Jerry Newport, diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome/High Functioning Autism at age 47, wrote this book for those with developmental disorders, but it resonates with people with any disability. His message: everyone has the power - and the right - to improve the quality of their lives despite their disability. Don't believe you must be 'normal' to be happy; learn to co-exist with 'neuro-typicals', and become the best human being you can be. Jerry candidly reveals his own failures and successes. His heartfelt advice stems from a deep sense of caring for 'his people' on the spectrum. If you read only one personal account about autism, this should be it.

When young people have questions about a brother or sister with autism or Asperger's Syndrome, clear answers can be hard to find. Written by Eve Band, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, this book gives voice to ten-year-old Emily's story: her questions about her brother, her search for answers about autism, and her exploration of her feelings as a sibling of a young man with autism. Told in her voice, Emily's story is as uplifting as it is filled with valuable information for parents and siblings, or any individual whose life is touched by a person with high-functioning autism or Asperger's Syndrome.

This debut autobiographical novel by a compassionate and deeply perceptive writer is raw, funny and moving. It is the story of Colleen, the little girl who has to wear boots to support her weak ankles, seen through her eyes and told in her own words. She is the third-born child of parents who share a chaotic and co-dependent relationship. Accompanied by her siblings, this is the child's journey, set against the background of Cape Town with all its mystery and beauty. The period is the 1940s, a time of innocence, social graces, the Queen's visit, and sports heroes like Vic Toweel and Bobby Locke. It is a time of religious fervour, baptisms, conversions and Sunday School picnics. Apartheid is seen through the eyes of innocent children, bemused and confused by the flawed and unjust system. The pages are crowded by a host of odd characters, lovable, eccentric, alcoholic and troubled. There's Aunty Bubble who teaches the children to jitterbug and Uncle Nicholas who speaks the Queen's English and plays a trumpet in the Royal Navy band. There is Smuts the Xhosa watchman who befriends the children and shares his brazier with them at night, and Edna the maid who tries to keep them neat and clean and fills their stomachs with angels' food. There's Aunty Beryl who carries a Chihuahua around in her handbag, and the midwife, and the home-undertaker named Two-Coffee-One-Milk. The book has universal appeal. There is a human thread recognisable to anyone who has ever been in a co-dependent relationship, or been abused, or grown up poor, or had an alcoholic father ... The text is rich in imagery and vivid detail. Sharp, insightful, nostalgic and magical, both harrowing and joyful, rich in unintentional humour, it will resonate with many. It has the charm of Angela's Ashes. You will laugh with this child, you will cry with her and you will take every breath with her. It is the author's hope that her story might help others dilute the poison of their pain. The sequel will be available in the near future.

The struggle to survive in today's noisy classrooms is real. The child's poor performance often leads authorities to apply undue pressure on him, frequently concluding that he is lazy or of low intelligence, which is certainly not the case. The child's brain is a complex storage and retrieval organ, which mandates that information be properly received, stored, and organized in order to be retrieved for proper use. The child who processes information normally in the classroom is constantly assigning meaning to what is being said in the classroom. The brain is capable of performing these functions in millisecond as long as there is a built-in attention filtering device that assists him in processing relevant information and filtering out or eliminating that which is not. The child who has processing difficulties is not equipped with the excellent filtering capabilities of the normal processing child. His primary difficulty is that of learning through a defective auditory (hearing) channel. Unlike the normal listener, he cannot make maximum use of what he hears for academic purposes even though his hearing is normal. Something seems to intercept the information between what he hears with the normal ear and its decoding by the brain. He allows in both relevant and irrelevant information all at once. Because of poor storage and retrieval capabilities as well, this results in inadequate receptive expressive and integrative functioning on the part of the child. You may often hear him say to the teacher, "I forget." "What did you say?" "Would you repeat that?" "I don't understand" The Listening Child explains in layman's terms what teaches and what parents need to know out this child's difficulty.

