Recommended Reading on AS/Parenting

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You know, I know it has nothing to do with autism, but I keep going back to Helen Keller's autobiography and seeing amazing parallels between her struggle to communicate and how it expressed itself, and kids on the spectrum struggling with the same issues. It's available for free online here, and there is plenty of good parenting advice in it, too:

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/ ... /life.html

To this list, add 'A Survival Guide for Kid's with Autism Spectrum Disorders' by Elizabeth Verdick and Elizabeth Reeve.

http://www.freespirit.com/add-adhd-auti ... th-reeve//

Also, 'My brother is Artistic' for a younger sibling.

http://www.amazon.com/My-Brother-Artist ... 1432778129

And this one is not really about autism but the boy here could be Asperger's. It's called 'Oliver" by Birgitta
Sif and it is a beautiful book about a boy who plays with puppets only and ...

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/oliver- ... 1108302637

Good luck!

The Journal of Best Practices by David Finch is really funny

Has anybody read social story books by either Carol Grey or Jed Baker?

I am trying to find something to help my 6 year old socialize a little easier. He needs a lot of help learning to have two way conversations, how to approach a group, how to join a game already in progress, how to enter an existing conversation, etc.

Any suggestions?

Carol Gray is kind of the gold standard of social stories. Her books and website are very good resources.

Thanks you! I just ordered The New Social Story Book.

I added a few of my favorite as well. I took the previous lists and updated them with every recommendation up to now. They are in alphabetical order. I'd like categorize them at some point, but I figure I should just share this for now in case anyone else finds it helpful.

I uploaded it to scribd.com so anyone else can download it if they want.


http://www.scribd.com/doc/191732260/Autism-Books

My 7 yr old daughter has Aspergers and she is so easily frustrated that I find myself constantly battling meltdowns over some of the mos trivial things (well trivial to me I'm sure she absolutely feels like it's not trivial at that moment) but, I also have a 5 yr old non-AS daughter and she's picked up on many of the behaviors of my 7 yr old.

I'm also, physically disabled and restraining my daughter is very painful for me and often results in one of us getting hurt. So, I'd really like as many suggestions as possible to help me better understand how to deal with her without physically restraining her. I've been doing some training online at www.autismtrainingsolutions.com in ABA as well. This has helped but, it's still not completely clear how to impliment the ABA techniques into our day to day living.

Thank you for any suggestions and comments

If you take a look at the "Parenting Index" stickied at the top of the board, there are many, many threads on violence collected there. The recommended book is helpful, too.

My first suggestion is that you provide isolation for your daughter when she loses it - this can be either in the form of her going to her room or another safe place (we put a lock on DS's door when we were in the worst of it; I recommend this) or can be in the form of everyone clearing out of where she is.

You may have to make sure that anywhere she might be is essentially baby-proofed so she can't hurt herself or damage your home too much.

My second suggestion is to do an FBA to try to figure out patterns in her behavior. One detail that is often omitted in these: does she have a "tell" when she's about to lose it? (DS used to clench his jaw and his fists) Teach her to go somewhere to calm down as soon as she feels that happening.

There's a lot of collected wisdom on old threads in this forum; I've found it's helpful to google a specific keyword about your concern along with the phrase "Parents' Discussion."

From anxiety to Meltdown by Deborah Lipsky
Such a brilliant book available in paperback and kindle.
I have found this book so useful. The author is aspergers her self. You really get to know how the aspergers person thinks and great advise on what to and not do when having a meltdown. Also advice about autism in general and it is humours in parts.


Im currently reading Asperkids by Jennifer Cook O'Toole.

From Anxiety to Meltdown is the best book on autism I have ever read (I have read about 25 in the past year). It really shows the difference between tantrums and meltdowns. I found all the former books really mady my 13 year old daughter worse. She got diagnoses last fall and I read book after book trying to help her and I was making her worse. She got louder and more aggressive even though I was trying so hard to help her. All of the books I read before said it was not her fault and I had to find her triggers and I couldn't take away anything that would calm her down. (I have always taken away dessert or videogames in the past to get her to behave).

So I was so sad and frustrated watching my aspie daughter get worse and it turns out she was mostly having tantrums, not meltdowns and it was this book that showed me the difference. And since I wasn't really giving her consequences, her behaviours were getting worse. Now that I read this book, I am going back to parenting more like I did before her diagnosis and things are way better.

Thanks for suggestions! I add my one as I haven't found it through the lists, it's a novel for teens (in Italy it has been translated by the same publisher who put on the market Anything but typical) and is The London Eye mystery by Siobhan Dowd.
The metaphor of the different OS the main character uses to describe Asperger's to his NT cousin was so fascinating I used a simplyfied version when the classmates of my son (who has autism, not Aspergers') last year asked me if he was a kid with problems.
(It worked by the way, they came back with the vision that "he has a different brain which works").

These are more 'experience' type books - The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida and George and Sam by Charlotte Moore. The latter gave me some real insight and reassurance that we weren't alone when my son was diagnosed and the former a next level understanding of the autistic perspective on the world.

On a different note, I'd also recommend The Adventure of Maisie Voyager by Lucy Skye, a mystery for older children with a positive, female protagonist on the spectrum.

Sorry if any of these have already been suggested.

One of the most practical helps I have found at our library - The Asperkid's Launch Pad, Home Design to Empower Everyday Superheros, by Jennifer Cooke O'Toole.

It is a home design book about how to create a home environment that works with your child and not against them. We are implementing things at home already and it is helping the whole family!

We picked it up from the library a week and a half ago & it's a wonderful primer on how our kids see 'home'. Even better, it explains how to make all sorts of little changes that make your home a safe-feeling place for learning basic living skills. As an Aspie parent of an Aspie, I find myself amazed at the perfect fit of the seemingly small home environment changes Ms. Cooke O'Toole recommends (herself an Aspie, married to an Aspie raising Aspies!).

I see the Asperkids Launch Pad book on here and wonder a couple of things. Is it relevant to a teenager's home and can anyone recommend books about parenting a teen aspie as well? Feel like I am doing all the wrong things at the moment and he is a Junior already.