“I Have a Question About Death,” written by Arlen Grad Gaines and Meredith Englander Polsky, can be a useful toolfor parents and caregivers to explain death and grief to children with autism. This grief resource is a way for adults to help children with autism understand death and grief in an easy-to-understand book format.

The authors specialize in working with children with disabilities in hospice settings. They created a story using direct, concrete language. The book includes three components: the complete story, an abbreviated version with fewer words and more emphasis on visual cues for children, and a guide for parents.

The story is accompanied by simple stick figure drawings to represent each idea and to ask and answer typical questions a grieving child would ask upon experiencing the death of a loved one. This story is appropriate for sudden and expected death.

The guide for parents offers helpful tips on ways to prepare and soothe the child as they participate in rituals in the days after the loss. This book makes an excellent resource for professionals who may feel ill-equipped to support a grieving child with autism. The book can also be beneficial to read to any very young child due to the simplicity of the text and visual components.

Ohio’s Hospice offers grief counseling services to friends and family of all Ohio’s Hospice patients, as well as anyone in any of the areas in Ohio where we provide care. These services are free of charge, thanks to generous support from the communities Ohio’s Hospice serves. For more information about the services provided by Pathways of Hope, please contact your local Ohio’s Hospice office:

Community Care Hospice or Ohio’s Hospice of Fayette County 

937.382.5400  

Ohio’s Hospice of Butler & Warren Counties 

513.422.0300 

Ohio’s Community Mercy Hospice 

937.258.4991 

Hospice of Central Ohio 

740.788.1400 – Newark 

614.891.6000 – Columbus 

740.454.0000 – Zanesville 

740.681.1000 – Lancaster 

Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton 

937.258.4991 

Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare 

419.496.0057 – Ashland 

330.674.8448 – Millersburg 

330.264.4899 – Wooster 

Ohio’s Hospice Loving Care

937.644.1928 – Marysville 

740.852.7755 – London 

Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County 

937.573.2103