For thousands of loving and concerned parents of autistic children, the suspicion that something may be wrong comes long before the clinical diagnosis of autism, PDD (pervasive developmental disorder), or Asperger's syndrome. When rounds of testing and consultations confirm parents' worst fears, their emotional turmoil is matched by an overriding practical concern: What do we do next? The World of the Autistic Child is by far the most complete and comprehensive book ever written for the parents of autistic children, and for the teachers, child specialists, and other professionals that care for them. Written by Dr. Bryna Siegel, a developmental psychologist and director of a large university clinic for autistic children, it provides help and hope not only for the children, but for their families--the parents, grandparents, siblings, and other caregivers who must come to grips with their own grief and confusion following a diagnosis of autism or other related disorder. Dr. Siegel believes that parents' best defense is to acquire, as early as possible, the knowledge and the parenting skills they will need to work with professionals to help their child fulfill his or her potential. This book, therefore, is about understanding the diagnosis of autism, the available treatments, and how to decide what is best for a particular child with autism or PDD. Straightforward and sympathetic, Dr. Siegel guides readers through the thicket of symptoms and labels, explaining the crucial importance of intensive early education, and how to find the resources and help that are available. Behavior modification, the development of daily living skills, guidelines for selecting and designing schooling, mainstreaming, the role for traditional academics in educating higher functioning children and young people, building effective parent-teacher relationships, psychoactive medications, and dealing with the possibility of residential placement are all covered. Dr. Siegel teaches parents and professionals to use their own common sense and personal observations in evaluating the many highly publicized but unorthodox and often untested treatments for autism, including the much-touted facilitated communication (F/C), holding therapy, auditory training, "Options" therapy, allergy treatments, and special diets. Pulling together a wealth of long-needed information on the latest educational and medical advances, The World of the Autistic Child is a superb guide and resource that no one who cares about autistic or developmentally disabled young people will want to be without.

During the last ten years so many works have accumulated in the domain of Physics, and so many new theories have been propounded, that those who follow with interest the progress of science, and even some professed scholars, absorbed as they are in their own special studies, find themselves at sea in a confusion more apparent than real. It has therefore occurred to me that it might be useful to write a book which, while avoiding too great insistence on purely technical details, should try to make known the general results at which physicists have lately arrived, and to indicate the direction and import which should be ascribed to those speculations on the constitution of matter, and the discussions on the nature of first principles, to which it has become, so to speak, the fashion of the present day to devote oneself. I have endeavored throughout to rely only on the experiments in which we can place the most confidence, and, above all, to show how the ideas prevailing at the present day have been formed, by tracing their evolution, and rapidly examining the successive transformations which have brought them to their present condition. In order to understand the text, the reader will have no need to consult any treatise on physics, for I have throughout given the necessary definitions and set forth the fundamental facts. Moreover, while strictly employing exact expressions, I have avoided the use of mathematical language. Algebra is an admirable tongue, but there are many occasions where it can only be used with much discretion.

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.

In this accessible guide, developmental pediatrician Mark Bertin demystifies ADHD and offers advice to overwhelmed parents that includes clear explanations of:

• Biological causes of ADHD, and the ins and outs of a thorough evaluation
• Common symptoms, showing how they extend far beyond inattention and hyperactivity
• Behavioral, educational and medical approaches that increase academic and social success
• Research proven mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques for parents that benefit the whole family

Advice to help your child build self-esteem along with healthy relationships with peers and with "you"

Winner of the Autism Society of America's Literary Achievement Award, this heartwarming book was one of the first autobiographies to provide unique insight into the world of autism. Tom McKean grew up in a confusion of misdiagnosis, spending years in an institution and finally journeying into adulthood, seeking answers. He finally comes to a "working truce" with the neurotypical world and discovers he has various talents in fields such as computers and technical design, in addition to his passion for writing. His challenges, discoveries, and successes will move you as his poetry, songs, and humor delight you.

The first collection of literary writing on raising a child with special needs, "Love You to Pieces" features families coping with autism, deafness, muscular dystrophy, Down syndrome and more. Here, poets, memoirists, and fiction writers paint beautiful, wrenchingly honest portraits of caring for their children, laying bare the moments of rage, disappointment, and guilt that can color their relationships. Parent-child communication can be a challenge at the best of times, but in this collection we witness the struggles and triumphs of those who speak their own language-or don't speak at all-and those who love them deeply.

At ages nineteen and twenty-two, respectively, Jason Kingsley and Mitchell Levitz shared their innermost thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams, their lifelong friendship-- and their experiences growing up with Down syndrome. Their frank discussion of what mattered most in their lives-- careers, friendships, school, sex, marriage, finances, politics, and independence-- earned Count Us In numerous national awards, including the EDI Award from the National Easter Seal Society. More important, their wit, intelligence, candor, and charm made a powerful and inspirational statement about the full potential of people with developmental disabilities, challenging prevailing stereotypes. Now, thirteen years later, the authors discuss their lives since then-- milestones and challenges, developments expected and unexpected-- in a new afterword.

