Book recommendations for adults with aspergers

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01 Jan 2015, 10:42 am

I was diagnosed last year and have decided this year to try and actually improve myself. Are there any books aimed at adults, with strategies on how to overcome problems? I have read the complete guide but that is it so far.

I guess the main area I struggle with is social communication, making and maintaining friendships etc



Jono
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01 Jan 2015, 1:22 pm

I heard that this was a good one:

http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Earthlings-autistic-neurotypical-ebook/dp/B004EPYUV2

Also, there was a book recommendation section on the old version of the site. I don't know what happened to it.



ASD_Geek
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01 Jan 2015, 1:31 pm

Tony Attwood's book, The Complete Guide To Aspergers Syndrome, while not specifically for adults, is still a good resource, IMHO.



ralphd
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01 Jan 2015, 2:07 pm

Although it's not targeted at Aspies, "Rules of the Game" by Neil Strauss was very helpful for socializing with women and dating.


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Jono
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01 Jan 2015, 2:55 pm

ralphd wrote:
Although it's not targeted at Aspies, "Rules of the Game" by Neil Strauss was very helpful for socializing with women and dating.


I think that anything written by pick-up artist is probably a bad suggestion and wrong. I'd rather stick to books on social skills written specifically for AS people, they're safer.



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01 Jan 2015, 2:58 pm

Some of my favorite books include:

- The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome (Tony Atwood)
- Thinking in Pictures (Temple Grandin)
- Living Well on the Spectrum (Valerie Gaus)
- Aspergers Syndrom and Anxiety (Nick Dubin)
- A Field Guide to Earthlings (Ian Ford)
- The Autistic Brain (Temple Grandin)
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adult Asperger Syndrome (Valerie Gaus)



Davvo7
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01 Jan 2015, 3:38 pm

You could try Jessica Kingsley Publishing - long list of titles there.

http://www.jkp.com/uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=Autism



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01 Jan 2015, 9:29 pm

You might try the A SPLINT newsletter by Aspie Jeffery Deutsch. It is a monthly publication designed to help AS persons get along better with NTs (and visa versa.) A SPLINT = (ASpies LInking with NeuroTypicals)



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01 Jan 2015, 10:28 pm

a book i use in my job is "the fine art of small talk" by debra fine.



ralphd
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02 Jan 2015, 2:31 pm

Jono wrote:
ralphd wrote:
Although it's not targeted at Aspies, "Rules of the Game" by Neil Strauss was very helpful for socializing with women and dating.


I think that anything written by pick-up artist is probably a bad suggestion and wrong. I'd rather stick to books on social skills written specifically for AS people, they're safer.


If you read the book, you'd know that Neil Strauss was not a pick-up artist. Before writing about them, he wrote for an entertainment magazine, and despite hanging around rock bands like Motley Crue, couldn't get lucky. Having watched some videos of him, he even seems to have some aspie-like characteristics.


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02 Jan 2015, 5:02 pm

Although Aspergers was not coined at the time, Speed of the Dark by Elizabeth Moon.


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02 Jan 2015, 10:11 pm

"The Autism Spectrum and Depression" Author Nick Dubin
Foreword by Tony Attwood
Published by Jessica Kingsley 2014

I would rate this book as the best of its kind. Author is on the spectrum himself and very highly qualified, academic interests/degrees in communications, learning disabilities, psychology, ASD issues. It's groundbreaking because of its dual perspectives - the author never speaks with the "disembodied expert" voice that some other professional psychologists who are on the spectrum use to write books about ASd issues whilst posing as NT's...

Not Nick Dubin. At every page he weaves experiential ASD stuff in with traditional ideas of what causes depression and what helps alleviate it; he is sensitive, perceptive, and has crafted an outstanding book for anyone on the spectrum who has struggled with depression, or knows someone who does. Tony Attwood calls this his "go to" book in his clinical practice when seeing clients with depression who are on the spectrum.

It's refreshingly free of paternalism, psychological jargon, professional arrogance and the deficit attitudes that other books on the topic promote: instead Dr Dubin offers real perspectives in real language for ASD people, from someone who really knows and has been there. This fills a huge gap in the market. I'd score it 10/10 :heart:

PS Earlier he wrote a book about ASD and anxiety. I haven't read it yet.



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02 Jan 2015, 11:31 pm

I'd recommend Liane Holliday Willey, any book she wrote.

Pretending to be Normal, her autobiography, is coming out again this year with a new edition. Yay!

I also liked "The Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships" by Temple Grandin and Sean Barron.

Ashley Stanford wrote the awesome "Business for Aspies" which goes through 42 best practices for using Asperger traits at work.



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03 Jan 2015, 1:48 am

ASD_Geek wrote:
Tony Attwood's book, The Complete Guide To Aspergers Syndrome, while not specifically for adults, is still a good resource, IMHO.


I'm an NT, and that is my favorite of them all. It helped me the most.

My issue with many books on Aspergers falls into two camps:

NT's being the victim, and the ASD partner being the monster.

The ASD person is this frail, weak person, who is so unable to make any consessions, you the NT partner have to scale back your expectations to zero and just go with the flow.

I have yet to find a decent relationship book dealing with Aspergers.

The book I absolutely HATED with the passion of super nova was David Finch's book. It was too slick, too funny, and it read like a People Magazine article. It could have been how it was edited, as it really wasn't an informational self help book. My husband had just been diagnosed and was in a locked psychiatric unit. Nothing about Aspergers was funny to me at that moment.

Actually, between Tony's book and Wrong Planet, were the two things that helped me the most.

I have no clue on books dealing with children, but the above are the two things I suggest for people wanting to learn about Autsim.



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03 Jan 2015, 7:39 pm

Numerous resources cited in this thread - very comprehensive:

viewtopic.php?t=211004



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04 Jan 2015, 1:11 pm

Tawaki wrote:
ASD_Geek wrote:
Tony Attwood's book, The Complete Guide To Aspergers Syndrome, while not specifically for adults, is still a good resource, IMHO.


I'm an NT, and that is my favorite of them all. It helped me the most.

My issue with many books on Aspergers falls into two camps:

NT's being the victim, and the ASD partner being the monster.

The ASD person is this frail, weak person, who is so unable to make any consessions, you the NT partner have to scale back your expectations to zero and just go with the flow.

I have yet to find a decent relationship book dealing with Aspergers.

The book I absolutely HATED with the passion of super nova was David Finch's book. It was too slick, too funny, and it read like a People Magazine article. It could have been how it was edited, as it really wasn't an informational self help book. My husband had just been diagnosed and was in a locked psychiatric unit. Nothing about Aspergers was funny to me at that moment.

Actually, between Tony's book and Wrong Planet, were the two things that helped me the most.

I have no clue on books dealing with children, but the above are the two things I suggest for people wanting to learn about Autsim.


If you don't mind me asking, have you read "Asperger Syndrome and Long-Term Relationships" by Ashley Stanford:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asperger-Syndrome-Long-Term-Relationships-Stanford/dp/1843107341

From the samples I've read, it doesn't seem to read like the way you've described.