Dr. Heather MacKenzie

Reaching and Teaching Children with Special Needs

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Media Kit

Media Release

New Book Aims at Helping Children with Autism to Help Themselves

For Immediate Release

Winnipeg, MB (Canada), Sept. 7, 2010 For far too long, well-meaning adults have been directing and instructing children with special needs, but rarely giving them a chance to make their own decisions, says Dr. Heather MacKenzie, a noted expert and author in the field of children with special needs.

“For many years, I have watched these children grow up to be dependent on adults for absolutely everything that happens in their day. They wait to be told to do some things and not others; when to stop or start an activity; to calm down, stay still, even when to eat and sleep. They never get a chance to shift from being adult-regulated to being self-regulated,” says Dr. MacKenzie. The outcome is that as adults, they need continued supervision. They don’t develop true independence.”

“I believe that in past years we have let a lot of children down,” she says, “and that despite our best efforts, we failed to give them the skills they needed to function independently in society.” The result of much research is MacKenzie’s new and highly acclaimed book, The Autistic Child’s Guide to How to Behave. This book aims to give today’s pre-school children with autism, and other developmental disabilities such as fetal alcohol and fragile X, the ability to successfully make their own decisions and avoid being dependent on other people for every choice that needs to be made.

MacKenzie, who has worked with many hundreds of children over a 36-year career as a Speech-Language Therapist, introduces spark* in this, her third book. spark*, the Self-Regulation Program for Awareness and Resilience in Kids, is an innovative program for teaching self-regulation of behavior, thinking and emotions to young children. The book is an easy-to-use, step-by-step manual, primarily aimed at teachers, psychologists and speech-language therapists. However, with the ingenious “Newsletters to Parents” which are included, this book is also something that would be a great resource for any parent coping with a child with developmental difficulties.

MacKenzie’s first two books, Reaching and Teaching the Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder and One Story at a Time – Using the magic of storybooks to enhance development in children with learning challenges, have become indispensable tools for many, and she is a highly sought-after speaker at autism conferences around the world.

This new book promises to make a definite difference in facilitating learning and in helping children to make good choices and decisions on their own.

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Summary of The Autistic Child’s Guide to How to Behave

The Autistic Child’s Guide to How to Behave introduces spark*, the Self-Regulation Program of Awareness and Resilience in Kids. spark* is an innovative program for teaching self-regulation of behavior, thinking and emotions to young children on the autism spectrum as well as those with other developmental disabilities such as fetal alcohol and fragile X. This book is for teachers, speech-language therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and others interested in helping children optimize their abilities. This child-centered program can be done in individual or group settings.

Based on well-researched theory and extensive clinical experience, the groundbreaking spark* program includes 69 step-by-step lessons for helping the child move from imitation of easy actions through to self-direction and self-control of behavior, thinking and emotions. spark* is comprehensive, practical and systematic, covering details from pre-assessment through lesson implementation to evaluation of progress. It provides all information and resources needed to run the program successfully. spark* includes detailed lesson focus and goals, materials needed (many are included in the appendices along with reproducible forms), how to structure and introduce the lesson and then practice the skills as well as ways to prompt and solidify learning. Collaboration with families is encouraged throughout; 18 parent newsletters are included which describe what the child is working on and how the family can help support and extend his self-regulation skills. Certificates of completion for each of the three units, declaring “I have spark*”, are provided to help the children celebrate their accomplishments.

Unique features of spark*:

Focuses on three important areas of self-regulation: behavioral, cognitive and emotional.
Presents enjoyable activities that help each child progress from awareness of simple motor acts to cognitive and emotional self-regulation. Strategies learned in behavioral self-regulation serve as a foundation for other areas.
Emphasizes developing resilience and self-advocacy skills in the children so that they can remain self-regulated even in stressful or disruptive situations.
Explicitly teaches generalization of each self-regulation skill.
Is based on current neurological research and works to enhance attention and executive functioning.
Is suitable for preschool-aged children and/or those with lower language or cognitive levels.

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Fact Sheet

Title	*The autistic child’s guide to how to behave* – Introducing spark, the Self-Regulation Program for Awareness and Resilience in Kids*.
Author	Heather MacKenzie
Publisher	Wired Fox Publications
Release date	September 20, 2010
Category	Education and Teaching
Format	Perfect bound, 425 pages, 8.5” x 11”
ISBN	978-0-9684466-4-5
Price	$39.95
Availability	Wired Fox Publications

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Review of The Autistic Child’s Guide to How to Behave

The spark* program is an invaluable tool for a busy clinician. The spark* lessons are brilliant!!!! Thorough, clearly outlined, comprehensive in instructions and cueing and easy to follow.

