He did not crave my company, cling to and cuddle me endlessly. He showed no need to bond with me, his father, and we did not. He exhausted me, he frustrated me and he scared me. I came to dread coming home from work sometimes, or those moments when it was my turn to wrestle him into bed and begin the long struggle to settle him. I said things that will forever haunt me, like “What is wrong with that child?” and “Is he always going to be this annoying?” What I didn't know then was that he was autistic.When that realisation came, so did the beginning of my mission to understand my son, and to understand autism. This book chronicles that search for understanding and answers. It documents one parent’s attempts to come to terms with, and accept, his child. It is raw and real, sometimes confused and frightened but also, I’d like to think, written with warmth and love and an ability to smile through difficult times.This book is for anyone starting out on a pathway with their child that they did not expect. It’s also for people who, like me, are a little further down that road but still learning, still asking questions and still getting it wrong sometimes. You are not alone.

    Please be forewarned that you are about to read the observations and life lessons of someone who entertains himself by farting in public and conversing in gibberish with his cats. Thus begins the charming, insightful, and memorable story of Jesse Saperstein. Diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism, Jesse has struggled since childhood with many of the hallmark challenges of his condition-from social awkwardness and self-doubt to extreme difficulty with change and managing his emotions.He has also worked hard to understand and make the most of his AS- developing his keen curiosity and sense of humor, closely observing the world around him, and most of all, helping others with AS to better cope and even thrive. Told with endearing and unflinching honesty, Jesse brings his unique perspective to the circumstances of his life and his condition.

    His search took him to Africa, India, and East Asia, to the National Institutes of Mental Health, and to the mountains of Appalachia. What he discovered is both surprising and controversial: There is no true increase in autism. Grinker shows that the identification and treatment of autism depends on culture just as much as on science. As more and more cases of autism are documented, doctors are describing the disorder better, school systems are coding it better--and children are benefiting. Filled with moving stories and informed by the latest science, Unstrange Minds is unlike any other book on autism. It is a powerful testament to a father's quest for the truth, and is urgently relevant to anyone whose life is touched by one of history's most puzzling disorders.

    Helping parents realize their child's unique spirit and reaffirm that every one of us is a blessing, this is an inspirational resource to discovering the intellect, beauty, and complexities of children with autism. Through countless interviews, William Stillman documents extraordinary examples of spiritual giftedness, and boldly challenges our traditionally held beliefs about people with disabilities. Readers will discover hope, comfort, inspiration, and love through these affirming anecdotes of ordinary families.

    This book endorses my clinical experiences in working with females in the autism spectrum and validates the importance of diagnosis at any time in a person's life. Therefore I would highly recommend this book for all professionals involved in diagnosis and supporting girls and women in the autism spectrum. --from the foreword by Dr Judith Gould, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Director of The Lorna Wing Centre for Autism.

    Packed with surprising insight into the reasons we drink, it will open your eyes to the startling role of alcohol in our culture. Annie Grace brilliantly weaves psychological, neurological, cultural, social and industry factors with her extraordinarily candid journey resulting in a must read for anyone who drinks. This book, without scare tactics, pain or rules, gives you freedom from alcohol. By addressing causes rather than symptoms it is a permanent solution rather than lifetime struggle. The Alcohol Experiment: There are a million reasons why you might drink. It tastes great. You feel more sociable. Sex is better. It helps you relax. But are you really in control? Whether you’re reading this because you know you drink too much and want to quit, or whether you just want to cut back for a while, this book is for you.The Alcohol Experiment is a 30-day programme with a difference. Each day, it will show you a new way of thinking about booze, and ask you to look a little closer at why we drink, what we get out of it, and whether it’s really the alcohol that’s giving us what we want.

    ADHD. Dyslexia. Autism. The number of categories of illnesses listed by the American Psychiatric Association has tripled in the past fifty years. With so many people affected by our growing “culture of disabilities,” it no longer makes sense to hold on to the deficit-ridden idea of neuropsychological illness.With the sensibility of Oliver Sacks and Kay Redfield Jamison, psychologist Thomas Armstrong offers a revolutionary perspective that reframes many neuropsychological disorders as part of the natural diversity of the human brain rather than as definitive illnesses. Neurodiversity emphasizes their positive dimensions, showing how people with ADHD, bipolar disorder, and other conditions have inherent evolutionary advantages that, matched with the appropriate environment or ecological niche, can help them achieve dignity and wholeness in their lives.

