know any good autobiographies about living with Aperger's?

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Hi all,

firstly, I know very little about Asperger's etc so I apologise if any of the following is offensive.

I'm 38, neurotypical (as far as I know) and married, with a couple of kids.

Very recently I started finding out about Asperger's and I am about 80% sure my dad has it. I think the jargon is "high-functioning", as in he gets through life ok but with various difficulties.

I'm relieved and, to be honest, a bit worried about what to do next.

At the moment I'm thinking that maybe the best thing for me to do next is read an autobiography or some life-stories of people who have Asperger's and try that way to understand a bit more about it.

So, if anyone can recommend anything like that I would be very interested and also very grateful.

-midlander

Look Me in the Eye by John Robinson
Pretending to Be Normal by Laine Holliday Willey
Mozart and the Whale by Jerry Newport and his aspie wife

Temple Grandin and Donna Williams are a few very prolific authors.Their most well known works include

*Nobody Nowhere
*Somebody somewhere(Williams)
*Thinking in Pictures (Grandin).

Other less publicized, but equally helpful, books in understanding the spectrum include

1.) freaks, geeks and Asperger's Syndrome:user guide to adolescence
(written when the author was thirteen)

2.) The ADHD Autism connection- is extremely good at explaining those core information processing difficulties that many mistake for defiance and misbehavior.

3.).)Asperger's Syndrome and Difficult moments: Practical solutions for tantrums, rage and melt-downs -it's a bouillon cube of practical techniques and tools

The last two are not autistic biographies, but they do explain the spectrum particularly well.

Best of luck as you start off on the road navigating the spectrum!

Temple Grandin's earliest book is more autobiographical (Emergence Labeled Autistic). I think Donna Williams has a particularly severe disability.

I did really like Freaks and Geeks, and I identified with it a lot more. He is really a good writer. I think the young man became a rock artist.

--des

I HIGHLY suggest 'Asperger syndrome from the inside out'. It is written by a person who made it to age 30 without a diagnosis, then finally figured out why he has been weird his whole life. It talks about what to do with this new information, how to understand it, and put it to better use.

It was written by the founder of GRASP

You might want to check out the website at http://www.grasp.org/

thanks very much for all the responses.

I'm looking forward to reading one or more of these and hoping to understand my dad a bit more.

In a way I feel a bit sad that I hadn't thought of this a few years ago, because I always thought he was being awkward or difficult. Still, I always loved him anyway.

Bit surprised none of the medical people he came into contact with when he went to hospital with Depression never mentioned the possibility to us.

Thanks again all.

-midlander