Book Review: Asperger Syndrome in the Inclusive Classroom

Pros

• Accessible to teachers and parents
• Includes a number of ideas for accommodation
• Clear recommendations for action
• Focuses on all areas of the school experience
• Relevant for children of all ages

Cons

• Accommodations require a great deal of effort
• Few suggestions for getting school administration on board
• Few suggestions for time management
• Few suggestions geared for parents who are reading it
• Intended for regular and not special education teachers

Description

• Handbook for regular education inclusion teachers
• Published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• 157 pages in paperback
• Copyright 2007

Guide Review - Book Review: Asperger Syndrome in the Inclusive Classroom

As a parent, I'd love to think that this book will have a profound affect on the educational system. Teachers in this book knock themselves out to make school work for their special needs students. They come in early, stay late, reorganize subject matter for the whole class, and work hard to make teachers aware of their students' special needs.

If I were a teacher, though, I suspect I'd feel otherwise. Unless teachers are receiving extraordinary support from their administration, most of the accommodations suggested would be difficult to implement for one student and almost impossible to implement for multiple students with special needs. Teachers are recommended to provide peer partners, write social stories for individual situations, create unique visual schedules, and much more.

For teachers (and parents) looking for ideas, this book is a real goldmine. For those seeking realistic means for including multiple students with Asperger syndrome and similar diagnoses in the regular education classroom, it strikes me as a bit of a pipe dream.