Ann Gordon, Ph.D., BCET
Clinical Psychologist
For several decades now I’ve worked in various capacities with children struggling to manage their social world.  Some of these children have difficulties because of learning disabilities, some because of Autism Spectrum disorders, and some because of emotional challenges. What these children share is that they don’t know what to do when, what to say to whom, or, in short, how to make and keep friends.  Parents often ask me for some book—some guide—that might help them and their children navigate this world.  Well, now we have just such a book!    In this book, Susan Diamond answers questions by drawing upon her work with the children themselves.  Together, they devised rules that apply directly to the children’s real-world lives—lives of being teased, not fitting in, being bullied, behaving inappropriately, not knowing how to have a conversation, and not having friends.   There are other books on the market geared towards helping children learn one or another group of social skills, but no other book that I know of speaks to children as directly and honestly as does in this one.  These 100 rules are simply a must for any child who wants to succeed in the complex social world of childhood!

Penny Cohen, M.A.,CCC
Speech-Language Pathologist
The TOP 100 Social Rules for Kids has been an invaluable resource to me as a Speech and Language Pathologist. This book helps all children navigate through the obstacle course of social skills. It deals with so many different social situations kids will experience at one time or another in their lives, such as What Makes a Good Listener and How to Deal with Sarcasm. I have used it with my Aspergers clients, nonverbal learning disorders clients and clients that struggle with problem solving and pragmatic language skills. This book is written in a language clearly understood by children, with exact words and phrases children need to say to be successful communicators. I highly recommend this book to every parent, educator and professional.

Wendy Byrnes
Parent, Advocate
If your child has difficulty navigating the world of unspoken social rules, then this book is for you!  Just when my son would appear to master one social rule, a new and more complex one always seemed to pop up in its place! His frustration and bewilderment was often heartbreaking but Sue Diamond and her knack for providing an on-the-spot "social rules" recipe to solve the problem always saved the day.  It is so exciting that this book is available to children who cannot visit with her personally.  Her can-do, positive attitude is deliciously peppered throughout every page to provide easy-to-understand instructions for creating greater success in the slippery world of the social milieu."

Eileen Graybeal
Parent
My daughter has NLD (Non-Verbal Learning Disorder).  She struggles with reading social cues and has been working with Sue Diamond on this challenge.  This book provides my daughter with written rules of engagement, and role playing.  This process is assisting her with ways to fully understand different types of social situations, and how to manage them.  This process is creating a true evolution in my daughter. In her ability to understand herself and except her challenges as manageable, rather than run from them or hide from them.  The best part of this is that we see as huge growth.  She is more aware that social situations need reading, yet is not always aware of what to do, and she realizes she is learning a new language that is helping her exist in the world, and not be afraid of it.   Sue keeps it fun and brings such great humor into helping Haley except herself for whom she is and taps into her strengths as well as helps her with her challenges.

Jenny Sui
Parent
I have a lot of good things to say about your “rules”, but the ones that stand out most in my mind and the ones that registered quickly in my son who has autism are the following:
“I will not be a space invader” My son used to stand too close to people when he wanted to say something.  Whenever I say "Oh oh, you are in my bubble", he backs off right away.
“Formal language is used with adults” My son would say inappropriate things to his teachers when he was mad.  After Sue went over the “rule” about what is formal language and informal language, and what is okay to say to kids, but not adults, he is a lot better with this and usually stops himself by saying "...is not ok to say to adults".  There was another “rule” about nose picking and he has reduced nose picking incidents significantly.  Whenever I catch him about to pick his nose, I remind him about the rule and he stop himself.

Janet Brush, LCSW, MSW, MSG, CLPF, ASWCM
Parent
Sue's rules have provided my daughter the guidance she has needed to grow socially.