Customer Reviews

One Small Starfish

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As the mother of a young boy with ASD, I am a devotee of 1st person narratives dealing with the autism experience. Anne Addison's book shares many practical, fairly easy to implement suggestions, but the book got under my skin as well. This book is indeed easy to use and read. However, the author just has too much money to throw at situations to create a realistic portrait of raising a special needs child. I cannot "hire" the "help" that Anne is able to hire for fulltime babysitters, housecleaners, and random other folks who keep hearth and home for her. Nor can I afford (and I don't believe that the majority of us out there can) to fly my child around the country to the have consultations with the leading experts in the field, as Addison repeatedly does. Yet, these means are frequently recommended to the readers.

Addison also came off like a "supermom," even though her advice was to try not to be one. I'm sorry, bot only a person who does not have to clean, watch her children, run errands and cook is going to be able to write all of the letters to insurance companies, teachers and other team members that she recommends.

This book did have some valuable insights. Her advice on hospitalization was particularly compelling, and worth the read for that alone.

My own brother has the exact same problems as the boy in the story. I am 13 years old, and it is hard to cop with someone who is not like the other brothers and sisters that you want and that your friends have. This sister dealt with the brother in different ways, helping me to find what works for my family. This is the best book that i have read yet! It helped me so much more then i would have thought. I would recommend it to anyone who has a sibling, it helped me to understand that someone else was dealing with the same issues as i was.

One Small Starfish: A Mother's Everyday Advice, Survival Tactics & Wisdom For Raising A Special Needs Child is the true story of Anne Addison, a mother who worked hard to raise a child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Asperger's Syndrome, and developmental delays, and sensory integration problems. Facing the formidable challenges of teaching a child who is constantly pulled onto paths only he understands, Addison mastered the basic necessities of familial survival and helped her son learn how to cope in a dangerous world. One Small Starfish is a 372-page compendium of practical, "parent friendly", highly recommended observations and experiences from which the mothers and fathers of special needs children can draw information, advice, and hope. Addison's son is currently a successful student in a typical fourth grade classroom and, as other boys his age, actively participates in sports, church choir, and music.

As the parent of a child with Asperger Syndrome/high-functioning autism, I have read many first-hand accounts dealing with challenging behaviors and suggested solutions. I have found One Small Starfish to be among the very best. Ms Addison's understanding, compassion, and inventive solutions are a delight to read. She combines her very practical business sense with the intuition that comes with motherhood,the humor that can soften adversity, and even a special spirituality that enhances her techniques. Readers will no doubt find some very useful and helpful suggestions among these chapters. I highly recommend this book!

Having worked with many special needs children over the years, I have had the opportunity to use many strategies that I was then able to offer to parents. However, Anne Addison has made this list exhaustive and incredibly practical. She has included real life suggestions, that were both successful for her and her family and suggestions that were not, but might be for another family. She delivered her messages sprinkled with humor and sincerity, but smothered in love and spirituality. It was truly a heartwarming and encouraging story about an entire family's experiences with her special needs child.

This is one of the best books about a child with Asperger's that I have ever read. Despite the word "perseverate" which is a damning and harmful word (it also speaks to intolerance) which is better replaced with "repetition/special interests," this is an excellent work. Anne Addison deserves a round of applause for this stellar work. I love the Beatle influence by entitling a chapter "Getting By With a Little Help From Your Friends." That Beatle influence - it's a good one!

Her second child, Jack was born in 1991, a year after his sister Sarah. While Sarah was described as a low maintenance child, Jack had behavioral and sensory issues from the beginning. I like the way Addison looks back at Jack's early behavior and realizes what might have caused it, such as a meltdown he had at age 2 when he wanted a juice box while visiting an unfamiliar relative.

I also like the way she describes her son's schooling; the resource tools she used and the overall layout of Jack's classrooms. Jack initially had a good school experience in pre-kindergarten, but that came to a crashing end the following year. Claustrophobic and highly active (Jack was also described as being ADD/ADHD), Jack was forced to sit in a closet for a time out. The boy was understandably scared out of his mind.

