The Hootsie Family Goes for a Walk: An Autism Communication Story

Join the Hootsie family for a heartwarming walk through their colorful community in The Hootsie Family Goes for a Walk: An Autism Communication Story!

On a bright and beautiful morning, Papa Hootsie, Mama Hootsie, Hoot, and Holly set off on an adventure through Hootsville. Along the way, they visit familiar community places, spend time with family and friends, and discover shapes everywhere they go-from circles and squares to hearts, diamonds, crescents, trapezoids, and more.

Hoot is autistic and uses his talking tablet to communicate his thoughts, ideas, feelings, and choices. As the family explores their community, young readers see Hoot communicating in his own way while the people around him listen, respond, and include him in each new experience. The story provides a positive and child-friendly representation of autism, AAC communication, and different ways of communicating.

Written by speech-language pathologist Tricia Marley Robinson, this engaging picture book combines an entertaining family adventure with opportunities to build early communication and language skills. Children can practice shape recognition, vocabulary, answering questions, describing, making choices, and functional communication while following the Hootsie family on their journey.

The book also includes interactive speech therapy activities at the end of the story, giving parents, caregivers, educators, and speech-language pathologists additional ways to reinforce concepts from the book and encourage children to participate, communicate, and learn.

Perfect for preschool and early elementary children, including autistic children, AAC users, and children receiving speech and language therapy, The Hootsie Family Goes for a Walk celebrates an important message:

Everyone communicates in their own way-and every voice deserves to be heard.