Autistic girls can be frequently misunderstood, underestimated and therefore anxious in a school environment. This practical book offers an innovative life skills curriculum for autistic girls aged 11 to 15, based on the author's successful workshops and training, which show how to support girls' wellbeing and boost their self-esteem. Including an adapted PSHE curriculum, this is a straightforward guide to educating autistic children on the issues that matter most to them. It covers all essential areas of wellbeing, including communication, identity, self-regulation and triggers, safety, and physical and mental health, and offers the reader strategies to help the autistic girls in their lives enhance and develop these.

Anxiety, meltdowns and emotional regulation can be hugely challenging for autistic people. This book is full of proactive strategies for understanding, accepting and respecting the processing differences in autism. It contains tools for reducing sensory, social and mental drain, and offers strategies to protect from ongoing stress and anxiety. These help minimize shutdowns and burnout, while maximizing self-esteem, autistic identity and mental health. Learn strategies for matching environmental demands to the person's processing needs, how to support vulnerabilities, and how to prevent and manage meltdowns while protecting the identify and self-esteem of the individual with autism.

'GORGEOUS, VIVIDLY ALIVE' NEW YORK TIMES 'BOLD, HONEST AND SUPERBLY WELL-WRITTEN' ANDRE ACIMAN, AUTHOR OF CALL ME BY YOUR NAME 'GRACEFUL AND SOUL-BARING' MELANIE REID, THE TIMES 'WHAT A GIFT . . . HAS THE RIGOR AND PRECISION OF JOAN DIDION AND MAGGIE NELSON AND A FORTHRIGHT HUMOR AND NAKED TRUTH ALL OF ITS OWN.' SARAH RUHL, AUTHOR OF SMILE I am in a bar in Brooklyn listening to two men, my friends, discuss whether or not my life was worth living. So begins Chloe Cooper Jones's bold account of moving through the world in a body that looks different than most. Born with a rare congenital condition called sacral agenesis, she must contend not only with her own physical pain, but the emotional discomfort of others. It is only when she unexpectedly becomes a mother that she confronts the demand to live life fully, propelling her on a journey across the globe, reclaiming the spaces she'd been denied, and denied herself. From Roman sculptures to a Beyonce concert, from a tennis tournament to the Cambodian Killing Fields, Jones interrogates the myths of beauty with spiky intelligence, aesthetic philosophy, love and humor, inviting us to find a new way of seeing.

In January 1988, aged twelve, Martin Pistorius fell inexplicably sick. First he lost his voice and stopped eating; then he slept constantly and shunned human contact. Doctors were mystified. Within eighteen months he was mute and wheelchair-bound. Martin's parents were told that an unknown degenerative disease had left him with the mind of a baby and he probably had less than two years to live. Martin went on to be cared for at centres for severely disabled children, a shell of the bright, vivacious boy he had once been. What no-one knew is that while Martin's body remained unresponsive his mind slowly woke up, yet he could tell no-one; he was a prisoner inside a broken body. Then, in 1998, when Martin was twenty-three years old, an aromatherapy masseuse began treating him and sensed some part of him was alert. Experts were dismissive, but his parents persevered and soon realised their son was as intelligent as he'd always been. With no memory of the time before his illness, Martin was a man-child reborn in a world he didn't know. He was still in a wheelchair and unable to speak, but he was brilliantly adept at computer technology. Since then, and against all odds, he has fallen in love, married and set up a design business which he runs from his home in Essex. Ghost Boy is an incredible, deeply moving story of recovery and the power of love. Through Martin's story we can know what it is like to be here and yet not here - unable to communicate yet feeling and understanding everything. Martin's emergence from his darkness enables us to celebrate the human spirit and is a wake-up call to cherish our own lives.

This ground-breaking book about sexuality speaks to women on the autism spectrum in fresh new ways, opening doors to discussion, and blowing the lid off taboo subjects. One of the many problems women on the spectrum face is not always understanding how relationships and boundaries work for other people. This book provides answers, plus more that they may not even have thought to ask. Covering one night stands, the importance of safe sex, self-respect, and double standards, there is a wealth of information about the ethics and self-understanding involved in relationships. Written with humour and honesty, this is the go-to guide for sex on the spectrum.

