Making a Diffence was a fresh perspective on behavioral intervention for children with autism. As a speech/language pathologist who spends six days each week working with this population, I found the material helpful and informative. It fills in many of the gaps that mosts texts leave out such feeding issues and incidental teaching. I appreciated the chapters on peer social skills and suggestions for programs to facilitate social interaction. Margery Rappaport's chapter 'Notes From the Speech Pathologist's Office' is a wonderful illustration of how the disciplines of speech/language pathology and ABA can work together to address the communication deficits of the children. I will refer to this book when working directly with the children, their parents and other professionals.

I bought this book after my 3 year old son was diagnosed with PDD and I was determined to do SOMETHING for him while we were awaiting his enrollment in school. Utilizing the information allowed me to face the diagnosis head on, rather than be afraid of the uncertainly I initially felt about raising an autistic child. Within a month of putting selected sections of the book into practice, friends who had not seen us during that time were amazed at the changes in my son and thought he must be receiving formal therapy. After a year in Special Ed, plus related therapeutic services, my son tested in the non-autistic range. I believe this book was the first stepping stone - allowing me to help my son "learn" how to learn. While ABA is not the only treatment for autism, those who wish to implement it will find this book an indispensible addition to their libraries.

Making a Difference is the latest in the very powerful series of books on the autistic-spectrum disorders spearheaded by Catherine Maurice. As before, this family of disorders is addressed straight-on. The need for empircally-validated treatments is explained and real-life instruction is provided. The chapter on speech is as good as I've seen.