Replays

Book excerpt: Replays addresses the challenging behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorders through interactive symbolic play. It shows parents and professionals how to help children access their emotions, whether the child is verbal or not, cognitively able or impaired, even-tempered or volatile. The chapters introduce and show readers how to implement Replays, and describe ways of adapting this intervention to address specific issues in different settings and circumstances. Levine and Chedd present more than just behavioral management strategies in the context of social, emotional and communication development: they have developed a technique that helps children to re-experience, play through and master the complex emotional response states that often lead to ongoing behavioral challenges. Replays is an easy and fun tool that provides numerous step-by-step examples and illustrations. It enables parents and professionals to guide children with autism spectrum disorders towards mastering, and changing, their emotional and behavioral responses.