Customer Reviews

The H.I.S.S. of the A.S.P: Understanding the Anomalously Sensitive Person

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Finally -- a book has arrived that scientifically demystifies the "sensitive"! For years, the general public has looked askance at individuals with anomalous sensitivities, often labeling them "crazy," since normal people don't see ghosts or spirits, talk to trees, recall past lives, or claim to influence the world with psychokinesis. Psychologists examining such sensitives using traditional diagnostic guidebooks, such as the DSM, have often been confused when they've found these individuals are often diagnosable with eight or more simultaneous valid psychological and medical conditions! Clearly there is something more going on than traditional psychology has understood.

David Ritchey's THE HISS OF THE ASP covers ten years of scientific research and fifteen years of clinical psychological insights, as it describes how many of the sensitivities of the Anomalously Sensitive Person (ASP) can be objectively measured on a Holistic Inventory of Stimulus Sensitivities (HISS). The HISS test can be administered to determine what kind of sensitivity a person has, and is included along with detailed analyses of the variables being studied. While THE HISS OF THE ASP is packed with details about interpreting test scores, it keeps the reader awake with amusing anecdotes and entertaining cartoons and quotes throughout.

THE HISS OF THE ASP will clearly be required reading for all serious students of psychology, as it clarifies centuries of confusion on the subject of how best to understand and support anomalously sensitive individuals.

-- Cynthia Sue Larson
author of AURA ADVANTAGE: How the Colors in Your Aura Can Help You Attain What You Desire and Attract Success

I SO related to the case-study individuals in The HISS of the ASP! What a releif to know that there is somebody who not only understands, but is making an effort to communicate this information to the "ASPs" themselves, as well as to proffessionals. The subject matter is both deep and complex,so it is not an "easy read" ( i.e. a "beach book"),but the ideas presented are so valuable as to warrent one's undivided attention. I highly recommend that anyone who considers themselves "sensitive" read this book from cover to cover. You'll be glad you did!

David Ritchey's work and cooperation with our project as he was preparing his book, and especially the questionnaire, have been invaluable to our research here at the New Being Project where we're researching the possibility of an imminent human evolutionary jump. Are ASPs "the budding limbs and organs of our future nature"? (Michael Murphy) The situation may be even more extreme than Bob Girard from Arcturus Books states in his review when he says that Ritchey's book may be "suggesting that there is a vast underdeveloped resource of genius in the 5 million ASPs in America alone." Oh yes. . .and maybe much more than just "genius".

As other reviewers have stated, the book is enormous in scope and superior in execution. If you want strong intimations not only of what's in our species' current tool kit, but of who we are quite likely *becoming*, this book will get you wide-eyed in many places.

I also want to second the apt counsel of another reviewer: "I highly recommend that anyone who considers themselves a "sensitive" read this book from cover to cover. You'll be glad you did!"

I was pleased to run across this book on Amazon. I read a copy some years ago and was impressed with the author's discussion of the anomalously sensitive person, and with the clinical and survey data he collected that supported his observations. A few years later I conducted a similar survey, based partially on this book, to see if a new test population would confirm Ritchey's findings. It did, as I reported in my 2006 book "Entangled Minds." Highly recommended for those who wonder why they seem to be more sensitive than the rest of humanity.Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality

This book is extremely well-written, making it possible for the heretofore uninitiated to develop an interest in the subject; the material is clearly and cogently presented and the book itself is beautifully produced.

Ritchey's book left me in thought that life as I think I know it is not as solid as the ground I walk on. What is of even more interest is that there is now data being developed in support of this, and David Ritchey is but one of the instigators for this ground breaking research.

This brilliant book is one of the best books about sensitive people available today, and in my opinion, a must read for all highly sensitive people.

In 2003, David Ritchey, an independent psychological researcher, published his groundbreaking work: The HISS of the ASP. The title refers to a scientifically based questionnaire he created to discover more about highly sensitive people, referred to by him as anomalously sensitive people, hence the word ASP.

Most of the literature about highly sensitive people (HSP's), focus on social and emotional issues. Ritchey has taken a different approach. He identifies the spectrum of qualities that are part of the condition called anomalously sensitive or highly sensitive, provides a scientific basis for its causes, and describes the range of illnesses, experiences and abilities of this important group of people. The result is a work that provides a comprehensive view of the anomalously sensitive person.

David Ritchey's work challenges myths about the sensitive person, and invites a compassionate and more welcoming attitude to people who are different. This book is vital for anyone who wants to understand more about the human race. I consider his book one of the most important I have ever read.

This is one of the best books around that I have ever read on the subject of being a sensitive. As an empath and INFJ myself, I could relate to what this research is about. I highly recommend folks take the Myers-Briggs test regardless of whether or not you think you are sensitive. There is some fascinating information you can learn about yourself and/or those folks such as loved ones, family, friends, co-workers, etc. Then follow up with reading about the research David Ritchey and others have done. Excellent work and research. I often pull it off the shelf for reference.

H.I.S.S. of the A.S.P. is an interactive read that suits our "multi-tasky" computer functions whirl world...definitely a new take on what a lot of people already "know!" so says the Letter Writing Soccer Moms.