Books

1.  Play and Imagination in Children With Autism (Special Education Series (New York, N.Y.).) by Pamela J. Wolfberg Marcy Willard says:   “This book is an excellent resource for parents and practitioners who want to teach social skills to children with Autism.”

2.  Social Skills Solutions: a Hands-on Manual for Teaching Social Skills to Children With Autism by Kelly McKinnon Marcy Willard says:   “Kelly McKinnon runs an innovative and extremely effective social skills clinic in San Juan Capistrano, CA. Her book explains her renown philosophy.”

3.  Peer Play and the Autism Spectrum: The Art of Guiding Children’s Socialization and Imagination by Pamela J. Wolfberg Marcy Willard says:   “This book is a Field Manual for practitioners who want to teach social skills to children with Autism. It is the best book of this nature I have ever read.”

4.  Playing, Laughing and Learning With Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Practical Resource of Play Ideas for Parents and Carers by Julia Moor

5.  Social Skills Activities for Special Children by Darlene Mannix Marcy Willard says:   “This is a handbook for social skills instructors and teachers. It provides helpful cartoon drawings an worksheets as well as a variety of activities to do in social skills sessions.”

6.  Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman Marcy Willard says:   “The hallmark and cornerstone on which all understanding in social skills was built. Goleman’s work is a must read for anyone who takes social skills instruction seriously. Go EQ!”

7.  Teaching Social Skills to Youth: A Curriculum for Child-Care Providers by Tom Dowd Marcy Willard says:   “This book is thoughtfully broken down into Basic Skills, Intermediate Skills, and Advanced Skills and provides a list of practical steps to take to master the skills.”

8.  Teaching Your Child the Language of Social Success by Marshall P. Duke Marcy Willard says:   “This book is a guide for teaching, assessing, and remediation of communication and socialization skills. The author goes into more depth in the area of non-verbal communication assessments than any other work I have seen.”

9.  The Feelings Book by Todd Parr Marcy Willard says:   “A great book for pre-schoolers and toddlers to learn and understand emotions. I have used this book as a guide for demonstration of emotions and dramatic play. The children love it.”

10.  The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children by Ross W. Greene Marcy Willard says:   “A wonderful book for parents of challenging children. The author is the first person to really ‘get’ what it is like to be a parent of a child with frequent meltdowns. A must read for parents and teachers.”

11.  Evaluating Outcomes: Empirical Tools for Effective Practice by John D. Cone Marcy Willard says:   “An excellent guide for practitioners who wish to develop effective clinical programs based on sound research and empirical data.”

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s by John Elder Robison This is a rich biography from an adult perspective of what a childhood with Apergers is like. The most helpful aspect of the book for practitioners is where Robison explains how he uses his more developed logic brain to compensate for his less developed social pragmatics.