What are the motivations and desires behind relationship choices and sexual behaviour? Are they very different for those with Asperger Syndrome (AS) than for anyone else? Does having extreme sensitivity to physical touch or an above average need for solitude change one's expectation of relationships or sexual experience? Many people on the autism spectrum have limited knowledge of how to establish or conduct sexual relationships: drawing on extensive research with people on the autism spectrum, the book openly explores such questions. For the first time people with AS discuss their desires, needs and preferences in their own words. AS attitudes to issues such as gender, sexual identity and infidelity are included, as well as positive advice for developing relationships and exploring options and choices for sexual pleasure. This accessible book is an invaluable source of information and support for those with Asperger Syndrome and couples in which one or both partners has Asperger Syndrome, as well as counsellors and health and social care professionals.

- Do you want to add fun and adventure to your daily life?
- Would you like to reduce the stress of your morning routine?
- Are you ready to create a quiet space for yourself at home with the blink of an eye?
- Do you wish you could teach your family how to communicate with respect and appreciation?
- Do you ever wonder how you and your family could live the lives of your dreams?

THIS BOOK IS DESIGNED TO BE USED WITH THE STOP RAISING EINSTEIN JOURNAL.

Please see the accompanying Journal ISBN 9781599321738.

This collection of narratives from autistic adults is structured around their decades of experience of life, covering 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60 and 70s+. These are varied and diverse, spanning different continents, genders, sexualities and ethnicities, yet the author highlights the common themes that unite them and skilfully draws out these threads. Each chapter is based on accounts from one age group and includes accounts from people of that age, giving an insight into the history of autism and signifying how gaining a diagnosis (or not) has changed people's lives over time. The book is about ageing with an autistic mind, and helping the reader find connections between neurotypical and neurodiverse people by acknowledging the challenges we all face in our past, present and futures.

This is the inspiring account of a family's struggle to break into their son's autistic world - and how a beautiful retreiver dog made the real difference. Dale was still a baby when his parents realised that something wasn't right. Worried, his mother Nuala took him to see several doctors, before finally hearing the word 'autism' for the first time. Scared but determined that Dale should live a fulfilling life, Nuala describes her despair at her son's condition, her struggle to prevent Dale being excluded from a 'normal' education and her sense of hopeless isolation. Dale's autism was severe and violent and family life was a daily battleground. But the Gardner's lives were transformed when they welcomed a gorgeous Golden Retriever into the family. The special bond between Dale and his dog Henry helped them to produce the breakthrough in Dale they had long sought. From taking a bath to saying 'I love you', Henry helped introduce Dale to all the normal activities most parents take for granted, and set him on the road to being the charming and well-adjusted young man he is today. This is a heartrending and fascinating account of how one devoted and talented dog helped a little boy conquer his autism.

From Sunday Times bestselling author... 'Henry Fraser is one of the most remarkable people I've ever met' J.K. Rowling 'What a story of transformation, inner power and inspiration' Jonny Wilkinson Mouth artist, motivational speaker and author of the inspirational memoir The Little Big Things, Henry Fraser, explores the transformative power of acceptance in this motivational guide. If The Little Big Things was about Henry's past, The Power in You is about his present and his future. And through understanding his daily experience, Henry teaches us all how best we can live. This book is about right now, and it's about tomorrow. It's about recognising progress, it's about accepting our past to become free of it, it's about living in the now to avoid anxiety. It's future focused on the positive. Henry discusses acceptance, how to adapt and deal with our pasts, how to forgive ourselves, and how to forgive others. He will remind us to live in the present and just how empowering that can be, how to work through self-doubt, how to become aware of our progress, and how everything you need in life comes from within you. The power is in you.

The ultimate guide to cracking the social code of dating! The rules of dating are a conundrum for many men, but for men with Asperger Syndrome (Autism Spectrum Disorder) who often have difficulty understanding social communication, they can be almost indecipherable. This book methodically breaks down the steps of dating giving advice on the best places to meet women - whether on or offline, getting ready for the big date, where to go and what to talk about, and how to tell if a second date is on the cards. Written for those with little or no prior experience on the dating scene, the book discusses how to know if you are ready for a relationship, what qualities to look for in a potential girlfriend, and if dating goes well how to make a relationship work.

