Books with author Ymkje Wideman-van der Laan

Logan overhears his grandma tell her friend he has autism, and he asks her, ”Autism is...?” She explains it to him in this beautifully illustrated story. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a disability that, according to new statistics released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on March 29, 2014, affects an estimated 1 out of 68 children (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls) in the US alone. It is a spectrum disorder because its impact on development can range from mild to severe. The areas of development most affected are social interaction and communication skills, difficulties with verbal and non-verbal communication, and leisure play. Someone wisely said, “If you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with autism.” The characteristics are different with each unique individual, and so are the ways to interact, teach, and care for them. You may or may not wish to explain the term autism to your child at a young age, but if you do, I hope this book can help make it easier for you, as it did for me when explaining autism to Logan. His inquisitive mind wanted to know, and once he read this story, even before it was illustrated, he was satisfied with the answer.

Logan overhears his Grandma tell her friend he has Autism, and he asks her, ”Autism is...?” She explains it to him in this beautifully illustrated story.Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a disability that affects an estimated 1 out of 68 children (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls) in the US alone. It is a "spectrum” disorder because its impact on development can range from mild to severe. The areas of development most affected are social interaction and communication skills, difficulties with verbal and non-verbal communication, and leisure play. Someone wisely said, “If you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with autism.” The characteristics are different with each unique individual, and so are the ways to interact, teach, and care for them.You may or may not wish to explain autism to your child at a young age, but if you do, I hope this book can help make it easier for you, as it did for me when explaining autism to Logan. His inquisitive mind wanted to know, and once he read this story, even before it was illustrated, he was satisfied with the answer.

Logan sees his grandma wipe away a tear, and asks her why there is water on her face. She talks with him about feelings, and teaches him The Feelings ABCs. On one particularly difficult day, after receiving some sad news, my grandson saw me wipe away a tear. He touched my cheek and remarked matter-of-factly, “There is water on your cheek, Grandma. It leaks!” Children with autism often do not sense the feelings of others, and can have difficulty recognizing or relating to abstract emotions. I wrote Feelings Are…? to help my grandson learn about emotions and respecting others’ feelings. He loves ABCs and he caught on quickly. One of his favorites is “Y is for yearning.” He sure loves those croissants!Reviewing The Feelings ABCs often with my grandson was a great first step in helping him learn to recognize and respect the feelings of others more. I hope this book will be helpful to other children with autism also.

Logan runs to a busy street and nearly has an accident! Once safely back inside, his grandma talks about the meaning of danger and teaches him ten important danger rules. Children with autism often lack a sense of danger, and it can be difficult to teach them safety rules. My grandson was no exception. After a few near accidents, I was desperate to get through to him that running into the street, putting his hand onto a hot stove, and unbuckling his seat belt while driving, could result in serious injury.Danger is…? struck a chord with him, and after reading the story with him repeatedly, he started referring to it when I was cooking in the kitchen, while out in the car, or when crossing a busy road. To my delight, he stopped without prodding at the curb one day, and quoted Danger Rule #7. I also created a Danger Rules key ring for him. Visually and verbally reviewing the Danger Rules on his key ring regularly, and especially before going out, reinforced them even more, and is helping to keep him safe.I hope this book can contribute to keeping other children with autism safe also.

Logan has trouble with sharing, and teases a friend. His grandma teaches him how to be a good friend with some fantastic friendship rules.Children on the autism spectrum often want to interact with other children, but they sometimes have trouble making friends. Learning how to foster appropriate friendships can avoid problems as they grow older, prevent bullying, and lead to better relationships with peers with or without autism—and the earlier these skills are learned, the better.Non-autistic children usually learn social skills naturally and in a spontaneous way, by watching and mingling with everyone around them, but children with autism may need to learn these skills in a more tangible way, through social stories, role play, and other means. My grandson has been very fortunate in attending an excellent after-school program, which focuses specifically on social skills. Still, putting what he learns into practice with his peers and friends does not come naturally to him. One day, after a particularly rough day, he asked me if I could please write another book for him. When I inquired what it should be about, he responded that it should be about making friends, and that he wanted me to call it, Friends Are…? Of course, this book is by no means a comprehensive manual on how children on the autism spectrum can nurture friendships, but I hope that the different “friendship rules” in Friends Are…? can be a springboard for conversation, as they were for my grandson and me, and that the Word List and Fantastic Friendship Rules Checklist in the back of the book will be helpful to you as you teach your child the important social skills needed for developing good friendships.