Carmen Hengeveld, M. S.L.P., R.SLP, S-LP(C), Registered Speech-Language Pathologist, Calgary, Alberta

The spark* model is clearly described – all the way from research-based rationale to step-by-step instructions in the lesson plans. I’d be feeling hopeful and eager to implement these ideas and see what a difference spark* could make in helping my child reach her potential!

Teeya Scholten, Ph.D., Registered Psychologist, Calgary, Alberta

spark* is a refreshing alternative to more strictly behavioral teaching and treats children with ASC with more respect giving them an opportunity to blossom.

Karen, Duff, M.A., Speech-Language Pathologist, Victoria, B.C.

I think many parents of children with ASC will find spark* to be life-changing for them.

Janine Montgomery, Ph.D., Educator, Winnipeg, Manitoba

In order for a child to gain success in life and reach his/her full potential, the whole child needs to be educated. spark* does an excellent job of addressing the child’s needs related to cognitive, behavioral and emotional self-regulation. The lessons are well-planned and well-organized. Educators and support staff will find the lessons very user-friendly.

Laureen Schellenberg, Special Education Resource Teacher, Winnipeg, Manitoba

spark* is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to teaching the metacognitive skills necessary for self-directed learning and social interaction. It breaks down higher level complex cognitive processes into measurable and achievable increments. spark* trains the independent use and transfer of skills to meaningful contexts at home, at school and in the community. It empowers children with autism to participate more functionally in a variety of daily life situations.

Susan Greaves, M.A., Speech-Language Pathologist, Edmonton, Alberta

spark* is easily usable by teachers and other professionals. All the material needed to use the program is included. The program always emphasizes praising the child and keeping families involved. This book has condensed an amazing amount of resource material into one very usable book.

Susan Deike, B.A., B.A. (Journalism), Communication Specialist, Calgary, Alberta

Author biography

Heather MacKenzie, Ph.D., is a speech-language pathologist and educator who has spent a large part of her career developing and implementing new approaches for enhancing learning in children with special needs. She has a special interest in understanding autism spectrum conditions (ASC). A major focus of her work with children has been on understanding them and how they approach learning. She has used this knowledge to develop models for optimizing their development.

Heather developed the Learning Preferences and Strengths model which is designed to determine each child’s learning preferences and strengths and then ‘harness’ the preferences and strengths to improve the child’s learning and development. In her current book, The Autistic Child’s Guide, she has developed the spark* model which is an extension of her child-centered, mediational approach to teaching and learning.

Heather has provided workshops and presentations all over North America, in the U.K. and in Asia.

Heather’s areas of expertise include autism spectrum conditions, language and communication disorders, learning preferences and strengths, personality/psychological type and multiple intelligences in children with special needs.

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Question and answer

Q: What is self-regulation?

A: Self-regulation is the conscious ability to control your body, thinking and emotions. Think of yourself getting ready to go grocery shopping. You make a list of things you need. You strike each item off the list as you put it into your cart. You resist buying that wonderful chocolate chocolate chunk Häagen Daz® ice cream. You can’t find your favorite brand of yogurt so you choose another. All of this requires self-regulation – from the planning, to remembering to resisting temptation to being flexible about a product.

I’m sure it took a while for you to develop these skills. There are probably times when you just can’t exercise resistance to the ice cream and when you have difficulty dealing with the disappointment of not finding your favorite brand.

These are all self-regulation skills you learn over your life span. They start as an infant when a child sucks on his pacifier or fingers extra hard to self-sooth. Children also learn (eventually!) to hold back from clobbering their brother or sister for some real or imagined infraction. They find out when and where it’s okay to let loose and when and where to be more restrained (or discreet!). Children learn to control their attention so they don’t get distracted, so they can remember important things and can explain their ideas so others can understand them. In the area of emotional self-regulation, children learn to detect social cues, like a not-so-happy mom face or voice, and to respond accordingly.

Over the preschool years, we see big improvements in self-regulation. But it takes at least the first two decades of life to really be able to self-regulate your behavior, thinking and emotions and more refinements occur throughout life.

Q: Why is self-regulation important in children with special needs?

A: First of all, self-regulation skills are important for all children (and adults) to develop. People with stronger self-regulation skills show better achievement in school and superior social skills among other things. As one experienced teacher who read my book said, “Every child would benefit from spark*.”

