Inclusive Programming for Elementary Students with Autism

Appropriate social and communicative behavior is a fundamental concern for parents and teachers of school children. Children and teenagers should be able to move in a safe and socially successful manner through their school years despite changing family culture, their high activity level and a lack of insight into the consequences of their behavior. One would also hope that they develop a positive character and good values about human rights and social responsibility along the way. The most important long-term goal, however, is that they turn into content, kind and successful fellow human beings. This Social Cartoon Curriculum illustrates more than 120 goals for developing positive personality features, adequate social behavior and communicative competence. Ideas for long- and short-term goals have been selected from existing school programs, general education of values, as well as wishes of parents, teachers and employers. A precursor of the book was the Cartoon and Script Curriculum for Training Social Behavior and Communication, which aimed at children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Bernard-Opitz, 2014).