GOODYEAR: Coaching People with A.S.

Bill Goodyear’s book offers hope to people with Asperger’s Syndrome

  •  the first book to take a coaching approach
  •  scandal of diagnosis without treatment
  •  a real contribution to resolving a key issue

live_comm_6681This is the first book to bring a coaching approach to people with Asperger’s Syndrome. Asperger’s is a socially isolating neurological condition which interferes with social functioning, leaving people anxious, depressed and marginalised. Bill Goodyear is the only coach working with Asperger’s in the UK. His passionate manifesto grew from his frustration with the lack of any effective solution. He strongly believes that an individualised coaching-based approach is the answer because of its practical effectiveness.

Coaching People With Asperger’s Syndrome is a guide for anyone who knows or is helping people with Asperger’s: it is a resource for teachers and SENCOs (Special Needs Educational Needs Coordinators), social workers, care managers and nurses as well as GPs, nurses and psychiatric staff, therapists and counsellors.

There has been a two hundred percent increase in numbers of people diagnosed with Asperger’s in the UK in recent years,” Bill Goodyear says. “Current approaches to Asperger’s don’t go far enough. Diagnosis has not led to the right kind of help – and that’s a scandal!  There are virtually no services designed for people with Asperger’s and after diagnosis, for the most part, they get no further appropriate help. All too often they slip through the net because the services that do exist are designed for people with learning difficulties or mental ill-health. The introduction of a specialised coaching programme following diagnosis, which is what I’m calling for, can make a positive change right now. I want people to live happy productive lives, and coaching can help them to find out how to do this – it works because it’s tailored to individual needs. It is also has the advantage of being relatively cheap and easy to administer.

“Recognising that people with Asperger’s are only different from the rest of us in a tiny, tiny way is the first step,” He continues. “Coaching helps by showing them the routes the rest of us use to improve our happiness, health and performance. It’s true there have to be specific adaptations to make these approaches maximally effective with this population but these routes can be coached – and solid results can be achieved. This is what people with Asperger’s need – and they need it right now. This book gives practical guidance – and I hope inspiration – to workers in the field so they can effect positive change so that people with Asperger’s can get the help and guidance they need,” he concludes.

 

About Bill Goodyear 

Bill is the only full-time Asperger’s Syndrome coach in Europe and one of only a handful in the world. He is a teacher (with a degree in Education), coach and mentor. He specializes in working with people with Asperger’s, as he says, because he likes working with them. Previously, he was Principal of a National Autistic Society school where he worked successfully with some of the most difficult children with autism. A qualified Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) Master Practitioner, he has been using NLP skills for over 20 years to help people with Asperger’s Syndrome. He believes passionately in research and travels extensively to make contact with all types of people whose lives are touched directly and indirectly by Asperger’s Syndrome.

He is the author of Coaching People with Asperger’s Syndrome (Karnac Books).

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