Description
Konnect 1 revised, revamped and even more neuro-affirming than ever!
Can’t find books that support Autistic kids to be themselves? Want something that doesn’t teach outdated neuro-conformative “social skills” because they are really harmful to Autistic kids and their self esteem? Then your search is well and truly over- look no further – Konnect 1 is here so you can start your journey to support the Autistic child in your life. It’s called Konnect because it helps everyone understand each other a lot more and supports Autistic and non-autistic people alike to connect with one another.
What sort of topics will I and my child/ client learn about together?
- Understanding what Autistic means
- All About Me
- Expressing My Emotions
- Using Words
- Mixed Messages
- Things I Love
- Worry Words
- Making Friends
- Asking for Help
- Being Myself
How will it help me?
You will:
- Learn about Autistic communication
- Learn about your child’s specific way of communicating
- Talk to each other about stimming and body language
- Understand your child’s way of expressing themselves better
- Build your confidence in communicating with your child
- See the areas where your child needs support most
- Connect with your child and have fun learning together
- Support your child to be themselves authentically
- Foster their self esteem and positive sense of self
How will it help the child?
They will
- Feel supported in their self-advocacy
- Learn about non-autistic communication
- Start to decode social situations and rituals
- Start to decode casual use of language
- Learn powerful self-advocacy skills
- Employ strategies when asking for help
- Express their worries and areas of support
- Learn how to navigate friendships safely
Who can use this book?
This book and all of our books are specially designed to suit multiple users so they are suitable for schools, parents to use at home, professionals to use in practise, grandparents to use with there grandkids and the beauty is… everyone learns from the book, not just the child.
Do I need some special training to use the book?
Not at all, you can use this book with confidence and Evaleen has included special hints and tips along the way. If you’d like to learn more from us we do have a whole range of courses to choose from.
While people still love our original Konnect books we thought it was time to revamp them – with everything changing so fast in relation to Autistic people these days no one can afford to be behind the times and as we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of everything Autistic we are delighted to present our 2023 edition of Konnect 1.
Is there much overlap between the new and old Konnect 1?
There is a lot of new content and exercises in Konnect 1 and lots more text on each page. We’ve kept a few of the old favourites from the original book as well.
Our books are internationally acclaimed – here is just a little look at what people are saying about our books:
“I wish I had these social skills books for autism when I was a child. I am using these workbooks for my child clients and I finally feel like my support of Autistic children is affirming and strengths-based, fostering self-respect and self-advocacy skills in my young clients while helping them to make sense of the social rules of the world in which we live.” Yael Clark., Educational & Developmental Psychologist, Melbourne, Australia.
A wonderful series of activity books for Autistic kids written by an Autistic Teacher. It’s full of positive messages about autism and activities to help kids aged 4 plus navigate the non-autistic social world, while maintaining a positive self identity. They are the result of 44 years of living as an Autistic in a predominantly non-autistic world, 20 years of teaching and of 6 years of providing social skills courses for children and training for parents and professionals. Unlike typical social skills books “for autism” the Konnect books empower children to be themselves.
Here’s what Neuropsychologist, Dr. Catherine Crompton says about our social skills books:
“The Konnect Social Skills Series are the first social skills activity books to help neurodiverse young people embrace and harness their individual ways of communicating. The activities allow children to find their own ways to express themselves, and learn more about themselves and others. They support children to develop the skills to communicate what they think and how they feel in diverse ways. They encourage children to build confidence and relationships in a way that works with them, using their diverse strengths. It’s so important to have materials created by neurodivergent members of the community, and Evaleen has combined her experiences as an Autistic person with her expertise in speech and drama to create truly unique and valuable social skills resources.”
Dr. Catherine Crompton is a research neuropsychologist at The Patrick Wild Centre, University of Edinburgh. Her current research explores neurodiverse social interaction or “social skills”, and how autism-specific social behaviours facilitate interactions between Autistic peers. Her research re-conceptualises social intelligence within a neurodiversity framework, challenging the notion that there is only one legitimate form of social intelligence.
These books are also supported by our Get Konnected Course for professionals
Konnect 1 is suitable for age 4 plus used with guidance from a grown up and is suitable for up to about 12 yrs
Konnect 2 is suitable for age 6 plus (using book 1 first)
Konnect 3 is suitable for age 8 plus (using book 1 and 2 first)
They are best used as a series , using book 1 as a foundation to the next 2 books- each book builds on the themes in the previous ones.