and understanding that your autistic child thinks differently. Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew will help parents and teachers learn more effective methods for teaching children on the spectrum.
Exceptionally well written, organized and presented . . . must be considered an essential, core addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Autism collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
It is a delight to find a book that creates a crack in the shell of autism, leading us to a better understanding of students with ASD. Ellen Notbohm offers us a glimpse of the inner thoughts of a child with this disorder, something that is often missed when teaching this student. A wonderful addition to any educator’s library!
A great addition to your library if you work with students with autism. I especially like the first chapter, Learning is Circular. This is key to any success I’ve ever had working with students with autism. I’ve learned more from the people I provide services for, than they have ever learned from me. It’s about changing our behavior and expectations first (student), then assisting in developing positive outcomes (teacher). Ellen also knows how important it is to build a team! It’s critical. This book is a valuable resource!
A breath of fresh air! Ellen Notbohm leaves behind reliance on tired, rigid systems of interventions and instead delves into vital transactional approaches that are so sorely needed.
The most important part of any IEP is not the diagnostic category but the individual’s student profile. This book makes that often-neglected section come alive. For it is only by seeing the unique beauty in each child that change can happen. There is no place for cookie cutter formulae or reliance on specific treatment modalities. Autistic students learn differently and must be taught differently. Again, the book shows us how.
Further, when insisting that only the child should “change” in order to learn, we omit an essential ingredient. That is the role of the teacher in being able to change, innovate and accommodate in a transactional fashion. Hooray for circular learning!
Once we truly see each student with fresh eyes, understanding that their behaviors always have communicative intent, that kids do well if they can, that trust curiosity and respect are key, then we can break old, tired molds and instead allow the child’s innate individuality to shine forth and succeed.
An essential book for any parent, educator, and developmental pediatrician!
In a sequel to her groundbreaking best-seller Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew, Ellen Notbohm brings the same intelligence, humanity, and compassionate clarity to educators that her earlier volume brought to parents. There are gems on every page, an impeccable blend of wisdom and heart.
Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew is an important book for adults who want to do right by the children entrusted to their care. In fact, Notbohm’s framework of mutuality, attention, curiosity, and wholeness is something that will benefit all children who are struggling to be known and understood—to connect, feel that they matter, and find where they belong.
A brilliant volume that’s sure to be another perennial best-seller, Notbohm’s thoughtful and actionable must-have handbook is sure to expand the number of parents, teachers, and counselors who count on her work to guide them.
It’s always a joy and an education to read Ellen Notbohm’s books, and her second edition of Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew is no exception. I love the book’s underlying and over-arching themes of optimism, respect for differences, and belief in our students. We are reminded and encouraged to be curious about their unique learning styles, to foster their own curiosity as an important learning tool, and to learn from our students, so we can teach them in the ways they learn best. Most importantly, she shines a light on the joy that is an integral part of knowing and teaching these students. Ellen includes personal experiences, insights from teachers and other professionals, and authentic lived-experience viewpoint from autistic author Jennifer McIlwee Myers. The questions and prompts for discussion, self-reflection, or self-expression would be perfect for a teachers’ book club, school autism training, or personal independent study. Although written with students on the autism spectrum in mind and heart, each of these Ten Things would be important for all students. There is just so much to love in this book!
If you only read one book about autism, let this be the one. And prepare for emotional impact. Once again, drawing on firsthand experience and literature, Notbohm shares her gift of shining light, optimism, and profound wisdom in a conversational style that is both scholarly and uplifting. Notbohm never minces words about an obvious, vital truth—in order to help students reach their full potential, we must first understand the world as they experience it. With humor and heart, Notbohm offers clear insights and immediate strategies to help educators, parents, and other helpers to do just that. First, and foremost, Notbohm understands the power of the child’s perspective by showing us how to improve the way we listen, how to better demonstrate respect, and develop trust to believe what we are being told. An absorbing, enormously instructive book that I couldn’t put down.
Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew combines wisdom from a student with autism, his family, and his educators throughout the continuum of their school years from pre-school to higher education, delivered through analogies, metaphors, and hard facts. It is written with humor and easy-to-remember phrases so the reader can learn to hear the voices of our autistic students and respond in ways that are meaningful to them. The book starts with clear succinct points that lay out a guide map, then clarifies the essential information to help teachers offer their best work for their students’ growth. Through numerous and invaluable examples, Ten Things provides insight that can be used to generalize an understanding of the VERY different way the brain of a person with autism is wired.
The Ten Things laid out in this book are critical to teaching students with ASD. But you’ll find much that benefits all children as well. Recalling my own 40-year career as a teacher, a learning specialist, and a district supervisor of special education teachers, I highly recommend Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew for your educational resource library.
Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew is an essential guidebook for anyone who loves, works with, and advocates for children.
One of the biggest challenges for students with different learning needs is when those who are supposed to be supporting them do not understand how their minds and bodies interact with others and their world. Understanding how the individual on the autism spectrum connects with the world and being willing to accommodate a way of interacting that differs from your own is vital to building the foundation for positive relationships, instruction, advocacy, and equity. This book is an in-depth primer to understanding the most prominent common threads that run through the autism community.
Ellen Notbohm’s advocacy is informed by experience, research, empathy and a passion for making the lives of spectrum individuals and those who interact with them more fulfilling. This book provides clear and specific guidance that is doable, logical, meaningful and relevant. It should be required reading for all child centered professionals.
Ellen Notbohm has done it again! Every educator should own and frequently refer to this book. Every parent of a child with autism should give a copy of this book to each of their student’s teachers. The communication strategies in Chapter 2 can be life-changing not only for a child, but also for the adults in that child’s life. As both a parent and an educator, I recommend this book for the impact it can have not only on a child’s school year, but also on their life.
Read this book to gain essential insight into the special challenges of your students on the spectrum. The understanding this will change the way you listen and communicate with them.