![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/60f8120a6908143274ff04a7\/1663559779142-1A7WAOC48Q6SXCPYTMH2\/Book+Review+-+Autism+Abracadabra.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy Desiree Kaur<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Image source: Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Reading is a sacred activity to me. When I read, I always hear a voice narrating the content to me. This helps me stay focused, play out the characters, conversations or tips, and imagine the written words as if I am watching a movie in my head. Reading Kate C Wilde\u2019s, Autism Abracadabra, I could hear Kate\u2019s voice, inflections; imagine her expressions and drink in the wealth of experience as I read this book from cover-to-cover in just a day.<\/p>\n Kate C Wilde (left) with Desiree Kaur at the SonRise Start-Up Program in Malaysia -November 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n I\u2019ve had the privilege of attending an in-person course and online Webinars \/ courses conducted by Kate. Suffice to say, I am quite a fan, because not only does she make for an interesting trainer to help caregivers and loved one of those with autism learn ways to connect, she is an exceptionally gifted writer who creates content that is relatable, practical and with \u201coh so many options\u201d covering the wide range of the autism spectrum.<\/p>\n The full title of this book definitely does it justice – Autism Abracadabra. Seven Magic Ingredients to Help Develop Your Child\u2019s Interactive Attention Span.<\/strong> Hence, the term grimoire<\/em> used in the title of this piece. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a grimoire is \u201ca book of magic spells and invocations.\u201d<\/em> While there are no invocations in Kate\u2019s book, the abundance of games in different variations, to me, is equivalent to magical spells that are specially designed to help us interact better with our loved ones on the spectrum.<\/p>\n \n It is divided into 2 parts. Part 1 spells out what exactly the seven magic ingredients are. This part of the book is called \u201cThe How To.\u201d Simply put, it outlines for readers how to use this book\u2019s content. It explains very clearly what the seven magic ingredients are, with real life examples from Kate\u2019s working with some 1,500 autistic individuals ranging from 18 months to 56 years old. For those of you who are \u201ceager beavers\u201d and love skipping to Part 2 or right to the end, I do not recommend this. This book is meant to be read in the order that it has been organised in. Part 1 is structured to provide key mindset shifts to help us rewire our beliefs in order to successfully implement and modify the game ideas to suit our loves ones\u2019 preferences. It also provides the necessary context on how to implement the suggested game ideas. Missing our on Part 1, could result in not fully appreciating and utilising all the essential tools provided in Part 2.<\/p>\n In case you\u2019re wondering, \u201cIs this book suitable for those with teenagers and adults on the spectrum since it has suggestions for games?\u201d<\/em> This answer is a resounding yes. Absolutely. Here\u2019s what Kate has to say about age:<\/p>\n Kate C. Wilde – Autism Abracadabra, pg 68<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Kate explained how many enjoy silliness, fun and games way into adulthood. Therefore, let\u2019s not be so limited by the terminology of \u201cgame\u201d and be quick to say, it isn\u2019t for us before even trying.<\/p>\n Part 2 of the book is divided into various themes from alphabets, to numbers, vehicles, the weather, household appliances and many more. Each chapter has a theme, and within the theme, the author has carefully provided options of games and activities to suit the different ages, interests or motivations of our loved ones. Here are how the activities are categorised:<\/span><\/p>\n Be it<\/strong> – meaning you be the game or the activity<\/span><\/p>\n Make it \/ Draw it<\/strong> – meaning you make the items needed or draw them (or print them out)<\/span><\/p>\n Showtime it<\/strong> – yes, this is your opportunity to put a show of a lifetime for your loved ones<\/span><\/p>\n Superfact it<\/strong> – designed for our loved ones who are fascinated by facts and details of things<\/span><\/p>\n All the suggested activities and games can be done at home or in a learning environment. In fact, I highly recommend teachers and therapists to read this book as it has a wealth of suggestions that could help practitioners. It is also inexpensive to conduct these games and activities. People are encouraged to make the items themselves and use every day things from paper plates or bowls, to non-tech toys like balls, or things you could buy at any local stationary store like cardboard or crepe paper.<\/span><\/p>\n There are 2 bonus sections at the end\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Who doesn\u2019t enjoy a bonus? Certainly not me. The last chapter is titled Sensory Hocus Pocus – which means exactly what it says – it has activities to help our loved ones with their Super Sensitive Sensory Systems or S4, a term coined by <\/span>Raun K Kaufman<\/a>. The activities cover the entire range from deep pressure to bouncing, clapping, flapping, swinging, bouncing and many more.