Meet Maria - a woman with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Maria tells the story of her holiday with her husband Ben, her children Cara and Dino, and Teddy the dog, which was interrupted when she began to feel dizzy, exhausted and weak. She explains how this led to her diagnosis and describes what MS is, how it affects her daily life and what others can do to help. This illustrated book will be an ideal introduction to MS for children from the age of 7, as well as older readers. It will help family, friends and carers to better understand and explain MS, and will be an excellent starting point for group discussions.

Deaf children are not hearing children who can't hear, and having a deaf child is not analogous to having a hearing child who can't hear. Beyond any specific effects of hearing loss, deaf children are far more diverse than their hearing age-mates. A lack of access to language, limited incidental learning and social interactions, as well as the possibility of secondary disabilities, mean that deaf children face a variety of challenges in language, social, and academic domains. In recent years, technological innovations such as digital hearing aids and cochlear implants have improved hearing and the possibility of spoken language for many deaf learners, but parents, teachers, and other professionals are just now coming to recognize the cognitive, experiential, and social-emotional differences between deaf and hearing children. Sign languages and schools and programs for deaf learners thus remain an important part of the continuum of services needed for this population. Understanding the unique strengths and needs of deaf children is the key. Now in its third edition, Marc Marschark's Raising and Educating a Deaf Child, which has helped a countless number of families, offers a comprehensively clear, evidence-based guide to the choices, controversies, and decisions faced by parents and teachers of deaf children today.

Self-injurious behavior occurs in almost half of those with autism and is one of the most devastating and challenging-to-treat behaviors. There are many different forms of self-injury, such as head banging, hand biting, hair pulling, excessive scratching, and much more. With contributions from the leading experts in research and treatment, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or related developmental disabilities, and the different methods available to treat them. Medical and behavioral researchers have studied SIB for over 50 years, but many practitioners and parents are still unfamiliar with the wide range of contributing causes and treatment options. Beginning with an explanation of SIB and its various forms, the contributors outline the many possible underlying causes of self-injury, such as seizures, hormonal imbalance in teenagers, gastrointestinal conditions, allergies, and stress, and show how a multi-disciplinary approach when uncovering the causes of self-injury can lead to successful treatment strategies. They explain the treatment options available for SIB, including nutritional, medical, psychiatric, sensory, and behavioral approaches, and show how an integrative approach to treating self-injury may be effective for many individuals. The book will be an invaluable addition to the bookshelves of any practitioner working with people with an ASD or related condition, as well as parents and direct care providers.

Linda Olson and her husband, Dave Hodgens, were young doctors whose story had all the makings of a fairy tale. But then, while they were vacationing in Germany, a train hit their van, shattering their lives-and Linda's body. When Linda saw Dave for the first time after losing her right arm and both of her legs, she told him she would understand if he left. His response: "I didn't marry your arms or your legs. If you can do it, I can do it." In order to protect their loved ones, they decided to hide the truth about what really happened on those train tracks, and they kept their secret for thirty-five years. As a triple amputee, Linda learned to walk with prostheses and change diapers and insert IVs with one hand. She finished her residency while pregnant and living on her own. And she and Dave went on to pursue their dream careers, raise two children, and travel the world. Inspiring and deeply moving, Gone asks readers to find not only courage but also laughter in the unexpected challenges we all face. The day of the accident, no one envied Linda and Dave. Today, many do.

Meet Sophie - a girl with cerebral palsy (CP). Sophie invites readers to learn about CP from her perspective, helping them to understand what it is like to use a wheelchair to move around and assistive technology to communicate. She also introduces readers to some of her friends who have different forms of CP and explains that living with CP can sometimes be difficult, but there are many ways she is supported so that she can lead a full and happy life. This illustrated book is ideal for young people aged 7 upwards, as well as parents, friends, teachers and professionals working with children with CP. It is also an excellent starting point for family and classroom discussions.

The book has been designed to provide readers with an understanding of cerebral palsy (CP) as a developmental as well as a neurological condition. It details the nature of CP, its causes and its clinical manifestations. Using clear, accessible language (supported by an extensive glossary) the authors have blended current science with metaphor both to explain the biomedical underpinnings of CP and to share their awareness that there is much that can be done to promote child and family development, enhance the capabilities of young people with CP, empower their families, and chart a course into adulthood.

The authors have reviewed classification and have emphasised the wide range of functional impairments that are seen in both children and adults with cerebral palsy. In doing so they have used the ICF framework and have described the range of interventions that may be applicable to people with cerebral palsy whilst emphasising that the condition is lifelong and that promotion of adaptation is a key component to understanding its nature and effects.

