52 Weeks: Social Themes for Language Stimulation (1998). By Barbara VanDyne. Diablo Valley Publishers, P.O. Box 1234, Alamo, CA 94507. 304 pages, $49.95. Reviewed by Dorothy Haubner, Mulberry, FL.

This large, spiral-bound workbook features a year's worth of language stimulation for adults with mild to moderate communication disorders. It may be used with groups or individuals to stimulate conversation, reminiscing, and word-finding skills through seasonal themes. The author begins the book by explaining how to make the best use of it. The book combines trivia games, holiday history, biographies, sequencing activities, and vocabulary games. Each of the 299 activity pages is set up to be reproduced for immediate client activity; there is nothing to assemble and no additional planning is necessary. However, should the clinician want to expand upon the book's suggested activities, Van Dyne suggests picture cards, magazines, newspapers, advertisements, cartoons, photographs, recipes, and additional menus. A variety of printed questions follow each activity and the answers are provided.

The author's intent was to use this material to improve client comprehension, conversation, word finding, and memory. The material content introduces a variety of vocabulary and topics that are multicultural; however, it predominantly represents American middle-class culture. For example, the August activity sheets review events of the atomic bomb dropped on Japan on Aug. 6, 1945, and contain some cultural concepts relating to Japan, but then quickly move on to the topics of U.S. heat, summer food and activities, Labor Day, and national work themes. Community activities such as reading the classified ads, menus, and official ballot forms are also presented. While some pages offer large or bold print, most pages use regular type set and spacing that could be read by a client with good visual perception and sixth-grade reading skills. The front and back covers of this book are glossy card stock with spiral-wire binding for improved durability.

This is an excellent book for paraprofessionals, family members, and clinicians who work with speech-language impaired adults. It may also be used with some adolescents although much of the material is geared to historical events between 1920 and 1980. It is especially good for clients in the early stages of dementia as the worksheets stimulate early memories of holidays, television shows, music, politics, and national trends. Some higher functioning adults might complete activity pages independently in preparation for later group interaction. Completed activity pages could be added to their calendar-memory books as a reference for later self-cueing to improve their reality orientation. This text is creative, humorous, and comprehensive in its seasonal themes. One suggestion would be to sell the book in a three-ring binder to allow for ease of page turning and reproduction for client use.