Point to Happy

Conceived of, written, and designed for children on the autism spectrum, Point to Happy combines a picture book and a pointer to create a breakthrough in reaching children who communicate best through pictures. Ingenious in its simplicity, it was created by a grandmother, Miriam Smith, and mother, Afton Fraser, for Ms Fraser's son, a young boy on the autism spectrum.

Point to happy. Point to sad. Point to hug. Give me a hug. The parent reads, the child points. It turns reading into a joyful, shared experience. Dozens of friendly photographs are compelling to look at and easy to understand. The text is clear and direct. By pointing to the pictures in the book-moods, activities, everyday objects, the rituals of going to bed and getting ready in the morning-children will learn to convey their wants and needs, their experiences and, most importantly, their feelings.

The simple device of the pointer, with its soft, molded hand on a wand-safety-tested and 100 percent nontoxic and PVC-and phthalate-free-begs to be held and used. And using it-the motor task of holding and pointing, again and again-is an effective tool to help a child focus.