    Help for frustrated ADHD patients and their families. (As well as those with autism, PDD, Asperger’s syndrome, and other related conditions.) Attention deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is one of the most rapidly growing diagnoses of our generation. Often the diagnosis fails to provide real help, leaving patients, doctors, and families at a loss to know what to do next. But for the first time ever, new insights into the overwhelming number of similarities between Autism and ADHD are giving those with ADHD genuine hope. For years, the label of Autism has carried a negative connotation. Parents were afraid to admit the diagnosis and banished the term from discussion. Finally, The ADHD-Autism Connection gives parents, educators, and doctors a reason to embrace autism with a renewed sense of hope and understanding. This book will show how these understandings can minimize the frustration, misdiagnoses, and misunderstandings ADHD sufferers and their families face.

    Written by an award-winning journalist who has lived through her own parents’ midlife divorce, this practical, comforting guide includes advice on: • How to help your parents without getting caught in the middle• How to have tough conversations with your parents about money, property, and inheritance—theirs and yours• How to understand the complexities of infidelity and stepfamilies• How to rebuild relationships with each parent after the divorceFrom the Trade Paperback edition.

    She tells of her fight to keep Temple in the mainstream of family, community, and school life, how Temple responded and went on to succeed, as Ms. Cutler puts it, beyond my wildest dreams. Ms. Cutler also explores the nature of the autism disorder as doctors understand it today, and how its predominant characteristics reflect our own traits in an exaggerated form.Insightful chapters include: And Baby Makes ThreeAs the Twig Is BentChildhoodThe Separate Worlds BeginThings Fall ApartAnd Start All Over AgainThe End of ChildhoodThen What Happened?Looking for the SourceThe Legacy of GenesWhat It Means to Be Human

    It’s the dreaded A word. People’s attention turns to late night TV public service ads declaring that autistic children are “imprisoned” by autism and need curing at all cost. Recent autobiographies have helped dispel this dire description by suggesting that autism is not a prison and that the door is unlocked and you’re free to come in. Women from Another Planet? moves beyond these autistic life stories in important ways. It’s a collection of stories and conversations, all of them by women on the autism spectrum who speak candidly, insightfully, and often engagingly about both their gender in terms of their autism and their autism in terms of their gender. It is written not just for parents and professionals, like the other works, but also to those women still searching for ways to understand the unnamed difference they live with, as well as the wider audience of discerning readers. If you enter the unlocked door of these Women from Another Planet? you may end up with a question mark or two about your planet. Is normalcy really all it’s cracked up to be?

    A former schoolteacher and mother of three boys, Craft doesn't experience ordinary everyday happenings like most. In her vivid world, nothing is simple and everything appears pertinent. Even an average trip to the grocery store is a feat and cause for reflection. From being a dyslexic cheerleader with dysgraphia going the wrong direction, to bathroom stalking, to figuring out if she can wear that panty-free dress, Craft explores the profoundness of daily living through hilarious anecdotes and heartwarming childhood memories. When she's not laughing at the bizarreness of her days or reflecting back, then she's sharing the serious and relevant challenges of everyday living on the autism spectrum. Ten years in the making, Craft's revealing memoir brings Asperger's Syndrome into a spectrum of brilliant light-exposing the day-to-day interactions and complex inner workings of an autistic female from childhood to midlife.

    In this book—the only one on the market dealing with the specific issues involved in toilet training children with autism—Maria Wheeler offers a detailed roadmap for success, based on over twenty years of experience. Easy-to-read bulleted lists offer over 200 do’s and don’ts, along with more than fifty real-life examples. Learn, among other things, how to:gauge “readiness" overcome fear of the bathroom teach how to use toilet paper, flush and wash up and deal with toileting in unfamiliar environments. A life preserver for parents and reluctant children!Helpful chapters include:The Importance of Toilet Training Determining Readiness Developing a Toileting Routine Dressing for the Occasion Habit Training Teaching Continence Communicating the Need to Use the Toilet When Toilet Training is Successful Toileting in Unfamiliar Environments Nighttime Training Support Strategies Common Problems (and Solutions) Associated with Toilet Training Persons with Autism

    Her inspiring narrative offers compelling insights into daily life with Elijah's Asperger's syndrome and her own 'shadow syndrome', which affects many family members of autistics. It is also a celebration of the idiosyncratic beauty of the Asperger mind and the sense of mutual support and self-respect in the ASD community.This revised edition includes a contribution from Elijah and a new chapter that brings the story up-to-date: the author successfully sets up a specialist educational unit for Asperger pupils, Elijah experiences his first two years of school, and the author's dawning recognition of her own Asperger's Syndrome leads to major life changes.Elijah's Cup offers moving and insightful observations as well as factual information for parents and anyone working with people with ASDs.

    In a snappy, can-do format, 1001 Great Ideas for Teaching and Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders offers page after page of try-it-now solutions that have worked for thousands of children grappling with social, sensory, behavioral, and self-care issues, plus many more.