Author: Jen Merheb, with a Foreword by Veronica Zysk
ISBN: 978-1-4027-7299-3
RRP: $19.99
Bringing up a child with autism can be an overwhelming journey, and every child is different which means that there are uncountable ways that children with autism differ from each other. This makes the challenge even greater for parents trying to learn to understand their child, any change in life can set them off.
This journal is an invaluable tool to assist parents with keeping all of the information about their child easily organised and at their fingertips. There are sections to keep all of the information easy to find and easy to monitor.This resource is to help parents keep all their info straight, it is not a supplement for professional care and/or treatment.
The foreword by Veronica Zysk, Managing Editor of Autism Asperger’s Digest Magazine, talks about the challenges faced by parents and the benefits provided by this journal.
The journal contains sections for:
Medications, Vitamins and Supplements. Here is where you record all the information on what you are administering your child. It is set out in an easy to complete format which allows you to keep track of dosage, side effects, notes and information on the prescribing doctor.
Treatment/Intervention Program Schedule. An easy to follow chart to keep track of weekly programs and can be organised by date, time and provider.
Appointments and Activities. Pages to keep track of doctors appointments, functions, play dates and all of the appointments and activities for your child. There is even space for Notes on every appointment to remind you of any extra details or special reminders.
Daily Log. This section has been specially designed to help track the progress and symptoms of your child. It is laid out in a way that gives you a great starting point for what to make a note of. Begin by writing of what you did and who you saw. The Day-To-Day Observations section can be used to note behaviours and progress with things like sleep routines, hygiene, eating, playing and school. There is room to write notes for doctors or therapists, progress in intervention or treatment programs. Some very important sections in these pages are ‘Changes I Tried Today’, ‘Making Tomorrow Better’ and ‘Special Somethings’ – a place where you can note the wonderful moments you are overjoyed by your miracle child. Measuring Progress allows you to enter an overall number from 1-5 about your child’s progress in some of the most common issues parents of children with autism face, with an N/A for issues that do not affect your child. There have been blank spaces added so that you can customise this section to what is relevant for you and your child.
The back of the book has a couple of pages for Notes, Contacts so that you can keep all of the important contact information that you need to keep handy.
Closing out the journal is a section of resources that you may like to check out for support, information and resources.
I think this journal would be a great resource, it’s the kind of thing I did for my babies when I had to track their food intake when they were really small. It could be quite empowering to have all of the information at your fingertips and be able to watch the progress in the pages.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!