Lisa Jo Rudy

I admit it. I'm a coward. When it comes to taking my autistic son out in public, I often balk. Can he handle this new place? Will noises set him off? What if we spend a lot of money and have to flee early because of his behavior?

The good news is that Lisa Jo Rudy wrote a book for parents like me. In Get Out, Explore, and Have Fun! How Families with Autism and Asperger Syndrome Can Get the Most out of Community Activities, she offers over 200-pages of advice on introducing show more developmentally-delayed children to broader experiences. Using gentle suggestions, Rudy outlines strategies for familiarizing an autistic child with sports, youth groups, museums, centers of faith, the arts, and clubs. Furthermore, every chapter ends with several pages to print out and offer to relevant community leaders so that they are aware of some of the quirks of autism, but that they should still challenge the child and be fair to everyone in the group.

I've read many books and articles on autism. Some have the tendency to be preachy, or suggest there's only one way to go about socialization. Not so here. Rudy encourages parents to challenge their child and try new things, but know when to read the signs and back down. If one sort of activity doesn't work now, try at a different, less busy time of day, or with a different instructor, or in a few years when the child is more mature. She often uses her own son, Tom, as an inspiring example along with other children of various ages.

When I finished this book, I felt empowered. I was ready to go through the long list of her suggested internet links to find out what was available locally. I realized that yes, I haven't been a total coward. I have tried new things with my son, some to success, others… not so much. The important thing is that I keep trying. Maybe we could try attending church again. Maybe I could investigate local clubs. With this resource, that process will remain a challenge, but now I have more information at hand to educate myself and any group leaders involved.

I highly recommend this to any parent of an autistic child.

*Note that I received a gratis copy from the publisher. If I had not, I would have bought this book within the coming months. show less

The Time For Kids book about snakes is a fantastic example of a guided reading book. Not only is it an in-depth scientific look at snakes but it is also a prime example of great text features including labels, diagrams, speech bubbles ,a did-you-know text box and more! The book has some amazing close up images of snakes that really draw in the readers. This book is classified as a level 3 reading level which is defined on the back of the book as "confident reader- paragraph use sentences of show more varied lengths". I love how this book directly gives educators the level of text so they know when the book is applicable. One small detail I loved about the book was its use of a different texture and color snakeskin on each page. This book could be used to compare and contrast different types of snakes, be used as a science lesson about animal characteristics, a language arts lesson about what text features make a book enticing to reader, and so many more possibilities. I highly recommend using this book in grades 3+ because of its level of vocabulary as well as length of 30 pages. This book could be used over a course of multiple days as a guided reading group. show less

In my opinion, this is an excellent informational book about snakes. It provides detailed pictures with captions and explanations so the reader could learn as much as possible about snakes. The book is broken down into different sections and can be used during a non-fiction unit.

I liked this book. I thought it was informative and had lots of fun facts about snakes. It was an easy book to read and follow. The book had very bright and vibrant illustrations. I read the book to my kids and my one of my sons thought it was a "cool book." It explores the many aspects of a snake, such as: survival, reproduction, eating habits, and what is being done to protect snakes from extinction.
The book flows well and transitions to different topics on snakes smoothly. It takes you show more on a journey with the snakes and the pictures help to bring it to life. This book could be incorporated into a biology lesson used to teach kids about the life of a snake. show less