Other times, he or she may have emotional outbursts for no apparent reason. And in those moments when you can’t understand each other at all, you both feel fed up, frustrated, and confused.The behavior of people with Asperger’s can be hard to understand and easy to misinterpret, which is why it’s so important to learn more about your partner’s condition. The tools presented in Loving Someone with Asperger’s Syndrome will help you build intimacy and improve the way you and your partner communicate. Filled with assessments and exercises for both you and your partner, this book will help you forge a deeper, more fulfilling relationship.This book will teach you how to: • Understand the effect of Asperger’s syndrome on your partner • Practice effective communication skills • Constructively work through frustrations and fights • Establish relationship ground rules to help you fulfill each others’ needs

    She explains how behaviours that may have appeared odd - or even downright irritating - are the manifestation of AS, and shows how understanding can lead to greater tolerance, or to change. Stanford provides a wealth of strategies for living successfully with the more uncompromising aspects of AS, pointing out that AS also brings enormous strengths to a relationship, and emphasizing the value of understanding. Including many quotes from people in long-term AS relationships, the book describes many positive solutions that have worked for other couples.

    Thousands of people live in Asperger marriages without knowing the answers to important questions such as `What behaviours indicate that my spouse has AS?' `Is it worthwhile to get a diagnosis?' `Is there hope for improvement?'Katrin Bentley has been married for 18 years. Since receiving her husband's diagnosis of AS, their marriage has improved substantially. They learnt to accept each other's different approaches to life and found ways to overcome problems and misunderstandings. Today they are happily married and able to communicate effectively.Alone Together shares the struggle of one couple to rescue their marriage. It is uplifting and humorous, and includes plenty of tips to making an Asperger marriage succeed. This book offers couples hope, encouragement and strategies for their own marriages.

    By using quotations and real-life examples to illustrate her points, she achieves a balance of factual information and compassionate understanding. Practical, everyday topics include living and coping with AS, anger and AS, getting the message across, sex and AS, parenting, staying together and AS cannot be blamed for everything.

    Based on their personal experience, this book is chock full of advice from Aspie mentors who have all been there and done that! Illustrated with artwork from Aspie artists showing how they visually interpret each stressor, each chapter also includes step-by-step suggestions for overcoming the issue at hand from Asperger's Syndrome expert Dr. Tony Attwood. Launching a mentorship movement within the autism community to help each other find success, this is an inspirational guide to life by Aspies for Aspies.

    This book discusses the process, the pros and cons, and the after-effects of receiving an autism diagnosis in adulthood.Outlining the likely stages of the journey to diagnosis, this book looks at what the individual may go through as they become aware of their Asperger characteristics and as they seek pre-assessment and diagnosis, as well as common reactions upon receiving a diagnosis - from depression and anger to relief and self-acceptance. Combining practical guidance with advice from personal experience and interviews and correspondence with specialists in the field, the book discusses if and when to disclose to family, friends and employers, how to seek appropriate support services, and how to use the self-knowledge gained through diagnosis to live well in the future.

    But what if it's a world not necessarily made for you? Navigating adulthood is complicated for anyone, but it can be especially overwhelming for someone living with Asperger's. You're used to having things the way you want them, when you want them. You're really into history, or art, or gaming...but dating, small talk, or the workplace? Not so much. So what can you do?Fear not, dear Aspie! Let Asperger's and Adulthood guide you through the waters of adulthood living with Asperger's syndrome. Blythe Grossberg, best-selling author of Asperger's Rules!, provides workable strategies for navigating the ins-and-outs of balancing Asperger's with career goals, romance, and socializing. Learn step-by-step advice about leaving home or graduating from college, and discover the freedom of making your own way--and thriving--in the world. With an estimated half a million Aspies set to enter the workforce within the next decade, your participation in the institution of adulthood is required, and it's totally possible to do it on your own terms.Get out on your own and make the spectrum work for you!

