Adalyn's Clare

by Kari Dunn Buron

Overview

Although Adalyn is brilliant in academics and has highly developed, special interests, she is filled with fear and prefers to be alone as she finds most human beings confusing and annoying. Adalyn's best friends are the animals in the science room, which is just about her favorite place in the whole wide world. But then comes Clare... Clare is a therapy puppy who has been assigned to help Adalyn find friends. This is a big assignment for a three-month-old puppy, but she doesn't have to figure it all out on her own. Clare draws support from memories of her own mother's wisdom, some really caring teachers; and the life lessons of a friendly ferret, two very smart rats, an exotic bird and a three-legged, guinea pig. Their stories will entertain, delight and amaze you. With the release of Adalyn's Clare, author Kari Dunn Buron, hopes to draw attention to the realities of social anxiety, the importance of teaching relaxation and other coping strategies and the need for teachers and loved ones to help create valuing relationships for children who have difficulty making friends, like Adalyn. Recommended for young readers in grades 3-6.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781937473228
Publisher:	Autism Asperger Publishing Company
Publication date:	01/28/2012
Pages:	121
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Kari Dunn Buron, MS, taught in K-12 with students on the autism spectrum for 30+ years. She developed an Autism Spectrum Disorders Certificate program for educators at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN and has done volunteer work specific to autism in Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, Tanzania and Ghana. In 2003, Kari received a Self-designed Bush Leadership Fellowship that allowed her to spend a year interviewing and working internationally with a number of scientists and researchers in the area of Social Cognition, Education and Autism with a focus on challenging behaviors.Kari is the co-author of The Incredible 5-Point Scale, and the author of When My Worries Get Too Big and A 5 Could Make Me Lose Control. Kari is the co-editor of a textbook for educators titled Learners on the Autism Spectrum: Preparing Highly Qualified Educators (2009 ASA literary award winner) and is the creator of an original social skills magazine designed for students with Asperger Syndrome called The Social Times (2010 Gold Winner, National Parenting Publications Award and Gold Medal Winner, Moonbeam Children's Book Awards).

Read an Excerpt

Sometimes a pop-up tent is like a hug, giving just enough security and comfort to make life bearable again. This was Adalyn's thought as she rubbed her legs and tried to slow down her breathing. Fifteen minutes earlier she had been in her classroom, about to scream at someone or throw something.

Actually, the day had started out pretty good. Adalyn had done her homework and was feel-ing almost excited about showing her paper to her teacher, Miss Thomas. But when she got to her classroom, she noticed that Miss Thomas wasn't in the room. Instead, there, at the front of the room, was Mr. Hirtle, the student teacher.

Adalyn did not want to turn her paper into Mr. Hirtle; she wanted to turn it in to her real teacher, Miss Thomas. Why did teachers have student teachers anyway? Student teachers never knew about special programs. Student teachers always wanted to be the boss of everyone. Mr. Hirtle used an angry-sounding voice whenever Adalyn asked to go to her pop-up tent, even though it was on her official plan! The last time Adalyn had needed a break, Mr. Hirtle said something out loud in front of all the other kids about how she should be able to handle things better; about how she was nine years old, and how nine-year-olds weren't supposed to have tantrums. That's for two-year-olds.

The thought of Miss Thomas being absent and Mr. Hirtle being in charge gave Adalyn an instant stomachache. She started breathing too fast and thinking of ways to strip Mr. Hirtle of his student teaching status. To avoid having a "two-year-old tantrum," or possibly worse, Adalyn grabbed the hall pass and quickly left the room. Mrs. Kelly was a special teacher who helped students who had problems at school. Her room was a quiet place for kids to go and relax and learn about how to handle the stuff that was really hard to handle.

Mrs. Kelly called the pop-up tent Adalyn's safe place; the place she could go to when life, and school, and student teachers made her feel crazy. The tent was a Spitfire Solo; it felt like a sanctuary, with its totally secure zipper door and full-coverage fly and black-out window cover-ings. It was a place to rethink the bad thoughts and quiet her body. It was a place where she could take her brain on a much-needed time-out journey, far away from people, rules, and talk about "age-appropriate behavior."

Adalyn's mother had given her a globe of the world to keep in the tent. When she was having a particularly bad day, Adalyn would spin the globe, close her eyes, and then place her finger on the globe to stop it. Whatever country her finger was touching would be her destination, and she would begin to repeat all of the facts she knew about that place. She particularly liked to think about the animals that lived in whatever country she pointed to. Adalyn loved animals more than just about anything else in the world. She loved domesticated animals like dogs, cats, white rats, and hamsters; she loved wild animals like tigers, bears, lions, and timber wolves. Animals just seemed easier than people.

Sitting safely in her tent, Adalyn spun the globe. Her finger landed on Tanzania, Africa. "Country in Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean," she started saying out loud. "The official language is Swahili; it is the home of the highest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro." Amaz-ingly, Adalyn was feeling better already.

"'Tingatinga' is a folk art style of painting started in Tanzania." She repeated the word "Tingat-inga" - she often repeated words that felt fun in her mouth. "Home of the western white-bearded wildebeest," she continued, and then thought about how a white-bearded wildebeest might have a tantrum if it was blocked from making its migratory journey across the Serengeti.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Adalyn	1
Chapter Two: Clare	5
Chapter Three: Deer Poop	10
Chapter Four: The Sign	14
Chapter Five: The Science Room	19
Chapter Six: Animal Consultants	25
Chapter Seven: The Library	30
Chapter Eight: Adalyn's Particularly Bad Moment	35
Chapter Nine: The Meeting	40
Chapter Ten: Animal Sense	44
Chapter Eleven: In Search of a Pack	48
Chapter Twelve: Time Served	53
Chapter Thirteen: Henry	58
Chapter Fourteen: Taking Perspective	63
Chapter Fifteen: The Bail-out	71
Chapter Sixteen: A Science Club	76
Chapter Seventeen: Kirsten	81
Chapter Eighteen: Mr. Hirtle	86
Chapter Nineteen: A Natural Disaster	90
Chapter Twenty: Good Ideas	94
Chapter Twenty-One: Friendship	99
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Fair	105
Acknowledgments	115

Editorial Reviews

Adalyn is smart. She can recite facts about many different places in the world and is interested in science. But she is also an anxious child who prefers to be alone. Adalyn's best friends are the animals in her favorite place, the science room. One day, Adalyn is introduced to Clare, a three-month-old therapy puppy whose job is to help Adalyn make human friends. At times, Adalyn's difficulty coping gets her into trouble, and it is nice to see that the author does not gloss over the consequences for children's actions. Throughout the story, it feels like the omniscient voice does not always ring true, but the author does a nice job of depicting the realities of social anxiety, including the need for developing coping strategies, and the importance of supportive teachers and loved ones—all of which are necessary to help any child form lasting relationships, but especially key for children who have trouble making friends. The author is an experienced teacher who has taught kindergarten through twelfth grade with students on the autism spectrum for over thirty years. This book is recommended for an upper elementary audience but could also be used as part of a curriculum designed to reduce bullying and increase acceptance of others. It would also benefit teachers and other support staff working with children who have coping difficulties. Reviewer: Laura Backman

Children's Literature - Laura Backman