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  Excerpt from Choice and Structure for Children with Autism (McNeil) -  Chapter 1 Introduction Choice & Structure for Children with Autism is about identifying and celebrating the role of structure in supporting autistic children. We want children with autism to do more than exist—not just live, but confidently engage in home life. We desire for them to do more than survive. We hold out hope that they grow to the best of their individual potentials. Research and experience have shown autism advocates that structure is a great tool to that end. Children with autism absolutely thrive within high levels of structure. In the following chapters, I hope to show how that structure does not need to be rigid, overbearing, or difficult.   Many Long Days at Home Our regular routines of school and work during the week and predictable weekend activities help all of us maintain balance. We know the schedule, we plan for the expectations, and we live these routines comfortably. What happens wh

  excerpt from Choice and Structure for Children with Autism -  Structured Choice   Presenting two to four choices to children multiple times throughout each activity will help them to be cooperative, focused and engaged. Further the presentation of choices gives children an opportunity to share their thoughts and interests helping them to feel worthwhile and significant. These feelings raise the level of a child’s self-confidence. Self-confidence feels good, improving the child’s mood and relationships. In the following sections, insights to the details of Structured Choice are provided. It may seem like quite-a-bit of information, yet once processed the act of utilizing Structure Choice is quick, easy and empowering for both children and adults.   How Many Choices to Offer? Here are some tips for deciding how many choices to offer:   Two choices: ·        Two choices are good during natural conversation where two options are easy and frequently offered. ·        Two choices are goo

I was inspired to write Choice and Structure for Children with Autism initially due to the struggles parents were expressing with having their families locked down, in-home, during the beginning stages of the pandemic in spring 2020. Little did I know at the time the Pandemic disruption to daily life would continue for another 3 years. Children with autism generally live very directed and adult guided lives from the time of their diagnosis throughout their school years. Autistic children receive special school supports and therapies from multiple professionals as well as distinct after school and home therapies. As part of their diagnosis, these children often struggle with down-time and may either become withdrawn or agitated without the structure and predictability of adult guided activities. When the pandemic hit autistic children and their parents were now left receiving little support through online and phone counseling to the parents. This left long and unpredictable stretches o

  Excerpt from  Choice and Structure for Children with Autism  (McNeil) -  Chapter 1 Some Simple Strategies Some Simple Strategies I would like to offer some simple strategies that could be helpful. Don’t worry! I am not going to attempt to teach you how to make your home a strict Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) program. I simply hope to offer some ideas to organize your day and offer a better outcome than the dismal portrait described above. These strategies will assist parents in developing simple and safe routines and choices that will make long days at home more engaging, cooperative, and positively stimulating for children with autism, their parents and siblings.   Ideas that will help decrease boredom, protesting, and isolation, while increasing, engagement, interaction, and cooperation will be shared throughout this book. The chapters will have relatable life stories included. These stories will demonstrate the chapter topic and provide a foundation for a discussion of the inf

  "AN ABSOLUTE MUST" We just received a wonderful review of Colette McNeil's book, Choice and Structure for Children with Autism from MidWest Book Review: Critique: An absolute 'must' as a coping resource for the parent of an autistic children in this pandemic restricted home environment, "Choice and Structure for Children with Autism: Getting through the Long Days of Quarantine" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, family, professional, and community library Disability Parenting collections in general, and Autistic Parenting reading lists in particular. Read the full review HERE . For more posts about Colette and her books, click HERE .

  Colette McNeil recently won the Pinnacle Books Achievement Awards' parenting category for her book, Choice and Structure for Children with Autism.   Choice and Structure for Children with Autism  has also won the Readers Views gold award for education and the Readers View silver award for parenting. For more posts about Colette and her book, click HERE . For posts about other Pinnacle Book Achievement Award winners, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter  here  or on our  home page . Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipr

  The second edition of Colette McNeil's popular book, Choice and Structure for Children with Autism , was released on Friday.  Here is the description of the book: How are you and your child with autism managing at home? Are you productively juggling or really struggling? Is your daughter playing throughout your home or staying alone? During interactions, is your son engaged or enraged? Are your toys being enjoyed or does your child get annoyed? After most days do you feel celebrated or devastated? If you are struggling, this little book offers support in improving focus, engagement, and cooperation. Strategies include ways to offer thoughtfully chosen choice and structure when engaging with autistic children. Parents of children with autism are certain to find this book helpful! Edition 1: Winner of Readers' Views Gold Award for Education Edition 1: Winner of Readers' Views Silver Award for Parenting For more posts about Colette and her books, click HERE .               

Choice and Structure for Children with Autism . Get it HERE .  How are you and your child with autism managing during his time of quarantine? Are you productively juggling or really struggling? Is your daughter playing throughout your home or staying alone? During interactions, is your son engaged or enraged? Are your toys being enjoyed or does your child get annoyed? After most days do you feel celebrated or devastated? If you are struggling, this little book offers some ideas of support in improving focus, engagement, and cooperation. Some strategies shared include ways to offer thoughtfully chosen choice and structure when engaging with autistic children. For more posts on Colette McNeil and her books, click HERE .

  excerpt from Choice and Structure for Children with Autism COMPREHENSION AND COMMUNICATION   Cues: Children with autism need clear and predictable cues to help them know what to do, when to do things, where to go, or what to get. Basically, they need cues to assist their comprehension of your requests. You may or may not be aware of it, but you are already using predictable cues with your children to let them know what expectations you have. A cue is anything that is done, said, shown, or positioned to signal an expectation to act, refrain from acting, or indicate that there will be upcoming information. A cue can be as obvious as standing in front of your child with a ball and asking, “Do you want to play basketball?” A cue can also be as subtle as raising an eyebrow and taking a deep breath before answering a request for another chocolate bar. With this breath, most children already know the answer is, “No.” Children with autism, by nature of the diagnosis, do not pick up on su