Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I knew as soon as I opened the book to the first exercise it was going to be a good one. We see a picture and there are questions for children to answer about what’s going on. What do you hear? What do you feel? What do you guess is going on? And so on… This will be a great book for parents, counselors, and teachers, both for its kid-friendly exercises and because it includes guidance - in short doses - in every chapter. As author Daniels, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker notes, the skills learned (with adults partnering) are easier to absorb in “bite-sized” pieces. She covers a wide range of social skills. She doesn’t miss much and she has clearly had hands-on experience, and she’s a mom, too. She rightly calls social skills “superpowers” and has an exercise where kids can rate their own strengths and weaknesses. Some topics include starting and keeping a conversation going, accepting different qualities in friends, when to go along with the group and when not to, the three steps to reaching a compromise, telling tales, dealing with dares, table manners, and much more. There are many gold nuggets that will be especially useful for kids on the spectrum, such as reading body language, how to say goodbye, how close to stand to people so they’re not uncomfortable (body bubbles - a great way to describe this so kids will remember!), and reviewing what someone said to see if they’re being oversensitive – or not. This book gets an A+.