Logan doesn’t finish his tasks at school, so he has to do a lot of homework. After his grandma reads his daily report, she teaches him some important school rules to help him do better.Keeping to and focusing on a task, staying seated, and transitioning from one activity or place to another while in school can be challenging for children with autism. It certainly was for my grandson when he started attending school. We were very fortunate to have the help and expertise of Ron Gibson, MA CAS, the lead school psychologist and chairperson of the Autism Problem Solving Team for Harnett County Schools, N.C. He and his team developed some basic school rules for children with autism, and his teachers introduced these rules to my grandson’s class. To help reinforce the rules he was learning at school, I wrote, School Rules Are…? I also made some simple illustrated visual supports to go along with each rule. My grandson, and the other children in his class, soon caught on, and Good Eyes, Good Ears, Good Hands, Good Feet, Good Voice, Good Friends, became household words. Verbally and visually reminding my grandson of the rules regularly and consistently, both at home and in the classroom, continues to make a big difference and helps his time at school to be successful and productive. I hope School Rules Are…?, with its bold and bright illustrations, can help do the same for other children with autism.

While out shopping, Logan bumps into a customer. His grandma asks him to apologize, and later teaches him about good manners. When at age five, my grandson bumped into another customer while out shopping, and I asked him to apologize, he couldn’t understand why, as it was obviously an accident. I told him that apologizing was having good manners, to which he questioningly replied, “Manners are…?” It was a perfect opportunity to teach him, so after we returned home, we made a list of the most important good manners together, which I later put to rhyme and included in this book, Manners Are…?I found that posting a Good Manners Chart, and offering a Good Manners Certificate after my grandson filled up the chart with stickers, was a great incentive and visual way to reinforce particular manners that needed focus at any given time. I have included a sample chart and certificate in the back of this book, which you can cut out and laminate, if you wish. Once laminated, you can fill in the blanks with additional manners that you would like to focus on with your child. Even with charts and positive reinforcement, learning good manners doesn’t happen overnight and is a continuous process. Just the other day, at 8 years old, while my grandson was pushing the shopping cart for me at a grocery store, he energetically moved forward, shouting, “Watch out, you guys!” to people in his way. I explained to him that was not the right way to ask people to pass, and that the well-mannered way to say it was, “Excuse me, sir or ma’am, may I pass, please?” He picked it up quickly, and was so pleased when someone commended him for his good manners.Of course, there are many more manners than the ones included in Manners Are…?, but these were what my grandson needed to learn and focus on first. I hope that they can be a good start for other children with autism too, and that this book will make it just a little easier for you to teach them.

Logan runs to a busy street and nearly has an accident! Once safely back inside, his grandma talks about the meaning of danger and teaches him ten important danger rules. Children with autism often lack a sense of danger, and it can be difficult to teach them safety rules. My grandson was no exception. After a few near accidents, I was desperate to get through to him that running into the street, putting his hand onto a hot stove, and unbuckling his seat belt while driving, could result in serious injury. "Danger Is…?" struck a chord with him, and after reading the story with him repeatedly, he started referring to it when I was cooking in the kitchen, while out in the car, or when crossing a busy road. To my delight, he stopped without prodding at the curb one day, and quoted Danger Rule # 7. I also created a Danger Rules key ring for him. Visually and verbally reviewing the Danger Rules on his key ring regularly, and especially before going out, reinforced them even more, and is helping to keep him safe. I hope this book can contribute to keeping other children with autism safe also.

Logan sees his grandma wipe away a tear, and asks her why there is water on her face. She talks with him about feelings, and teaches him The Feelings ABCs. On one particularly difficult day, after receiving some sad news, my grandson saw me wipe away a tear. He touched my cheek and remarked matter-of-factly, “There is water on your cheek, Grandma. It leaks!” Children with autism often do not sense the feelings of others, and can have difficulty recognizing or relating to abstract emotions. I wrote Feelings Are…? to help my grandson learn about emotions and respecting others’ feelings. He loves ABCs and he caught on quickly. One of his favorites is “Y is for yearning.” He sure loves those croissants! Reviewing The Feelings ABCs often with my grandson was a great first step in helping him learn to recognize and respect the feelings of others more. I hope this book will be helpful to other children with autism also.

