An Exceptional Children's Guide to Touch: Teaching Social and Physical Boundaries to Kids ISBN: 9781849058711
Published by Jessica Kingsley Pub, 2012
While intended for children on the autistic spectrum or with various learning disabilities, this book could well be used to explain to any child the social complexities of the rights and wrongs of touching. In bright, cartoon-style pictures and simple text, we are given six chapters on: Accidental touch, Friendly touch, Hurtful touch, Touching myself, Not touching, and Having my picture taken. Throughout the stories it is repeated that telling a teacher, a parent or a trusted adult is important when something feels wrong. The explanations are very clear and forthright. For instance, in the Touching myself chapter, we learn that picking one's nose or putting hands down one's pants when other people are around may mean that people won't like you. In a chapter at the end of the book for parents and carers, we learn that children with autism are seven times more likely to be abused than non-disabled children. The author also gives a list of Indicators of Abuse: physical, behavioural and environmental, and there are a few organisational web sites that may be of help. This could be a seriously important book in families and special needs schools. Available from Amazon, from good book shops, for from the publisher at www.jkp.com.
Age: 4+
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