When Jack was in second grade, his world unravelled. He had a meltdown in class; was not well matched for the teacher he had that year and engaged in dangerous behavior such as jumping out of a moving car. He was subsequently hospitalized and the experience sounded nothing short of traumatic. Jack's day in the emergency ward until he was sprung was horrifying enough, but the two month sentence he served in a local hospital (December 1998 - February 1999) sounded horrifying to me. The one thing I took issue with was Addison's wondering if being there on Christmas would affect Jack. Of course it would! The boy probably felt he was being punished and to serve time in a hospital on Christmas - ouch! On Christmas Eve, he wrote a note saying he wanted to get out of that place and who could blame him? Another horrifying event was Jack being locked naked in a seclusion room while Addison waved good-bye. That was very upsetting and one can't help but wonder if Jack felt that was being sanctioned.

The only good thing to come of this experience that I could see was that Jack was on a strict behavior modification program. That helped him learn what social boundaries are. Once released, Jack attended the hospital school (Partial Hospital Program - PHP) until more suitable placement could be found.

After many trials and errors with medication and different types of therapies, including alternative methods such as one that involved manipulating the boy's head and neck, an appropriate school was found for Jack. Readers soar with his progress and growing development.

Since autism/Asperger's (a/A) is a sensory condition, Jack's behavior made perfect sense from a sensory, sensible standpoint. He disliked haircuts because he didn't like the way shorn hair felt on his skin. He found parties too loud and confusing. He understandably didn't like the physical therapies because of his sensitive sensory issues. He had to follow a detailed, routine sequence to perform many routine tasks such as dressing and brushing his teeth.

There were two things that I found confusing: In the chapter entitled What's Going On With the Other Kids in the Family, John is called "Ken" twice. In the Sample Medication Log, Jack is called "William" twice. Who was Ken? Also, the chapters did not line up with the Table of Contents and were off by one number.


Parts of this book were funny. When Jack was asked to cheer a neighbor's daughter whose mother had just died, Jack juggled pillows because he said he thought that would cheer her up. Jack's behavior was logical and he was doing what he thought was right at the time. I thought that was funny.

I like the way strategies are included in this book along with a good resource guide. This is the book parents of children on the spectrum have prayed for. Be sure to get this and make it a very close friend. You will find it to be an invaluable resource and you will be mighty glad to have it close at hand.

I found this book to be quite effective. Anne Addison does a remarkable job outlining ways for parents to cope with their challenged children from day-to-day routine activities to dealing with a community of support. My husband and I have a child who is autistic and we have been able to use this book as our guide to solve everyday problems. It has helped us tremendously!

This book offers a diversity of reader satisfaction. This story of a family growing with their special needs child is an enjoyable literary read as well as a helpful guide in the daily challenges of raising a child who 'beats to his own drummer'.
The author is comprehensive an addressing all situations that can arise with a child who often sees and reacts to his environment in an atypical fashion. She takes you down each road that is critical to a child's development, including educational, medical, clinical, social and emotional needs. The author's story is heartwarming as well as wrenching at times, and
yet is interspersed with pratical strategies and recommendations to a wide variety of daily living situations. The author is sincere in her wisdom, sharing strategies that she has used that failed as well as succeeded. How a special needs child has impacted a sibling's life as well as the marital relationship are examples of the wholistic approach the author takes in learning and living with a challenging child. This book is an excellent resource for all individuals who interact with special children. And it will make you laugh and cry....

A sensitive and thoughtful book by a heroic mom of a special needs child. Faced with the challenges of raising two special needs children myself, I found this book to be both comforting and informative. On a daily basis I find reasons to feel alienated, isolated and inadequate as I'm forced to deal with the demands of my unique situation. Reading how this mom handled almost identical experiences brought tremendous relief and comfort.

This is a touching, in-depth look at a mother's personal account of life and daily struggles of having a child with autism. She tells of the importance not just to "survive", but really deals with one's own attitude and how that affects the overall picture. I thought One Small Starfish was very well-written, stressing the need to cheer your child on and teaching them to be the best they can be.