Customer Reviews

Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I wish I had this extraordinary book when I was a child! It is truly a Godsend. Masterfully written and beautifully illustrated, this book helps you celebrate the Autism Experience. What makes this book stand out are the rich illustrations; the list of highly accomplished people with autism such as comedian/actor Andy Kaufman; pop poster artist Andy Warhol; musician Glen Gould; Issac Newton; philosopher Kant; Dian Fossey; Nika Tesla; John Cornell and many others. This is a book that will inspire pride, hope and joy among the autism/Asperger's (a/A) world and certainly enlighten the neurotypical (NT) world as well!

Each one of the people in this book were on the a/A spectrum. Many of them, such as the philosopher Kant predated the terms "autism" and "Asperger's" and learned to live with their sensory and perceptual differences. Each and every one of these people have demonstrated how to live successfully on the a/A spectrum. No "Rain Men" here! I just love this book!

Luckily stores in my town have copies of this book and I feel it is something everybody will benefit from. Be sure to ask your libraries to order this book. God bless those who were directly involved in putting this together. This is a book that makes you want to wave your Enigma Banner and celebrate the a/A experience!

My son appreciated this book. He was aware he was different than other kids but didn't really understand himself. While teaching him about his autism, he got to thumb through this book and feel a surge of pride that some of the worlds most brillant and artistic men and women were and are... autistic themselves! Great book, highly recommended!

This book is good for any student to read. Students need to know that just because they have a mild/moderate disability does not mean they can't be personally successful at something they love. It is often the disability that leads an individual to their success... and this book points that out. It should of course be noted that success doesn't necessarily equate with riches or fame. Non-disabled students should read this book so they can have a greater appreciation for their disabled classmates. Disabled students could use this book to do a 'hero' report on an individual in the book. I can also be a springboard for discussing well-known individuals with disabilities living today.

Those who ask why the book doesn't concentrate on the difficulties faced by those on A/A spectrum almost seem to answer their own question by illustrating those difficulties. People who know someone with Autism - or more importantly, those people themselves - are bound to be all too familiar with the difficulties posed by everyday life. That's what makes this book so useful. In a society that seems geared up to deny opportunities, before anyone even has a chance to prove themselves, a book that shows autistic children something to aspire to is incredibly useful. No, not every autistic kid can grow up to be Kant or Einstein, but not every neurotypical kid is going to become the next Neil Armstrong. We still, however, give them books about space, and encourage them if they say that they want to an astronaut when they grow up.

Different Like Me is beautifully and richly illustrated, with a fantastic sense of humour in the paintings - the depiction of Einstein with a violin and Dian Fossey staring out a Gorilla are particular favourites of mine. The writing is every bit as deft and fun to read. The book stands in that great tradition of children's books whose primary audience is, of course, the children, but is every bit as enjoyable for their parent.

It is a shame that Temple Grandin is the only character in the book who is alive; that she is also an outspoken advocate for autism is surely no coincidence. Who else living is there that would happily be included here? With the help of books like this, maybe in a generations time we will see far more people in the public eye happy to talk about being autistic, and share their experiences of being different, and all the better for it.

We loved this book so much! Beautifully written & illustrated, this book celebrates that the qualities making someone quirky, odd or just plain weird may be the very qualities that lead to personal success & great achievements. Who knew Andy Kaufman, Glen Gould, Issac Newton, Dian Fossey, Nikola Tesla, Andy Warhol & many others had so much in common! Great for adults & kids, the only problem with this book is finding it. Here in Portland, Oregon, there's not a copy to be had & every store is on backorder. It's a perfect book for holiday giving, and with 2006 being International Aspergers Year, this is a book that should be on the shelves NOW.
And Jessica Kingsley Publishing, when you do print another edition, because you obviously should, any chance you could improve the dust jacket to include the lovely praise from Temple Grandin? Frankly, it makes no sense to skimp on the cover design of a book with such wonderful illustrations. And while we're nitpicking, let's retouch the glass glare on the otherwise adorable author's photo. (Really, if the author has any photographer friends, they should be ashamed of themselves for not offering to run it through Photoshop for her!) But in any case, PRINT MORE COPIES OF THIS BOOK! There are so many families with special needs kids who need to hear that being different can be great!

Thank you, thank you, Jennifer Elder, for writing this book. It's a wonderful tribute to those who are ASD, no matter what area they might be in on the spectrum. I have a child who is high-functioning ASD, and he has an extremely good prognosis. I bought this book hoping that someday he might ask about other people who are a little bit different, just like him.

My son's name? Quinn.

I loved this book. I think it may be geared towards younger kids, 6-10. I bought it for my son, I then decides to donate it to the school library.

The book Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes is an excellent book with short biographies of people in the past who may have had autism. Its readibility and simplicity are good for elementary age students, especially those who are either related to or know students with autism.

It was hard to explain to my 8-year old daughter with Aspergers how wonderfully her mind works. How people with minds like hers have changed history and done many wonderful things that would be hard for neurotypical people to do. This book gave concrete examples I could show her. We read this book frequently. Everyone with Aspergers should read it...

This book sure gives a lot of hope to any kinds of autistic people; it shows us all the people mentioned in this book turned out to be successful although they weren't always good at fitting in. Simply put, they were differently-abled, not mentally retarded at all. I guess that's mainly because they had different sort of talents nobody else had ever thought of. I know there are still biased people against mental illness and impairments. However, I'd like them to deal with this book to think twice about mental or developmental challenges.

And let me get it straight: You'll eventually get burned if you put down this book! That's why I would like not only people with autism or AS but NT people to buckle down to this inspiring book! Don't label this 'just for kids only'!