Update: Aspergers

A few weeks back, blogged about the possibility of both my grandson and spouse perhaps being a part of those who march to a different drummer.

I found three books which I highly recommend. They certainly have brought a great deal of knowledge and peace to me. I'm going to pass the titles on to my readers here, because I think it would be excellent for as many people as possible to familiarize themselves with A.S.

Why? Because it explains "possibilities" for many of the unusual and fantastic people I've met over my lifetime, and it gave me insight on them and why they may do the things they do!

Anyway, see if you can pick these up at your local library. I'll bet they can get them from another library for you if they don't already have them on their shelves!

The first book is called "Look Me in the Eye" by John Elder Robison. John tells his story of growing up with A.S., what dealing with parents, teachers, etc. was like, and takes us on his journey of growing up, his thoughts, his work, his joys and successes.

I wanted to see how A.S. would affect a child, too, so I was delighted to find these next two books - one for teenagers, and the other an excellent book designed to appeal to the early primary grades.

The book designed for older kids and teenagers is written by a teenager. His name is Luke Jackson. The name of his book is "Freaks, Geeks, and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence". I'm not finished with this one yet, but it certainly sounds as though it's written by a teenager! And, it's got far more information about the things that go on inside a boy's head, something I'm glad to know of as it won't be long before (my) Luke will be approaching those teenage years!

The last book is so very cute - titled "All Cats have Aspergers Syndrome" by Kathy Hoopman. It's full of great cat/kitten pictures, and the information it gives is fantastic for kids in the 4-8 year old age group. My opinion is that all primary grades should have this book close at hand to read, and it should be encouraged for the older kids to read it to the younger ones, so both age groups are reminded that just because people are different, it doesn't mean they are worthless!

Reading John Robison's book calmed me a lot on a personal level. It gave me the ability to step back and think that some of the things we've gone through could have so easily been taken care of had more been known about this subject. As it is, I can stop and take a breath, be more patient and sometimes get through to him, although I have not suggested to him that he might suffer from the same thing. I've suggested he read Robison's book. Perhaps then we will be able to discuss some deeper issues.

Thanks for reading - and again, take a chance and read these books. At the least you'll be entertained. John Robison is the guy who developed and designed most of the exploding guitars that were used by KISS on tour. His days working with rock bands alone makes it worth the read. The others are just as fantastic.

Kate