Creative Therapy for Children with Autism, ADD, and Asperger's: Using Artistic Creativity to Reach, Teach, and Touch Our Children

by Janet Tubbs

It is no easy task to find ateaching technique that can truly change the course of a child with specialneeds. Thirty years ago, when Janet Tubbs began working with children who hadlow self-esteem and behavioral problems, she developed a successful programusing art, music, and movement. Believing that unconventional children requiredunconventional therapies, she then took her program one step further—sheapplied it to children with autism,ADD/ADHD, and Asperger’s Syndrome. Her innovative methods and strategies notonly worked, but they actually defied the experts. In this new book, JanetTubbs has put together a powerful teaching tool to help parents, therapists,and teachers work with their children.

Creative Therapy for Children with Autism, ADD, and Asperger's ​​is divided into two parts.Part One provides an overview of Autism Spectrum Disorders and introduces andexplains Janet’s novel approach to teaching. Her goal is to balance the child’sbody, mind, and spirit through proven techniques. Part Two provides a widevariety of exercises, activities, and games that are both fun and effective.Each is designed to reduce hyperactivity, increase and prolong focus, decreaseanger, develop fine motor skills, or improve social and verbal skills. All arepart of a program created to help these children relate to their environmentwithout fear, anxiety, or discomfort.

A child may appear stubborn anddifficult, but that doesn’t mean that the child isn’t intelligent, curious, orcreative. With the right treatment, such a child can be reached, taught, andset on the road to improvement. The lessons provided in this book may be justwhat you and your child have been waiting for.

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2007

Reviews

[PRJ Greenwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reasonable book crippled by outdated and a fair amount of blatantly incorrect information.

[Rachel Vryhof · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for caregivers looking to try something new in their interactions with their special needs child.

I have a few problems with the book overall that keeps me from rating it higher. The first is that over half the book is taken up with describing the conditions on the autism spectrum. I assume most people picking up this book already know this about their child. If it were a smaller portion of the book overall I wouldn't have anything to say, but it is much too lengthy in relation to the stated topic.

My next problem is that a book about creativity and art has zero pictures. There is nothing in this to visually spark my own imagination and help me feel confident that I can use these tools in a home setting. Especially when there's a different feeling around being at a dedicated art therapy space versus integrating this into everyday living and family routines.

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Amazing book! Lots of information! Lots of techniques!

[Rosemary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book lost me when it referred to the MMR vaccine being a possible causative factor in autism. I then had a quick look at a couple of later chapters. I agree with the ideas about fairy tales being valuable, and the list of suggested fairy tales according to age group on page 172 is useful. I also agree that music is important and children need music, and there was a moderately interesting case study (a far more comprehensive treatment of this topic can be found in "Music, Language and Autism" by Adam Ockelford). In my brief look at Part Two, the exercises, I didn't find anything practical for a child with limited language skills. Overall, of possible interest to those who follow "alternative" theories.

[Jami · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is Waldorf education in therapy form. I don't think the author gives nearly enough credit to the source of nearly all of her recommendations.