The One and Only Sam: A Story Explaining Idioms for Children with Asperger Syndrome and Other Communication Difficulties

One rainy morning after breakfast, Sam's Mother said to his Father, "My goodness, George, it is raining cats and dogs outside." "That's strange," thought Sam. When he looked up into the sky outside, he couldn't see any cats and dogs anywhere, no matter where he looked. All he could see were giant raindrops and big puddles...

The One and Only Sam is the story of a boy who, like many children, struggles to understand non-literal expressions. This can be a particular problem for children with Asperger Syndrome, who tend to be literal thinkers. Throughout the story, Sam encounters a range of common idioms - such as "curiosity killed the cat," "on top of the world," and "full of beans" - each of which is accompanied by an illustration of its literal meaning and one depicting its actual meaning, helping children to explore what the idioms sound like and why they might mean what they do. The book also suggests simple steps that children can take whenever they encounter new and unfamiliar idioms that are not covered in the book. A glossary, and a list of additional books and websites, provides further resources to help children learn about idioms and their origins.

The One and Only Sam provides a fresh and fun approach to exploring common idioms for all children aged 5 to 8, as well as those with Asperger Syndrome and communication difficulties.

Aileen Stalker is an experienced Occupational Therapist with a Masters degree in Special Education. She has over 30 years' experience of assessing and treating children with a wide variety of diagnoses and has presented papers at numerous conferences, developed handbooks and manuals for clinical therapeutic use and worked at a senior level in several Occupational Therapy departments. She has also trained as a tutor for children with dyslexia and recently retired from her private tutoring and occupational therapy practice.