The Intensive Interaction Handbook

Dr. Dave Hewett has been working in the field of special education for 40 years. He was headteacher at Harperbury Hospital School throughout the 1980s, where he and the team worked on the development of Intensive Interaction, producing the first publications and first research on Intensive Interaction, resulting in his doctorate. With Melanie Nind he produced the first Intensive Interaction book in 1994. Since 1990 he has been an independent consultant, continuing to publish extensively and work on the development and dissemination of the approach. Dave also publishes and gives courses on challenging behaviour issues, though as he maintains in the challenging behaviour section of this book, ‘behaviour difficulties are communication difficulties’. It is therefore not a separate topic.  He is now director of the Intensive Interaction Institute, travelling and broadcasting the Intensive Interaction message increasingly worldwide.

This book is an essential, comprehensive guide for anyone who wants to make a real difference in the life of people at the early stages of communication. With the welcome addition of a chapter relating to Autism and using Intensive Interaction with more able people this second edition of the Intensive Interaction handbook promises much and delivers more!

• Part I: Human communication and the background to Intensive InteractionChapter 1: The nature of human communication - Dave HewettChapter 2: Background to Intensive Interaction - Graham Firth & Jules McKimChapter 3: How do human beings start learning to communicate? - Dave HewettPart II: Practicalities of doing Intensive InteractionChapter 4: Preparing for Intensive Interaction - Dave HewettChapter 5: Getting going - Dave HewettChapter 6: Further and continuing progress - Dave HewettChapter 7: Recording the activities and maintaining the processes - Mark BarberChapter 8: The Intensive Interaction Outcomes Reporter - Julie CalveleyChapter 9: Supporting Intensive Interaction in workplaces - Graham Firth & Dave HewettChapter 10: Autism and Intensive Interaction & Intensive Interaction with more able people - Amandine MouriéreChapter 11: Doing Intensive Interaction at home - Tandy HarrisonPart III: Issues, topics and communityChapter 12: Some associated issues and topics - Dave HewettChapter 13: The Intensive Interaction community - Graham Firth & Jules McKim