For children with special needs, there tends to be too much adult direction. For too many years, I have seen children with special needs become dependent on adults for everything. The children wait to be told to do things and not to do other things – when to stop, start, calm down, stay, eat, sleep, etc. They never make the shift from being adult-regulated to self-regulated.

What is the outcome of this? As adults, they need continued adult supervision and can’t be left on their own. They don’t develop much true independence, as in making their own decisions and choices – simple things that other people take for granted. From my experience with hundreds of children and young adults, I fear they don’t develop into who they could be.

Q: What is spark*?

A: spark* is a systematic way to teach very young children with autism and other developmental disabilities to take control of their bodies, thinking and emotions. As the name suggests, Self-Regulation Program of Awareness and Resilience for Kids, it emphasizes helping the child become aware of his abilities to manage his own behavior, thinking and emotions as well as to become more resilient. By that I mean he learns to cope in situations that may be distracting, a little stressful or disruptive. We can’t assume that, once he learns the skills, he can just use them in everyday life. That part is built into spark*.

In order to learn self-regulation, the child has to first learn that he has the ability to control his body, thinking and emotions. Then he has to learn when he needs to regulate himself and when he can let loose. A step that is crucial to this building process is to help him become more resilient. The goal is to help him cope in everyday situations, resisting distractions, temptations and disruptions. We also include a self-advocacy phase with each skill so that the child learns he can take control of a situation. For example, if he’s having problems concentrating on an activity, he can ask others to be quieter or he can go to a less noisy place.

We start with simple actions and variations on those actions to help children learn that they can move slowly or quickly, with great intensity or very softly. spark* makes sure that control of actions is quickly transferred to the child with his learning where he needs to slow himself down or let loose. We then move on to managing their own thought processes, making sure they hear an entire instruction, and then to emotions. In that section, the child learns about social clues and signals and how other people can model things he should know and do.

Q: Why did you develop spark*?

A: There really is nothing out there for teachers and therapists and other professionals to help young children develop self-regulation skills.

I believe strongly in ‘working with’ each child rather than ‘doing to’ him. I view children with special needs as wanting to learn and it’s my job to make sure they understand what they are learning and why. They have brains and a desire to learn so let’s engage them. I’ve included scripts for the lessons in spark* so that anyone using it will be able to engage the children in the process of learning self-regulation – NOT ‘make’ them do it.

Another important feature of spark*is the very long-term vision it represents. I shocked many readers with the abysmal outcome statistics for people with autism. Adults with autism are not achieving the independence and freedom that they are capable of. For example, a large majority are unemployed and an even larger proportion don’t live independently. That has got to change. We need to work from moment-one on skills that are critical to adult existence, like resilience and self-advocacy.

Q: You say that this book is intended for teachers and therapists. Could parents use this book?

A: spark* includes complete step-by-step lesson plans – one builds on the next. I’ve written each lesson so that the instructions are scripted for the person using it. There is complete description of how to practice with the child and help him solidify his learning. Along with all of this are most of the materials you would need and sources for any additional resources. Even though a lot of the information presented in the spark* model would be a little foreign for most parents, the lessons could be pretty easily implemented by anyone because of the detailed way they are presented.

Q: I noticed that you use the term “Autism Spectrum Condition” rather than “Disorder”, is this something different?

A: I’d encountered the term “Autism Spectrum Condition” and really liked it. ASC is the same thing as ASD but it takes it out of the realm of pathology. It’s a condition and not a disorder. ASC implies that autism is a ‘state of being’ rather than having something wrong with you. I believe so strongly in the importance of ‘de-pathologizing’ how we view and approach people with what have traditionally been called “Developmental Disabilities”, that ASC fits really well with my philosophy.

Q: Isn’t this title, The Autistic Child’s Guide to How to Behave, rather sassy?

A: In a word, yes. I wanted something that was to the point and would grab attention. So many of the book titles in the area of autism and special needs are either quite dry or euphemistic. I wanted to highlight the main goal of my book in everyday language. A friend of mine, who is a remarkable wordsmith, suggested this one. After thinking about the ‘between the eyes’ nature of the title, I came to like it very well.

Q: spark* focuses on preschool-aged children. What about older children?

A: I wanted spark* to help young or lower functioning children develop a really solid base of self-regulation skills. It can be used with somewhat older children but plans are in the works to extend the spark* model to older children in elementary and junior high school.

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10 ways to promote self-regulation every day – see the link here

Sample spark* lesson – follow this link

Excerpt of The Autistic Child’s Guide to How to Behave – follow this link