Finding You Finding Me
Using Intensive Interaction to get in touch with people whose severe learning disabilities are combined with autistic spectrum disorder
Phoebe Caldwell
Paperback: £13.99 / $21.95
2005, 234mm x 156mm / 9.25in x 6in, 176pp
ISBN: 978-1-84310-399-8, BIC 2: MMZ
Phoebe Caldwell's remarkable new book makes accessible for the first time the complex, intricate inner and sensory worlds of people whose learning disabilities are combined with autistic spectrum disorder and, often, difficult-to-manage behaviour. Based on many years of working with such people, many of whom have withdrawn into a world of their own, she explores the different sensory reality they experience, showing it to be infinitely more complex and varied than is widely understood. She introduces a practical approach known as Intensive Interaction, which uses the body language of such people - who have hitherto largely been regarded as unreachable - to get in touch with them, giving them a way of expressing themselves which shifts their attention from solitary self-stimulation to shared activity. The outcome is not only a marked improvement in behaviour and ability to communicate but, more important, many parents will say 'they are just much happier'.
Covering not only the practical aspects of introducing this technique, but also the thinking behind it, this landmark book has much to say on behalf of a group that has in the past largely been denied a voice, and will open new avenues for both practice and research. It is invaluable for parents, carers, and all who work with this group.
Blog posts
Article by Phoebe Caldwell: Using Intensive Interaction to turn ‘aloneness’ into shared interest
15 January 2010
"Contrary to what is normally understood, children on the autistic spectrum do recognise when we use their own body language to communicate, provided we respond using the repertoire of their personal behaviours. We are shifting their attention from solitary self-stimulation to shared activity, remembering that what is important is not just what they do - but how they do it, since this tells us how they feel."
Related events
NAS Autism and Relationships, Puberty, Sex and Sexuality Conference
11th June 2013 from 08.45 to 16.15
Marriot Hotel Manchester
Join us at the NAS conference on Autism and Relationships, Puberty, Sex and Sexuality.
We will be attending this conference run by the National Autistic Society on 11th June in Manchester, UK. Come along to visit our book stand and hear our authors Wendy Lawson and Phoebe Caldwell speak.
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