Customer Reviews

Our Journey Through High Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome: A Roadmap

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This book is a very readable collection of individual families' methods of coping with their own experiences of children with High Functioning Autism or Asperger Syndrome. The authors are all parents who have been coping with a child who fits one of these categories. Their stories offer both specific activities and approaches to aspects of socializing and educating children with autism or Asperger's, and the valuable perspective of seeing what problems other families have and how they deal with them.

What fascinated me was the glimpse these stories offered into the variant function patterns of the minds of individuals with Asperger's. However, I believe the creative and useful teaching techniques described throughout the book can also have much wider applicability than merely within the world of autism. For instance, the cartoon approach presented in the chapter, "Humor, Imagination and Empathy in Autism," would work well to teach these traits to any children--and all the better on children whose brains are hard-wired to learn them more easily.

As I have a background in publishing myself, I once used short, hand-drawn picture books to teach my preschool/early grade school-aged sons what to expect when I traveled on business. Therfore, I fully appreciated the hard work and imagination that went into the creation of the interactive, autobiographical "book" produced by the parents of Max to ease his entry into second grade, described in the evocatively titled chapter, "Making Friends with Aliens." This technique would be equally applicable to the introduction of any child, but particularly one who is noticeably "different," to a new social milieu.

An Appendix, "Thank You for Trusting Me," rounds out the book with collection of comments by the children themselves: how they see themselves, what helps them, what upsets them. I am impressed by their awareness of how they differ from other kids but also by their willingness to try to overcome the habits and patterns that will get in the way of their ability to function well in a world of people whose brains work differently than theirs.

I thoroughly enjoyed "meeting" these creative and intelligent people, and getting to know a little more about how else the human mind can work. I think these insights would be of immense value to anyone teaching, caring for, or friends with someone who has to struggle with Asperger's syndrome.

This book is made up of several different authors and gives a multi-faceted view of dealing with Aspergers and High Functioning Autism. The most helpful section of this book for me was when a parent made a book for his Asperger child's class. It gave me the inspiration to make a book with my own AS child to give out at his IEP mtg. (which was a huge hit.)I also found the discussion of the special relationship difficulties AS kids have and how important it is to fascilitate friendships between them. It reminds me constantly that although getting AS kids together is really tough sometimes it is really an important and valuable experience for all involved over the long run. I also LOVED the chapter called Humor Imagination and Empathy in Autism. The author of that chapter made simple stick figure cartoons for her AS and High Functioning Autism sons as a regular tool to help them understand their daily lives. I have adopted this technique (and believe me I am not artist) and found it VERY effective with my AS son and my "normal" son as well. Overall, I liked this book and would recommend using it as a tool for your child's future. Knowledge is power!

Kristi, parent and author of
Finding Our Way: Practical Solutions for Creating a Supportive Home and Community for the Asperger Syndrome Family

All aboard for the mystery tour! Step right this way! Take a Magical Mystery Tour into the sensory world of autism/Asperger's Syndrome! And who better than somebody on the spectrum to act as a tour guide for the neurotypical population to understand autism!

Tony Attwood is certainly one of the leading experts on Asperger's Syndrome. This book is an interesting and easily absorbed collection of how several individual families interact with children on the autism/Asperger's (a/A) specrum. Since these families had to sign consents to be included in the book, I somehow doubt they will find their input will come back to haunt them, although that is possible. The people involved knew going in that their accounts would be included and hopefully, instead of feeling embarrassed about being at a certain point in childhood, the people featured in this book will see how they have moved far beyond that point and not be held accountable for previous times.

I loved the accounts of how people on the a/A spectrum respond and what educational as well as socialization approaches each family used.

The cartoon method in the chapter about humor and empathy are redolent of Carol Gray of her famous Social Stories - draw comic strips with appropriate captions to explain social exchanges. I like the way the experts' work in some ways overlap and yet arrive at a reasonable explanation. People on the a/A spectrum do not, repeat, do NOT lack the ability to empathize. Rather, people on the a/A spectrum often have to be cognitively "taught" to perceive viewpoints from another person's stance.

Having each child offer input in this book with the statement of trust makes for a very neurotypical (NT) and a/A friendly book. The world is for everybody and not just the NT and this book does a stellar job of being as inclusive of all people. Most people on the spectrum are keenly aware that they are "different" and want nothing more than to fit in and be indistinguishable. The poignant pleas for acceptance and the explanations of a/A behaviors and sensory responses will certainly help propel the NT population further down the Long & Winding Road towards that Acceptance.

No doubt people with Asperger's Syndrome will take this book to heart and learn a lot from it. This is a book that is certainly worth reading and does a fine job of bridging the NT-a/A gap ("Sensory Gap").

First off, the book is wrongly titled. It's not "Our Journey" at all. It's the commentary of a number of parents as to the journey of their children. The journey through High Functional Autism and Asperger's Syndrome is something that the individual makes alone. To suggest otherwise is to say that someone else can live your life for you. While being mis-titled is bad enough, it actually borders on offensiveness when one stops to ponder that these children's neurologies, whether you think of them as gifts or as afflictions, are not actually theirs but rather their parents.

Title aside, the reason why I ask you not to read this book is because it discusses quite frankly and candidly an 11-year-old's fear/fascination with the erotic image of Lola Bunny, from "Space Jam." While this may be amusing and perhaps even somehow enlightening, this frank candor into childhood sexual fantasy is going to haunt this person for the rest of their lives. When this person is 30, there will still be a book, with his photograph as an 11 year old, sharply dressed in a suit and tie right over a few choice paragraphs as to his reaction to his erotic dreams of Lola Bunny. While perhaps this information is vital to allowing neurotypicals a much-needed "roadmap" for "their journey," the idea of protecting the anonymity of this child, who will soon be a teenager and than an adult, is given absolutely no consideration. That autistic people often share information that seems to invite teasing is an unavoidable part of the autistic experience. That this person's parents, and that the editorial staff at Jessica Kingsly Publishers would then decide to print a book to inform the world of this person's embarrassing adolescent sexual fantasies, is horrid.

Out of respect for this person, please don't read this book.