The image of coping well presented by AS females can often mask difficulties, deficits, challenges, & loneliness.

    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

    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!

    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.

    Odasso writes in this anthology: "You spend a lot of time wondering what's wrong without ever knowing why." This anthology includes essays from a diverse group of adult-diagnosed autistic people. Our essays reflect the value of knowing why--why we are different from so many other people, why it can be so hard to do things others can take for granted, and why there is often such a mismatch between others' treatment of us and our own needs, skills, and experiences. Essay topics include recovering from burnout, exploring our passions and interests, and coping with sensory overload, especially in social situations. If you know you're autistic, are beginning to wonder, share similarities with autistic people, or want to support an adult autistic friend or family member--or if you simply want to know why it's so important that autistic adults know we're autistic--this book is for you.

    Chronicling her life from her earliest memories through her life as a university lecturer, writer, wife and mother, Liane Holliday Willey shares, with insight and warmth, the daily struggles and challenges that face many of those who have Asperger's Syndrome. Pretending to be Normal invites its readers to welcome the Asperger community with open acceptance, for it makes it clear that, more often than not, they are capable, viable, interesting and kind people who simply find unique ways to exhibit those qualities.The last part of the book consists of a series of substantial appendices which provide helpful coping strategies and guidance, based on the author's own experience, for a range of situations. This positive and humane book will provide not only insight into the Asperger world which will prove invaluable for the professionals who work with people with Asperger's Syndrome, but also hope and encouragement for other people with Asperger's Syndrome, their families, and their friends.

    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.

    John Robison was never a model child, and he wasn’t a model dad either. Diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at the age of forty, he approached fatherhood as a series of logic puzzles and practical jokes. When his son, Cubby, asked, “Where did I come from?” John said he’d bought him at the Kid Store and that the salesman had cheated him by promising Cubby would “do all chores.” He read electrical engineering manuals to Cubby at bedtime. He told Cubby that wizards turned children into stone when they misbehaved. Still, John got the basics right. He made sure Cubby never drank diesel fuel at the automobile repair shop he owns. And he gave him a life of adventure: By the time Cubby was ten, he’d steered a Coast Guard cutter, driven a freight locomotive, and run an antique Rolls Royce into a fence.The one thing John couldn’t figure out was what to do when school authorities decided that Cubby was dumb and stubborn—the very same thing he had been told as a child. Did Cubby have Asperger’s too? The answer was unclear. One thing was clear, though: By the time he turned seventeen, Cubby had become a brilliant chemist—smart enough to make military-grade explosives and bring state and federal agents calling. Afterward, with Cubby facing up to sixty years in prison, both father and son were forced to take stock of their lives, finally coming to terms with being “on the spectrum” as both a challenge and a unique gift. By turns tender, suspenseful, and hilarious, this is more than just the story of raising Cubby. It’s the story of a father and son who grow up together. Praise for John Robison's first book, Look Me In the Eye:"Lean, powerful in its descriptive accuracy and engaging in its understated humor...Emotionally gripping." --Chicago Tribune"A fantastic life story told with grace, humor, and a bracing lack of sentimentality." --Entertainment Weekly"Endearing...Robison is a natural storyteller." --Boston Globe

      Along the way, he reveals the untold story of Hans Asperger, the father of Asperger’s syndrome, whose “little professors” were targeted by the darkest social-engineering experiment in human history; exposes the covert campaign by child psychiatrist Leo Kanner to suppress knowledge of the autism spectrum for fifty years; and casts light on the growing movement of "neurodiversity" activists seeking respect, support, technological innovation, accommodations in the workplace and in education, and the right to self-determination for those with cognitive differences.

    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.

    A successful journalist and mother to four children, she had spent her whole life feeling as if she were running a different operating system to those around her. This book charts a year in her life and offers a unique insight into the autistic mind and the journey from diagnosis to acceptance. Drawing on personal experience, research and conversations with experts, she learns how 'different' doesn't need to mean 'less' and how it's never too late for any of us to find our place in the world. Laura explores how and why female autism is so under-diagnosed and very different to that seen in men and boys and explores difficulties and benefits neurodiversity can bring.

    The book discusses clearly and concisely how to deal with tantrums, meltdowns and difficult behaviour from children and young people with Asperger Syndrome, looking in particular at the role of antecedent behaviours, which signal the beginning of a meltdown, as identified through functional assessment. Topics covered include:* the characteristics of Asperger Syndrome and their impact on behaviour* stages of the meltdown cycle* the role of antecedent behaviours* functional assessment* strategies promoting social skills development, including self-awareness, self-calming and self-management* solutions for parents, including organization and support, and daily routines.The book's main focus is on the various stages of the meltdown cycle and functional analysis as a means of determining why behaviours occur. This is followed by a set of practical strategies that promote social skills development, including self-awareness, self-calming and self-management. The book concludes with a chapter written specifically for parents, which offers concrete and easy-to-follow steps for developing a home plan that addresses agreement on the causes of problem behaviours, family organization and support, the LASTING word and designing a daily routine. Accompanying the clear and user-friendly writing style are a number of helpful reporting forms and other instruments that may be used by schools and parents as they work to reduce or eliminate such behaviour in children and young people with Asperger Syndrome.

    She also lectures widely on autism—because Temple Grandin is autistic, a woman who thinks, feels, and experiences the world in ways that are incomprehensible to the rest of us. In this unprecedented book, Grandin delivers a report from the country of autism. Writing from the dual perspectives of a scientist and an autistic person, she tells us how that country is experienced by its inhabitants and how she managed to breach its boundaries to function in the outside world. What emerges in Thinking in Pictures is the document of an extraordinary human being, one who, in gracefully and lucidly bridging the gulf between her condition and our own, sheds light on the riddle of our common identity.

    Although people with autism live in the same physical world and deal with the same `raw material' their perceptual world turns out strikingly different from that of non-autistic people. It is widely reported that autistic people have `unusual' sensory perceptual experiences that may involve hypo- and hypersensitivity, fluctuation between different `volumes' of perception and difficulty interpreting a sense.In this book, Olga Bogdashina attempts to define the role of sensory perceptual problems in autism identified by autistic individuals themselves. Often ignored by many professionals, this is one of the main problems highlighted by autistic individuals. This book singles out possible patterns of sensory experiences in autism and the cognitive differences caused by them. The final chapters are devoted to assessment and intervention issues with practical recommendations for selecting appropriate methods and techniques to eliminate the problems and enhance the strengths.Sensory Perceptual Issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome is vital to teachers and other professionals working with autistic individuals to fully comprehend sensory perceptual differences in autism. This book will help readers select appropriate methods for dealing with autistic individuals. In addition, parents of autistic individuals and autistic individual themselves will find the information will enable them to initiate relevant strategies and environmental changes to facilitate more effective learning.