Listening with the Heart: A Guide to Understanding Non-verbal Communication in the Autistic Child, for Parents, Teachers, and Professionals

by Liz Becker, Thomas Edmonds (Photographer)

Overview

The best part of life is what we share. How do we share if we can't communicate? If we are very, very, blessed we will have someone in our world who has the love, patience, and steadfast determination to listen very hard. So much so that they can actually decipher the unspoken, and in turn, teach us to really hear and be heard. Endless research and study done through the eyes and instincts of a scientist, teacher, author, and most importantly, a mother, have afforded us this invaluable insight into the skill of communication. Matt, a moderate to severely autistic and non-verbal child, had a lot to say. His mother teaches us how she learned to listen.

"Listening with the Heart" is a combination of observational science, and storytelling, told by someone who has navigated the difficulties of raising a non-verbal autistic child for over 30 years. The author understands that real communication goes both ways - an understanding which allowed her to see the child, get to know the child - and not focus on just the autism. This highly engaging book not only discusses the 12 different ways in which an autistic, non-verbal individual communicates, but also shares many heart-warming stories from Liz Becker's personal experiences. Her success in communicating with her son, and him with her, has lead to her son living on his own - independently - which is a rare and amazing accomplishment for an individual with his degree of autism severity - and a wonderful tribute to the power of understanding non-verbal communication.

Gayle Johnson-Cartland, RRT.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781987074666
Publisher:	Barnes & Noble Press
Publication date:	04/15/2019
Pages:	294
Sales rank:	307,217
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Liz Becker, M. S., Ed., is a published research scientist, teacher, published author, and mother. Her youngest son Matt, was diagnosed with severe, classic regressive autism n 1988 at the age of two. Liz has been a pioneer of the autism community ever since, refusing to accept the dogma of the time that autistic children needed to be institutionalized.Instead, Liz found a way to communicate with her non-verbal son using her instincts as a scientist and as a mother.Her first book, "Autism and the World According to Matt" revealed the challenges, joys, heartaches and successes on raising a child on the severe end of the spectrum at a time before anyone even knew there was a spectrum. Matt is now living independently - a feat just as rare as his condition once was, even though he is still moderate / severe autistic and mostly non-verbal.

Her new book, "Listening with the Heart", is the first book to examine the non-verbal forms of communication as strategies for understanding the non-verbal autistic child and provide strategies for 2 way communication without relying solely on speech.