The Oak Hill Method Connecting to Students with Autism

How do you help a student with autism who is not thriving in school and feels isolated, disconnected, frustrated, misunderstood, and unable to learn? In The Oak Hill Method: Connecting to Students with Autism, you will hear directly from expert teachers and clinicians who have been working with students with autism in the highly successful program at Oak Hill School. Oak Hill School uses a wide range of evidence-based strategies that center around building relationships, truly knowing the individual, and customizing educational programs. Through a series of case-based chapters and specific examples, the reader will learn effective and practical strategies to welcome a student to a new environment, build trusting relationships, and develop a broad range of skills including self-awareness, self-advocacy, emotional and sensory regulation, and social communication that will allow for personal and academic growth both in school and in their future.

Stephen Bent, M.D., is a Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco with expertise in conducting randomized controlled trials related to the safety and efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine. He also conducts cohort studies and clinical trials in children with developmental disorders including autism, dyslexia, and ADHD to identify risk factors and interventions that improve outcomes.Michael G. McDonald joined the Oak Hill School faculty in 2003, after more than 15 years of special education experience in classrooms from preschool to elementary to college prep. His teaching specializations include mathematics education, general curriculum access for special needs students, and the incorporation of mental health principles and practices into classroom experiences. His research interests include outcomes measurement and home-clinic-school collaboration. As a teacher-researcher he has studied these questions and others through the school's partnership with the University of California, San Francisco.Robert L. Hendren, D.O., is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science; Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Co-Director of the UCSF Dyslexia Center; and Director, Program for Research On Neurodevelopmental and Translational Outcomes (PRONTO); and attending psychiatrist, Center for ASD and NDD: UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco. He is currently applying a targeted outcomes research approach in collaborative projects with the Oak Hill School for youth with autism.