Customer Reviews

Everybody Is Different: A Book for Young People Who Have Brothers or Sisters With Autism

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an excellent teaching tool that paves the way towards acceptance of persons who display autistic behavior. Autism and its related neurobiological condition, Asperger's are spectrum conditions. Common spectrum behaviors include a myriad of sensory issues such as strong aversions for loud noises; strong reactions to certain smells and tastes and distinctive speaking styles. Many spectrum behaviors overlap and Asperger's, while considered at the higher end of the autism spectrum does indeed share common neuro-sensory ground with autism.

This book does a heroic job in explaining and addressing these issues to young children. It is a good way of empowering children on and off the spectrum with knowledge that will in turn pave the way to greater acceptance.

My granddaughter loved the explanations about autism in this book. She is 9, and it is written where she can understand more about the behaviors of her brother with autism. She was even going to take it to school for her teacher to read, and some of her classmates. Many adults would benefit from reading it also.

I also read this book with my daughter. I found it really helpful for the both of us. Some of the suggestions she has taken to heart and has started to practice them with her brother who is high function autisic.

I would reccemond this to anybody who has other children that needs to uderstand about what autism is and can learn about different ways to do things

This book is quite good and explains quite easily to older children, the concept and behaviours of Autism. I think it was a little over the understanding of my 8 year old, but my 12 year old could quite easily gain a better understanding. It would be helpful to read it with your children so you canvdiscuss any siblings concerns, and troubleshooting methods for if you happen to be unavailable.

I bought it for my granddaughter who has an autistic brother. I found it useful for myself, because it is not full of psychobabble.

Everybody Is Different, by Fiona Bleach, is a fantastic little book. At around 75 pages, it's perfectly accessible for kids, as the subtitle indicates: A book for young people who have brothers or sisters with autism. It's written mostly in a question/answer format, divided into six parts: general information about autism, main characteristics of autism, odd behaviour (the author is English, hence the alternate spelling), sibling feelings, therapy and help, and a glossary at the end. It also features cute little illustrations by the author.

The book tackles some difficult questions, such as "Why do some people have autism?", answering them in a way that kids can understand, without being too simplistic. One of the book's strengths is that it not only answers questions, it also makes a point of discussing how the NT sibling feels and what they can do about it. This includes dealing with such emotions as anger, resentment, frustration, sadness, and embarrassment.

My younger son, Aidan, and I have consulted the book many times regarding various subjects and found it to be helpful and encouraging. Aidan benefitted from reading about why his brother makes strange noises, why he says and does the same things over and over again, why he throws or breaks things, and why he hurts himself. The book also listed some good tips for maintaining privacy and how to respond to an autistic sibling who doesn't know what that means.

Of the many attributes of Everybody Is Different, one that really stands out is the encouragement of siblings to talk with their parents and friends about how they feel. I also appreciated the positive suggestions for interacting with autistic siblings and explaining their behavior to friends or others who are unfamiliar with them. I highly recommend this excellent book for any family with autism.

This is a short enough read that my 5th grader buzzed right through it. We skipped over several parts though, because our person in our family has Asperger syndrome and the book is geared toward Autism mainly. I did find it refreshing to find a short enough read that would help my son understand some of the things going on with his sibling, however I think we had already covered the majority of the book with him. I read the book in 1 hr. It was well written I thought.

I bought this for my 9 year old daughter who has a 7 year old asperger brother who can be very difficult. I thought she might ignore the book, but she read it, laughing and commenting on what reminded her of her brother. I will by more of this type of thing. Even if the kids in the books are different than mine, I think it helps her to know she is not the only girl with this situation in her family.

This book is specially designed to give answers to the many questions of brothers and sisters of young people on the autistic spectrum.

As well as explaining the characteristics of autism, it is full of helpful suggestions for making family life more comfortable for everyone concerned.

I found it to be interesting and helpful in explaining simple answers for little ones and more in depth info for older children and adults.

This book is great at addressing the kinds of questions that come up for kids in a very kid-friendly way.