Essential reading for parents and carers of those with cerebral palsy, clinicians, paediatricians, neurologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists.

The second edition of this concise, plain-English guide fully explains all of the common areas of difficulty for more cognitively advanced individuals with autism, Asperger syndrome and PDD/NOS, and provides much-needed support, uncomplicated advice, and practical, positive solutions. Susan J. Moreno provides an accessible summary of up-to-date information on the diagnostic criteria of ASD, including the common traits and characteristics to look out for. She explores common areas of difficulty, offering a wealth of practical advice and tried-and-tested strategies for meeting the needs of each individual. Topics covered include the individual with autism at home, schooling, tips for teaching, sensory issues, and social skills and involvement in the community. The book closes with useful appendices of practical advice for parents, teachers, medical professionals, and others who care. This handy and informative guide is ideal for teachers, parents, health professionals, individuals on the autism spectrum and anyone else who would like to find out more about autism spectrum disorders.

Finding a job is a confusing and anxiety-provoking process for many individuals with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) who may not know what they are qualified to do and may struggle to communicate their value to employers. In this book, Asperger's employment expert Barbara Bissonnette describes exactly what it takes to get hired in the neurotypical workplace. Every aspect of finding employment is covered, from defining strengths and researching occupations, to marketing oneself and projecting confidence and enthusiasm in interviews. Job-hunters are taught how to develop a personal profile of their talents and skills, their ideal work environment, and important work criteria. They are then shown how to set realistic goals and develop an effective job search plan. There is detailed instruction on networking, including how to find contacts and what to say. A wealth of checklists, templates, sample scripts and written communications accompany the text. Upfront, engaging and highly practical, this will be an essential guide for individuals with AS entering the workforce for the first time, as well as experienced workers who have lost jobs or wish to change careers but are uncertain about how to find the best match for their abilities.

The number of adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) retaining full-time employment is extremely low in comparison to those who may be considered to have more limiting conditions and disabilities. This book identifies why this is the case by asking the individuals concerned what they find difficult about working. Looking at expectations, motivations, working conditions and other factors, Sarah Hendrickx explores the reasons why work just doesn't work for many people with Asperger Syndrome and how to resolve these issues. Featuring personal stories from those with AS, the book highlights successful scenarios and provides suggestions for both employers and those in search of work on how to improve employment for the benefit of everyone. Asperger Syndrome and Employment provides essential information for those making the decisions and acknowledges what people with AS really want from a job so they can make employment work for them.

This book takes a nonpathological approach to disability, viewing it as part of diversity rather than as deficit. The opening chapters introduce basic knowledge of teaching in disability communities, covering attitudes and behaviors that may be difficult for instructors to relate to. Next, the book delves into the three activities sections that increase in difficulty over the course of the book. The activities highlight barriers and psychosocial impediments that hamper progress in disability communities. Designed by an expert educator and clinician who is also an insider in the disability community, each of the 34 activities translate well in classroom environments or as homework, and each can be done individually or in group settings. All activities include a list of required materials, time expectation, goal setting criteria, possible outcomes, and talking and debriefing points for reflection, thereby facilitating effective planning and execution. The activities also recommend possible modifications to adjust the difficulty of the activities. This flexibility makes this a valuable resource for a wider audience of expertise and settings, ranging from introductory to sophisticated readers and users, students and non-students, in classrooms, in workshops, or in other surroundings. Lastly, the book concludes with a chapter on accessing outcomes, with six measures for evaluating knowledge and skill. Teaching Disability is a well-rounded, highly applicable tool for instructors and students in the disability community.

Fragile X syndrome is one of the main causes of child developmental delay and autism spectrum disorders. A premutated form of the same gene is also the basis for neurological disabilities in adults. This book breaks down the complex science of this genetic disorder and provides the facts and advice that every bewildered parent or professional needs to support individuals with Fragile X syndrome. This is a straightforward introduction that clearly explains the condition on both a scientific and practical level. With sections on diagnosis, symptoms and treatment, as well as discussions of various emotional and behavioural considerations, this guide covers all aspects of Fragile X syndrome, its implications, and the possibilities open to families affected by it. It demonstrates how, with the right therapies, progress can be made and emphasises how music can be used effectively to promote communication, interaction, fine motor skills and responsiveness in children with the condition. This is an essential reference tool for families of individuals with Fragile X syndrome, as well as therapists and healthcare professionals who are unfamiliar with the condition and are looking to find out more.