     Tom had long suspected that there was something wrong with him, but despite his best efforts, he could never figure out what it was. With the help of Linda, a writer and investigator who he would later marry, Tom went looking for answers that would explain his quirky way of seeing the world. At the age of 47, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism. Raw and personal, this book of essays was first inspired by Tom’s challenges with Asperger’s Syndrome, but the humorous bite-sized stories apply to any kind of interpersonal communication. The simple solutions that Tom and Linda have discovered – while dressing up a phrenology head or removing a wild opossum from the master bath – have the surprising power to help us learn how to feel more respected, heard and understood in all of our relationships. Introduction Remember that weird kid in the back of the classroom who just couldn’t stop talking about astronomy, and would bring up the discovery of Pluto during lessons about the American Civil War? That was me. My name is Tom Peters. I’m a composer and GRAMMY®-nominated classical musician now, and I’ve played music all over the world. I have a wife named Linda, a college-aged son from my first marriage, and eight different types of stringed instruments at home including six ukuleles. In 2011, at the tender age of 47, I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. At that time, Asperger’s Syndrome was considered a mild form of autism, characterized by an inability to understand how to interact socially. Those of us with Asperger’s – or Aspies, as a term of endearment – tend to have few facial expressions and are apt to stare blankly at other people. It’s nothing personal; we really can’t help it. Aspies are often accused of being "in their own world" and preoccupied with their own thoughts. We are usually clumsy with uncoordinated movements, are socially awkward, have repetitive routines or rituals, and odd speech and language. Which didn’t exactly make me a chick magnet. Regardless of an Aspie’s age or place in life, relationships are often a challenge. Being unable to understand nonverbal communication or how you relate to the people around you can cause Aspies to blurt out inappropriate remarks and say just plain odd things, usually at exactly the wrong time. But it’s not all bad news. The unusual focus and intensity that goes along with this disorder has helped me to hone my skills as a professional double bass player and later, as a composer of silent film scores. On a personal level, I am honest, dependable and straightforward. I love deeply and always try to do my best. I don’t play mind games. I don’t know how. And now, as a middle-aged adult, I’m in a happy, healthy relationship. My wife, Linda, is a writer who used to work with adults with mental, emotional and developmental disabilities. It was Linda’s idea for me to share some anecdotes about what it felt like to be on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. She thought it might help someone to hear me articulate the feelings involved in some of the unique challenges I face. Around the same time, we also started writing articles together about how we were making communication work so well in our Asperger’s relationship. This book is a collection of some of those articles and blog posts about our lives.

    Five years after he married Kristen, the love of his life, they learn that he has Asperger syndrome. The diagnosis explains David’s ever-growing list of quirks and compulsions, his lifelong propensity to quack and otherwise melt down in social exchanges, and his clinical-strength inflexibility. But it doesn’t make him any easier to live with.Determined to change, David sets out to understand Asperger syndrome and learn to be a better husband—no easy task for a guy whose inability to express himself rivals his two-year-old daughter's, who thinks his responsibility for laundry extends no further than throwing things in (or at) the hamper, and whose autism-spectrum condition makes seeing his wife's point of view a near impossibility.Nevertheless, David devotes himself to improving his marriage with an endearing yet hilarious zeal that involves excessive note-taking, performance reviews, and most of all, the Journal of Best Practices: a collection of hundreds of maxims and hard-won epiphanies that result from self-reflection both comic and painful. They include "Don’t change the radio station when she's singing along," "Apologies do not count when you shout them," and "Be her friend, first and always." Guided by the Journal of Best Practices, David transforms himself over the course of two years from the world’s most trying husband to the husband who tries the hardest, the husband he’d always meant to be.Filled with humor and surprising wisdom, The Journal of Best Practices is a candid story of ruthless self-improvement, a unique window into living with an autism-spectrum condition, and proof that a true heart can conquer all.

    Through an introduction to the autism spectrum, and how the Level 1 diagnosis is characterised, the author draws on personal experiences to provide positive advice on dealing with life, health, and relationships following an adult diagnosis.The effect of autism on social skills is described with tips for dealing with family and personal relationships, parenting, living arrangements, and employment. Important topics include disclosure, available resources, and options for different therapeutic routes. On reading this book, you will learn a lot more about the autism spectrum at Level 1, be able to separate the facts from the myths, and gain an appreciation of the strengths of autism, and how autism can affect many aspects of everyday life. Drawing from the author's lived experience, this book is an essential guide for all newly diagnosed adults on the autism spectrum, their families and friends, and all professionals new to working with adults with ASDs.