Logan does not finish his tasks at school, so he has to do a lot of homework. After his grandma reads his daily report, she teaches him some important school rules to help him do better. Keeping to and focusing on a task, staying seated, and transitioning from one activity or place to another while in school, can be challenging for children with autism. It certainly was for my grandson when he started attending school. We were very fortunate to have the help and expertise of Ron Gibson, MA CAS, the lead school psychologist and chairperson of the Autism Problem Solving Team for Harnett County Schools, N.C., He and his team developed some basic school rules for children with autism, and his teachers introduced these rules to my grandson’s class. To help reinforce the rules he was learning at school, I wrote "School Rules Are…?" I also made some simple illustrated visual supports to go along with each rule. My grandson, and the other children in his class, soon caught on, and Good Eyes, Good Ears, Good Hands, Good Feet, Good Voice, Good Friends, became household words. Verbally and visually reminding my grandson of the rules regularly and consistently, both at home and in the classroom, made a big difference and helped make his time at school successful and productive. I hope "School Rules Are…?" with its bold and bright illustrations can help do the same for other children with autism.

While out shopping, Logan bumps into a customer. His grandma asks him to apologize, and later teaches him about good manners. When at age five, my grandson bumped into another customer while out shopping, and I asked him to apologize, he couldn’t understand why, as it was obviously an accident. I told him that apologizing was having good manners, to which he questioningly replied, “Manners are…?” It was a perfect opportunity to teach him, so after we returned home, we made a list of the most important good manners together, which I later put to rhyme and included in this book, "Manners Are…?" I found that posting a Good Manners Chart, and offering a Good Manners Certificate after my grandson filled up the chart with stickers, was a great incentive and visual way to reinforce particular manners that needed focus at any given time. I have included a sample chart and certificate in the back of this book, which you can cut out, photocopy, or laminate if you wish. Once copied or laminated, you can fill in the blanks with additional manners that you would like to focus on with your child. Even with charts and positive reinforcement, learning good manners doesn’t happen overnight and is a continuous process. Just the other day, at 8 years old, while my grandson was pushing the shopping cart for me at a grocery store, he energetically moved forward, shouting, “Watch out, you guys!” to people in his way. I explained to him that was not the right way to ask people to pass, and that the well-mannered way to say it was, “Excuse me, sir or ma’am, may I pass, please?” He picked it up quickly, and was so pleased when someone commended him for his good manners. Of course, there are many more manners than the ones included in "Manners Are…?", but these were what my grandson needed to learn and focus on first. I hope that they can be a good start for other children with autism too, and that this book will make it just a little easier for you to teach them.

Logan has trouble with sharing, and teases a friend. His grandma teaches him how to be a good friend with some fantastic friendship rules. Children on the autism spectrum often want to interact with other children, but they sometimes have trouble making friends. Learning how to foster appropriate friendships can avoid problems as they grow older, prevent bullying, and lead to better relationships with peers with or without autism—and the earlier these skills are learned, the better. Non-autistic children usually learn social skills naturally and in a spontaneous way, by watching and mingling with everyone around them, but children with autism may need to learn these skills in a more tangible way, through social stories, role play, and other means. My grandson has been very fortunate in attending an excellent after-school program, which focuses specifically on social skills. Still, putting what he learns into practice with his peers and friends does not come naturally to him. One day, after a particularly rough day, he asked me if I could please write another book for him. When I inquired what it should be about, he responded that it should be about making friends, and that he wanted me to call it, Friends Are…? Of course, this book is by no means a comprehensive manual on how children on the autism spectrum can nurture friendships, but I hope that the different “friendship rules” in Friends Are…? can be a springboard for conversation, as they were for my grandson and me, and that the Word List and Fantastic Friendship Rules Checklist in the back of the book will be helpful to you as you teach your child the important social skills needed for developing good friendships.