Making Sense of Interventions for Children with Developmental Disorders: A Guide for Parents and Professionals

In this book, aimed at both parents and professionals, the authors discuss the non-evidence-based interventions that proliferate in the fields of children's speech, language, literacy, fluency, voice, communication, attention, cognition, working memory, behaviour and social connectedness. They explore the science - or lack thereof - behind the interventions and suggest evidence-based alternatives that enjoy stronger scientific support.

The authors approach their topic with a deep understanding of, and empathy for, the parents and professionals who are doubtful about conventional treatments, disappointed with the practitioners associated with them, and attracted to controversial interventions.

Written in lively, readable, plain English, Making Sense of Interventions for Children with Developmental Disorders provides:

• Clear descriptions of each intervention and the populations to whom they are marketed;
• Reasoned explanations of why the intervention should be approached with caution or rejected outright; and
• Suggestions for interventions with proper scientific support, suitable for the children in question

"There should be a copy in every clinic."
- Suze Leitão, Associate Professor, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia  read the full review

"For the well rounded Educational and Developmental Psychologists, able to keep abreast of new research, much of what is outlined in this book will not be anything new. However, the thoroughness, brevity and clarity of the book is commendable, and the vast majority of the book presents useful and helpful content to aid and support our work, especially with respect to communicating our knowledge to the families we work with."
- Darren Stops, School Psychologist, Hobart, Tasmania

"This book should be made available to parents of children with developmental disorders via public libraries, as it has the potential to save them a lot of grief, time and money finding effective interventions, and avoiding ineffective ones. It would also be a valuable addition to paediatric and allied health professional libraries, and to the libraries of schools educating children with developmental disorders, which means most schools..."
- Alison Clarke, Speech Pathologist, Spelfabet, Clifton Hill, Victoria  read the full review

"As a parent of a child with ASD, and as part of a family who works and has contact with children with disabilities on a regular basis, we are at the mercy of many a charlatan or well meaning group or individual who believe they have the answers. More often than not they don’t. If you are a parent or professional who is using a practice that is listed in the book as lacking evidence, this book is not an attempt to mock or belittle you choices. Rather a rational attempt to expose you to where the practice sits in terms of its efficacy to date. I endorse the point the authors make that those parents or professionals, who may support an intervention with little evidence, do not need to be belittled or made to feel gullible."
- Mark Johnson, Teacher, and parent of a young man on the autism spectrum, The Shades, Ankh-Morpork  read the full review

"I found the book easy to read with information presented in digestible chunks with clear headings. As one would expect with a book dedicated to promoting evidence-based interventions, the conclusions are drawn from quality research, and the reference list is a resource in itself. Overall it provides a guide to becoming a critical consumer of the information presented to support interventions, of research, and of services delivering interventions."
- Jennifer Stephenson, Associate Professor, Macquarie University Special Education Centre, Sydney, NSW

"There is so much to delight and intrigue in this book. So much crap to detect and so little time. Let me finish by saying this: “Buy this book.” In fact, buy two copies and give one to a friend. They’ll thank you for it."
- Kevin Wheldall, Emeritus Professor, "Crap detecting for beginners", Sydney, New South Wales

"...This is a comprehensive guide to the evidence base for interventions for children with developmental disorders. It provides a clear summary of our clinical breadth of expertise. The chapters cover specific clinical areas and provide information SLTs do not always have the time to research in depth. Some interventions get more coverage than others, which reflects current research. It is also interspersed with diagrams and illustrations that help to make the content more accessible. The book names and shames the interventions with no scientific evidence, but acknowledges the ones that 'show promise' but need to develop the level of evidence. The style of the book will be accessible to most parents as it presents the parent perspective eloquently; and it is helpful for SLTs to reflect on why some approaches may be attractive to parents. it advocates 'Information Literacy', with advice to help parents navigate the minefields of the internet and the marketplace. This book will undoubtedly help SLTs and parents understand the evidence levels of the interventions that are currently available for a range of developmental disorders. there are regular updates on this title on Twitter: @txchoices."
- RCSLT Bulletin, January 2018  read the full review