Your Interests, My Interests: A Visual Guide to Playing and Hanging Out for Children on the Autism Spectrum

When you're all by yourself, you can (nearly) do anything you want, but when you're playing with other people, they might want to do something different. The more you know what they like, the more fun can be had playing!

Children on the autism spectrum can find playing with other children difficult and they may be highly focused in their interests. This colourful and interactive visual guide will help these children learn how to establish common interests with friends and classmates, or family members at home, and use this knowledge to improve their play.

With six chapters showing examples of young people trying to get better at hanging out together, before giving problem-solving exercises and activities to help refine this information, this book is perfect for an adult and child to go through to develop their ability to play.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Jeff, the dragons in his head and the kids at school
2. Sara and the day that keeps changing
3. Ana, her screens and her family
4. Rob and the mystery of what his family likes
5. Jon and the visitor
6. Alan and growing up so fast
7. When hanging out and playing is hard
8. Help 32 people to play and hang out!
9. More learning activities, games and worksheets

"Joel has captured what has been missing for our students in need of figuring out the mystery of social skills! He uses exceptional visuals that make the social experience clear, practical and comprehensive. The product somehow includes everything a parent or educator would want to help a child on the spectrum with understanding and participating in social interactions! "
- Carla Butorac, special education consultant, speaker and author

"Joel Shaul's latest book provides an innovative, visual and hands-on approach to target tangible social and emotional learning skills across the child's day and throughout their different environments. "
- Lauren Brukner, Occupational Therapist, and author