This compact book uniquely examines individual lived experience with spinal cord injury (SCI). It provides education and a clearer understanding of the many facets of a SCI -- medical, physical, psychological, cognitive, personal, and social -- in a single compact volume, so that readers learn the effect a SCI can have on a person. The contents also include resources for more specific exploration of information. SCI is a direct public health concern due to not only the cause of the injury itself, most often of violent origin, but also how the individuals perceive themselves after the injury and their participation in society, as well as how society welcomes them back. This compact book has four distinct chapters, each one addressing a different component of SCI with a set of resources to guide the individual with SCI, their family and their friends in the process. It first explores the physical as a means to provide an understanding of what body changes occur. From there, it goes on to examine what is the subjective meaning and lived experience of disability for persons with SCI. The brief ends with an examination of what organizations and programs exist to promote independence and a sense of community for persons with SCI. The Physical, Personal, and Social Impact of Spinal Cord Injury: From the Loss of Identity to Achieving a Life Worth Living is a book with broad appeal. It is written in such a way that it serves as a useful and accessible resource for people who work with persons with SCI, students and instructors with an interest in the subject, as well as persons with SCI themselves and their families.

This is an audio CD with the voice of John Stonehouse. This book examines the conventional approaches to numerous problems that affect people who are blind (such as education, Braille literacy, economic inequities, stereotyping, job training and employment opportunities, poverty, rehabilitation and social services). Approximate running time: 320 minutes.

This resource provides practical strategies for helping teenagers and adults with Asperger Syndrome to navigate social skills, friendships and relationships at home and in the community. The author offers advice and useful strategies for tackling day-to-day problems such as visits to the dentist or the doctor, searching for a job, sorting out personal finances, going on vacation, and dealing with public transport, as well as more intimate topics such as dating and acquiring and maintaining friendships. The chapters are structured around real-life scenarios and the challenges they present, followed by step-by-step solutions and suggestions. A final section provides a set of practical self-help tools, which encourage the reader to note down answers to the questions posed and record personal reflections. This accessible guide will be essential reading for teenagers and adults with Asperger Syndrome and their families, teachers, therapists, counsellors, carers, social and health work professionals.

People with Asperger Syndrome have many characteristics that are frequently seen in a negative light. Brenda Boyd shows that for every characteristic of AS that can be looked at negatively, there are several positive aspects that can be drawn on and developed. Discussing AS in general terms, she talks through the reasons why people with AS approach life in the way they do, and what an enormous contribution they make to the world. She then explores different characteristics of AS; while she acknowledges the negative perception so many people have of these characteristics, she points out the large number of advantages to the Aspergers way of thinking for individuals with AS, those around them and society as a whole. For every negative, Boyd proves there are many more positives. From their refreshing honesty to their originality and potential to become leaders rather than followers, people with AS have many admirable personality traits that should be nurtured. This book shows that by adjusting our perceptions of what is 'normal' and embracing diversity, AS can not only be understood and accepted, but appreciated. Appreciating Asperger Syndrome is a celebration of AS which should be read by individuals with AS, family members, and anyone who knows or works professionally with individuals with AS.

Young people with autism can be particularly susceptible to setbacks, often leading to depression and a sense of hopelessness. Using Social Stories (TM), this book introduces a different way of looking at common life setbacks, and offer tools to overcome these obstacles, build resilience and develop coping strategies for the future. Based on Carol Gray's highly effective Social Stories (TM) model, this new guide shows how to help individuals with autism deal with challenges specific to them, and how to bounce back from the negative experiences that they encounter. This book is an invaluable guide for learning to create personalised Social Stories (TM) that can be used to develop resilience in people with autism and help them to cope better with adversity.

Marc Fleisher's new self-help guide for autistic teenagers and adults will help readers improve their quality of life and overcome many everyday challenges, be it through the development of independent living skills, building a more varied and fulfilling social life, or mastering a course in higher education and broadening one's opportunities for the future. Marc Fleisher speaks from first hand experience about the coping strategies he himself has had to learn - often the hard way. Written particularly for young people who are just beginning to become independent from their parents, perhaps living in their own home for the first time, this book shows how to approach apparent problems with hope and the expectation of an improved quality of life. Survival Strategies is an invaluable source of advice and reassurance for people with ASDs across a wide age range. Other readers such as relatives and friends of people on the autism spectrum, and professionals such as educators or therapists will find it provides a host of new insights.

Philip Quinlan was a promising 15-year-old athlete who packed his bags one Sunday morning in November 1989 to play a game of football. A day later, his mother was told he had a 25% chance to live. Part investigative tale, part time capsule, And a Bang on the Ear sees Philip painstakingly piece together the events that led up to, and followed, the accidental clash of heads that left him in a coma before waking up to 30 years of pain and paralysis. Full of hope and humour, rage and rehabilitation, this is an autobiography unlike any other.