<\/span><\/p>\n Lastly, it has a checklist at the end to help you get started. This checklist is most useful to help you observe and plan the types of games that are most suitable for your loved. As always, we need to be detectives on the needs of our loved ones. So, before you start planning excitedly, spend some time playing detective by observing your loved ones, using this very handy checklist.<\/span><\/p>\n A friendly reminder not to skip parts<\/strong><\/p>\n I must admit, I too was tempted to skip to parts that were most likely most applicable to my son and me. However, the content was so gripping for me, that I read it from cover to cover. These activities and games are so useful and carefully structured that not a single part should be missed when you read this. Even if you think the activity does not apply to your loved one, read it as you never know when you could suggest the activities to someone else who is in need of ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n If you are a <\/span>SonRise<\/a> parents or have read all the other related books, you might wonder, if this book is suitable for you. This book is designed so cleverly, it can enhance your existing SonRise program and it can be used by those who have no prior knowledge of SonRise.<\/span><\/p>\n Purchase information<\/strong><\/p>\n There are several options on purchasing this book, all of which are online. Both hard copy and e-books versions are available for purchase. Here are some options:<\/span><\/p>\n Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n Book Depository<\/a><\/p>\n GoodReads<\/a><\/p>\n Google Play<\/a><\/p>\n This book and other useful books are listed on Project Haans\u2019 list of Recommended Books <\/span>here<\/a>.<\/span> The full title of this book definitely does it justice – Autism Abracadabra. Seven Magic Ingredients to Help Develop Your Child\u2019s Interactive Attention Span. Hence, the term grimoire used in the title of this piece. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a grimoire is \u201ca book of magic spells and invocations.\u201d <\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","footnotes":""},"categories":[77,86,5],"tags":[15,60,39,64],"class_list":["post-130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-autism","category-reviews","category-special-needs","tag-autism","tag-game-ideas","tag-reviews","tag-support"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":5}},"acf":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BookReview-AutismAbracadabra.jpg",2500,1667,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BookReview-AutismAbracadabra-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BookReview-AutismAbracadabra-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BookReview-AutismAbracadabra-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BookReview-AutismAbracadabra-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BookReview-AutismAbracadabra-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BookReview-AutismAbracadabra-2048x1366.jpg",2048,1366,true],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BookReview-AutismAbracadabra.jpg",18,12,false]},"post_excerpt_stackable":" The full title of this book definitely does it justice – Autism Abracadabra. Seven Magic Ingredients to Help Develop Your Child\u2019s Interactive Attention Span. Hence, the term grimoire used in the title of this piece. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a grimoire is \u201ca book of magic spells and invocations.\u201d <\/p>\n","category_list":"Autism<\/a>, Reviews<\/a>, Special Needs<\/a>","author_info":{"name":"Desiree Kaur","url":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/author\/nevyr-haans\/"},"comments_num":"0 comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1696,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions\/1696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/60f8120a6908143274ff04a7\/8d162044-37cf-4439-93c5-6a094f259d93\/Book+Review+Autism+Abracadabra-2.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n\nSo, let me tell you about the book\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
\u201c Let\u2019s not get caught in a limiting paradigm about what is age appropriate and what is not.\u201d<\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/60f8120a6908143274ff04a7\/613d29b0-0cbd-4f17-a933-b957f5d97eab\/Book+Review+Autism+Abracadabra.jpeg\")
And now the Games and Activities<\/strong> \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/60f8120a6908143274ff04a7\/1630981686217-UYE8QV9YA8J8PJNRZQOL\/Desiree+Kaur.png\")
Desiree was inspired by her son Haans, to dive right into the world of autism. She was led by Haans, always wanting to see and understand the world through his eyes. Sparked by this curiosity, she pursued a Master in Education (Special Education) with the hope of helping others who like herself, struggled with information to help her family on their journey. This sparked her to create this website and include a section called \u201cSpectrum of Voices\u201d with articles related to neurodiversity and special needs. Desiree is on Instagram <\/span>here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"