    Her personal account of the experience of autism was a revelation. It shattered many myths and previously accepted facts about autism. Her book permanently changed the previously limited understanding of autistic disorders. I believe Aarons writings have the same potential regarding Aspergers Disorder. He reveals depths of emotion, social comprehension, nuances of cognition and perception, and especially the potential for something close to recovery. I believe its potential benefits are invaluable and capable of changing lives. In the course of this personal odyssey, however, he becomes much more than a clinical study of Aspergers, for his personal queries eventually pose the same strenuous questions about the human experience that have challenged philosophers since antiquity: What is the meaning of our lives and actions? How do we reconcile our experience with that of others? Where does the Truth lie? What is Love? Does freedom equal love? Dr. Mark Cameron, PhD St. Louis, MO What Aaron has written provides a unique and unusual look into the cognitive processes involved in someone with Asperger's Syndrome. Understanding these ideas and emotions are essential to provide a better understanding to Autism Spectrum Disorders, including Asperger's Syndrome. This will provide a unique contribution to scientific research as well as better awareness and understanding of people with this disorder. Dr. Alycia Halladay Princeton, NJ

    Her own life presents many rich examples. From being labelled nerdy and shy as an undiagnosed child to redefining herself when diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome as an adult, she describes how her perspective shifted to understanding a previously confusing world and combines this with the results of extensive research to explore the 'why' of ASD traits. She explains how they impact on everything from self-care to holding down a job and offers typically practical and creative strategies to help manage them, including a section on the vestibular, sensory and social benefits of martial arts for people with autism.Well known in the autism community and beyond for her popular blog, Musings of an Aspie, Cynthia Kim's book is rich with personal anecdotes and useful advice. This intelligent insider guide will help adults with ASDs and their partners, family members, friends, and colleagues, but it also provides a fresh and witty window onto a different worldview.

    This book will help you bring out those gifts.” In his bestselling memoir, Look Me in the Eye, John Elder Robison described growing up with Asperger’s syndrome at a time when the diagnosis didn’t exist. He was intelligent but socially isolated; his talents won him jobs with toy makers and rock bands but did little to endear him to authority figures and classmates, who were put off by his inclination to blurt out non sequiturs and avoid eye contact.By the time he was diagnosed at age forty, John had already developed a myriad of coping strategies that helped him achieve a seemingly normal, even highly successful, life. In Be Different, Robison shares a new batch of endearing stories about his childhood, adolescence, and young adult years, giving the reader a rare window into the Aspergian mind.In each story, he offers practical advice—for Aspergians and indeed for anyone who feels “different”—on how to improve the weak communication and social skills that keep so many people from taking full advantage of their often remarkable gifts. With his trademark honesty and unapologetic eccentricity, Robison addresses questions like:• How to read others and follow their behaviors when in uncertain social situations• Why manners matter• How to harness your powers of concentration to master difficult skills• How to deal with bullies• When to make an effort to fit in, and when to embrace eccentricity• How to identify special gifts and use them to your advantageEvery person, Aspergian or not, has something unique to offer the world, and every person has the capacity to create strong, loving bonds with their friends and family. Be Different will help readers and those they love find their path to success.

    Drawing on personal and professional experience, Stephen Shore, who is currently completing his doctoral degree in special education, combines three voices to create a touching and, at the same time, highly informative book for professionals as well as individuals who have Asperger Syndrome. Get a unique perspective on AS across the years!

    Now, in The Relationship Rescue Workbook, Dr. Phil, Oprah's resident expert on human functioning, provides questions, exercises and self-tests that will enable couples in even the most troubled relationships to get their love lives back on track. And for those in solid relationships who would like to regain their spark, he reveals how to make that happen. He shows readers exactly how to pinpoint problems in their relationships, and how to make sure that the changes they enact will truly last. His straightforward, tell-it-like-it-is advice is made crystal clear in this easy-to-use workbook that is sure to prove immensely popular with his devoted national following.