Customer Reviews

Autism Undiagnosed

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Autism Undiagnosed, by Big Bertha Evans, is a wonderful story of courage and the misunderstandings that take place as a result of an undiagnosed disease. Brian's story is heartwarming, and Big Bertha's telling of his ongoing tale is wonderful. Reading this book will make you want to give Brian and Bertha the biggest hug imaginable, and my best wishes go out to this wonderful man who has made it despite terrible odds. I place this book in my top ten to read, and would recommend it for anyone!

In reading " Autism Undiagnosed," By Big Bertha Evans has opened my eyes and I'm sure thousands of other people's eyes to children with Autism. Just like her first book: " Joy And Sorrows of Living With Adult Autism," She brings forth the heart break of a child with Autism and the struggles he goes through and his mis-diagnosis. In reading her story about Brian your heart aches for him and yet as the story progresses from childhood to teenager to adult you find yourself rooting for him and in the end a special love comes from your heart for Brian, he's one special person. Big Bertha Evans has a hit, I give her five ***** stars for a story that's important to everyone wether you have a relative or a child with Autism, these are very special children and adults, it's a must read book.....

Joe Baraba
Santa Fe, NM

AUTISM UNDIAGNOSED
By Big Berthan Evans

(Review by Loretta A. Murphy-Birster, MSN, CSN, RN)

The clinical spectrum of autism is a broad one that has grown significantly in definition, diagnosis and detection over the past twenty years. Once thought to be a disease of childhood, the disorder is now being diagnosed and treated in not only children but adults. Brian Evans is one of those adults. In Autism Undiagnosed, his wife, Big Bertha Evans, helps Brian tell his story. From infancy to college, Autism Undiagnosed follows Brian's footsteps forward as he blazed his trail toward adulthood and independence.

Imagine knowing you were different from other people but not being able to understand why or what to do about it. Autistic individuals lack empathy. They do not have the ability to communicate with others as effectively or efficiently as those without the disorder. Autism is not a disease of intellect but of communication, socialization, and comprehension. Big Bertha's unique ability to look at her husband's life through her own eyes gives the reader an inside view of the autistic mind and how it works. The book is an invaluable resource to parents attempting to understand their child's autism, teachers struggling on how to successfully integrate and teach these special needs children in their classrooms, and health care professionals faced with the challenges of compassionately caring for persons with autistic symptoms.

Life is not a textbook. Individuals with autism do not all look, act, or respond in the same way. Brian Evans is a handsome young man who is an accomplished singer and attended college. His photographs do not hint at the disorder that has caused him so much pain and suffering. Yet the disability linked to the behaviors that are part of his autistic complex very definitely exist. Knowing what an autistic individual is experiencing helps others understand the behaviors that accompany the thoughts and feelings. This is a valuable key towards insight.

Cookie cutter approaches to any illness or disorder sometimes causes the caregiver - whether parent, teacher, or clinician - to resort to one or two approaches when dealing with the diverse spectrum of symptoms, behaviors, and findings associated with autism. Each autistic individual requires unique and individualized interventions. Autism Undiagnosed will help those in a position to educate and teach better understand how to make a difference in the life of autistic persons by first understanding how autism causes them to think, feel and respond to their world.

Autism Undiagnosed is Big Bertha Evans' second book on autism. Her homespun and candid style makes for an easy and enjoyable alternative to journal articles and psychology texts on the subject. This book is a recommended read for those in the education and healthcare fields. Students in these professional studies will benefit from exposure to Brian's story. The book will be a useful resource to offer parents who may have limited knowledge or unrealistic ideas about their child's autism diagnosis and what it will mean to their academic, social, and adult life.