Counselling for Asperger Couples is the first book to provide a complete model for counselling couples where one partner has Asperger Syndrome (AS). The book provides details of the seven different stages of the model and includes anecdotal evidence from clients who have used it and whose relationships have been greatly helped by it. The author explains the importance of initial separate counselling and describes the co-counselling process, using case studies to demonstrate how the process works. The book offers a wealth of valuable advice on improving communication and cooperation and includes photocopiable activity sheets that couples can fill in and use to help understand each other better. Strategies and visual aids are also offered for dealing with or preventing anticipated future miscommunications. Based on considerable experience, this book will be invaluable for counsellors treating couples where one partner has Asperger Syndrome, or for couples that want to improve their relationship but may not have access to counselling. It will also be useful to teachers wanting better communication with AS pupils or parents wanting better communication with an AS child.

From the moment she first held her new-born son in her arms, Anne Crosby knew something was wrong with him. Although the staff at the London hospital dismissed her response as cruel and unmaternal, her instincts were correct: Matthew had Down syndrome. Struggling with feelings of shock and grief, Crosby determined that she would do whatever she could to help Matthew lead as full a life as possible. This is the moving, candid, insightful, and often surprising account of the life Matthew made with the help of his mother and other caring people. With her painter's eye for the colourful detail and a Dickensian ear for the voices of her characters, Crosby describes Matthew's family and friends, doctors and teachers - a large cast that includes Alice Strong, his Cockney caregiver, the famous child psychologist D W Winnicott, and Princess Anne, a benefactor of MacIntyre, Matthew's boarding school. Crosby evokes the forbidding atmosphere of Normansfield, the residential institution founded by the man who gave his name to Down syndrome; the spacious beauty of Mentmore, the country estate where she often took Matthew for outings; and the touching camaraderie of the hospital ward in which Matthew died of heart failure at twenty-four. In this remarkable memoir, Crosby also explores Matthew's inner life, revealing his playful mimicry and unexpected humour, his outbursts of affection and occasional fits of temper, his gallantry toward his first love, and his disappointment over the loss of his first job. Anne Crosby's portrait of her son gives us an abiding image of Matthew that deepens our understanding of what it means to be human.

Sharing the experience of bringing up a child with nonverbal learning disability (NLD), this warm and accessible book offers advice on subjects ranging across diagnosis and therapy, children's interaction with each other, suitable activities for a child with NLD and how to discuss NLD with children. An essential guide, this book will reassure, advise and inform parents and professionals who work with children with NLD.

A Richard and Judy Book club selection. In the summer of 1990, Cathy's brother Matty was knocked down by a car on the way home from a night out. It was two weeks before his GCSE results, which turned out to be the best in his school. Sitting by his unconscious body in hospital, holding his hand and watching his heartbeat on the monitors, Cathy and her parents willed him to survive. They did not know then that there are many and various fates worse than death. This is the story of what happened to Cathy and her brother, and the unimaginable decision that she and her parents had to make eight years after the night that changed everything. It's a story for anyone who has ever watched someone suffer or lost someone they loved or lived through a painful time that left them forever changed. Told with boundless warmth and affection, The Last Act of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink is a heartbreaking yet uplifting testament to a family's survival and the price we pay for love.

How could a girl born with a genetic defect - who later suffered brain damage leaving her blind, epileptic and physically handicapped, and who lived only eight years - change the world? Wordjazz for Stevie is a letter written to Stevie by her father after she had died to try to explain to her (and the world) the meaning of her life. This is a book that everyone should read. It could change your life too.

Guides parents' journey toward understanding their child and solve problems related to behavior. Each child with autism is unique. Yet, children CAN learn, and with the 119 rules and tools presented here in their Parenting Toolbox, parents will now be able to help their child be successful. Using checklists, forms, and other practical tools, parents will eventually develop their child's personal MAP - Master Action Plan.

How do we give a voice to those who so often remain unheard? Will You Read This, Please? is a frank and impactful collection of twelve stories as told to our best British writers, based on the lived experience of people who have faced mental illness in the UK.

Edited by Joanna Cannon, the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, Three Things About Elsie and A Tidy Ending, the stories told here are powerful, resonant and heart-breaking.

This is a ground-breaking and unforgettable collection, shining a light on the stigma and isolation of living with mental illness, while also showing the strength and resilience of the human spirit.