Autism awareness children’s book list
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It is difficult to express what a wonderful experience it was to spend time talking with Dr. Mary Zurn of the Primrose schools a little over a week ago. Dr. Zurn has the highest levels of intelligence, caring and genuine empathy, all of which are so important when working with the early childhood community in general, and even more so when working with the autism spectrum community.
During our interview I askedDr. Zurn for tips on helping parents of neuro-typical children who wish to facilitate their children’s acceptance of the inclusion process. Here is an excerpt from the interview:
Kathleen: Those are wonderful tips for parents of children with special needs. Now let’s say hypothetically that you are the parent of a neuro-typical child and you know that your child’s classroom is going to be using inclusion. What are a few things, (from the perspective of families of neuro-typical children in that classroom), that families can do to assist their children in understanding and appreciating the inclusion process? How could you assist your child in being more compassionate, more aware, more understanding of what is happening in this process?
Dr. Mary Zurn: I always typically fall back to children’s literature. I would find books to read and I think children view books as magical and they transport them to other experiences. What you can do is pick up a book that explains, ‘This child is in the process of fitting in….now how can I help?’. And I think that’s a very important piece that I hope parents understand how important that is. The character development is so important. And our parents value this very much. Many of our parents are attracted to us for that character development piece of our curriculum. That’s a value that they have and they want their children to grow up to be caring people as well. And so we get a lot of support from that perspective.
Kathleen: Do you have literature recommendations? I don’t mean right now, but that you can share with our readers about.
Dr. Mary Zurn: I certainly can pull some for you that I have used in the past….I’m just looking at my shelves and shelves of books and I’m sure I can pull some that will be good resources for your parents to help them with this.
Now hopefully you don’t just introduce the concept of caring because you have a need. Hopefully you have introduced the concept of caring prior to the classroom experiencing the need. But the literature is a wonderful way to help extend the concept.
What a wonderful answer! I borrowed the phrase, “Reading is the Magic Key that takes you where you want to be,” from a faith based reading program I came across many years ago, and used it over and over in the classroom setting. It certainly is true. Nothing can transport a child and engage their imagination like a well written piece of literature. So when Dr. Zurn shared her recommended list of children’s books that help with understanding autism spectrum situations and differences in general, I was so happy to bring them to you. Of course, as Dr. Zurn mentions above, do not wait for a situation to present itself before introducing the concept of acceptance to your child or children.
Alexandra Jessup Altman and Susan Keeter Susan Keeter
Dena Fox Luchsinger and Julie Olson
Lesley Ely and Polly Dunbar
Laurie Lears and Karen Ritz
Martha E. H. Rustad
Esther Watson
Bernadette Rossetti Shustak and Caroline Jay Church
B.G. Hennessy and Hiroe Nakata
Todd Parr
Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees
Dr. Seuss
My heartfelt thanks to Dr. Mary Zurn of the Primrose schools in taking the time to assemble recommendations for children's literature that entertains, builds character, opens minds to understanding, and elicits a caring early childhood environment.
I sincerely hope the Primrose schools flourish and multiply due to their focus on producing not just educated, but caring, kind hearted people who understand that when they look into the eyes of another, they are seeing another aspect of themselves. In my opinion, there is no shorter path to empathy than through the heart of a child. Enjoy your reading experiences.
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