Autism Undiagnosed is the story of the author's husband Brian, his childhood and growing up with autism that was not diagnosed. There were so many terrible things he had to suffer because of his autism, when people did not understand what was wrong with him. Adults as well as children mistreated Brian instead of offering compassion and trying to help him. Your heart will be touched as you realize how different this childhood could have been with a proper diagnosis and greater understanding of how to treat an autistic child. This book will help you to better understand autism and hopefully make each of us more thoughtful about how we treat those who are "different" as we gain a little insight into this disorder.
Connie Arnold, author of Beautiful Moments of Joy and Peace
[...]

In "Autism Undiagnosed," the author has done a wonderful job of providing a chronicle of the childhood and early adulthood of her husband, who has autism. I was shocked at all of the things he endured as a child, simply because he went undiagnosed until he was an adult. Bertha has shown us the struggles that Brian's mother faced in trying to gain assistance for her child, and she has even provided diary excerpts that Brian's mother wrote during some of the most difficult times in his childhood. I learned so much more about autism by reading this book, and I encourage others to read it as well, whether you know someone with autism or not. I applaud Bertha and her husband for being willing to share their lives so openly to the public so that others can learn about autism and understand it better. They are both very wonderful people, and I believe you will be blessed by reading their book. Alissa Dunn - author of The Unclaimed Christmas Gift

The Miracles' classic "I'm Just a Love Machine (and I Won't Work for Nobody But You") could easily be the soundtrack of this book. Big Bertha writes about her husband, Brian who has autism. Brian spent a good portion of his life undiagnosed until he was 10 years old. Brian's mother saw a program about autism on TV and immediately recognized the autism red flags in her son. When she told Brian's doctor about this, the doctor,dismissed her claims. The doctor foolishly told her that autism was a condition that only "little kids" had, which most emphatically isn't true. It was quite apparent that this doctor did not know jack about autism.

Autism is a neurobiological condition that affects communication, sensory integration and processing to varying degrees. It is as varied as there are individuals who have it. Many "experts" are now seeing adults with autism as many people only specialized in work with children. Autism does not vanish when one becomes of age. This misperception about autism is especially ironic in Brian's case because he is often childlike in his demeanor. He tends to take things literally; he makes references to things that are often associated with children and often needs the type of reassurance a child might when confronted with something that makes him feel threatened.

This book is the story of Brian's life from babyhood to college. Brian had "undefined differences" that precluded satisfactory social connections for the majority of his life until he met Big Bertha. He courted her for only 4 days before they got married on December 22, 2000.

Autism is a lifelong condition. Some of the fallacies about autism is that a) it is a mental illness/emotional disturbance; b) people with autism are locked away from contact with people; c) individuals with autism are unable to empathize ; d) people with autism have savant abilities and e) people with autism are cognitively impaired.

Bull manure! Niko Tesla had autism and he invented the radio! Peter Tork of Monkees fame was recently diagnosed with Asperger's. Einstein, whose very name is synonymous with genius is reported to have been an undiagnosed Aspie. Prodigious savantism affects less than 10% of the autistic population! Autism is a sensori-neurobiological condition, not a "disease" or a mental illness. People with autism crave social contact as much as anyone who is neurotypical. People with autism have long been marginalized with stereotypes such as these and it is time to turn that ship around!

Brian is one of countless living refutations to the fallacies listed above about autism. He is NOT mentally ill nor is he emotionally disturbed; at all times he is firmly rooted in reality. He thrives on human contact and Big Bertha describes him as a "hug machine." Brian, like upward of 90% of people on the autism spectrum is NOT a savant nor does he display any unusal aptitude for an area of interest. He is also quite bright.

If you know ten people with autism, then you know ten people. Each person on the spectrum is vastly different and autism can range from severely affected to Asperger's. Big Bertha's two biographies of her husband Brian present a clear picture of one adult with autism. Her books are a clarion call to compassion and fairness extended to all people on the spectrum and some of the social, sensory and behavioral markers that can indicate autism. If nothing else, Big Bertha's books will raise the flag of compassion towards people with autism and hopefully the erroneous old belief about this neurobiological condition will be permanently put to rest.