The Fabric of Autism

The Fabric of Autism PDF Author: Judith Bluestone
Publisher: Book Publishing Company
ISBN: 9780972023528
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Infused with rare insights into the impetus behind autistic behaviors, The Fabric of Autism weaves the various threads of autism into a "makes-sense" theory, hard won through personal experience and decades of study. From neuroscientific research, explanations of developmental processes and clinical outcomes emerge the probable causes of autism. Both a significant clinical work and a moving memoir that illuminates the humanity hidden beneath the bewildering facade of autism. Theholistic approach presented here gives hope to parents, relatives and professionals working with those affected by autism.

The Fabric of Autism

The Fabric of Autism PDF Author: Judith Bluestone
Publisher: Book Publishing Company
ISBN: 9780972023528
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Infused with rare insights into the impetus behind autistic behaviors, The Fabric of Autism weaves the various threads of autism into a "makes-sense" theory, hard won through personal experience and decades of study. From neuroscientific research, explanations of developmental processes and clinical outcomes emerge the probable causes of autism. Both a significant clinical work and a moving memoir that illuminates the humanity hidden beneath the bewildering facade of autism. Theholistic approach presented here gives hope to parents, relatives and professionals working with those affected by autism.

I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder

I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder PDF Author: Sarah Kurchak
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
ISBN: 1771622474
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
Sarah Kurchak is autistic. She hasn’t let that get in the way of pursuing her dream to become a writer, or to find love, but she has let it get in the way of being in the same room with someone chewing food loudly, and of cleaning her bathroom sink. In I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder, Kurchak examines the Byzantine steps she took to become “an autistic success story,” how the process almost ruined her life and how she is now trying to recover. Growing up undiagnosed in small-town Ontario in the eighties and nineties, Kurchak realized early that she was somehow different from her peers. She discovered an effective strategy to fend off bullying: she consciously altered nearly everything about herself—from her personality to her body language. She forced herself to wear the denim jeans that felt like being enclosed in a sandpaper iron maiden. Every day, she dragged herself through the door with an elevated pulse and a churning stomach, nearly crumbling under the effort of the performance. By the time she was finally diagnosed with autism at twenty-seven, she struggled with depression and anxiety largely caused by the same strategy she had mastered precisely. She came to wonder, were all those years of intensely pretending to be someone else really worth it? Tackling everything from autism parenting culture to love, sex, alcohol, obsessions and professional pillow fighting, Kurchak’s enlightening memoir challenges stereotypes and preconceptions about autism and considers what might really make the lives of autistic people healthier, happier and more fulfilling.

Uncomfortable Labels

Uncomfortable Labels PDF Author: Laura Kate Dale
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
ISBN: 1785925881
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
"So while the assumption when I was born was that I was or would grow up to be a neurotypical heterosexual boy, that whole idea didn't really pan out long term." In this candid, first-of-its-kind memoir, Laura Kate Dale recounts what life is like growing up as a gay trans woman on the autism spectrum. From struggling with sensory processing, managing socially demanding situations and learning social cues and feminine presentation, through to coming out as trans during an autistic meltdown, Laura draws on her personal experiences from life prior to transition and diagnosis, and moving on to the years of self-discovery, to give a unique insight into the nuances of sexuality, gender and autism, and how they intersect. Charting the ups and downs of being autistic and on the LGBT spectrum with searing honesty and humour, this is an empowering, life-affirming read for anyone who's felt they don't fit in.

Sincerely, Your Autistic Child

Sincerely, Your Autistic Child PDF Author: Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network
Publisher: Beacon Press
ISBN: 0807025682
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
A diverse collection of autistic voices that highlights how parents can avoid common mistakes and misconceptions, and make their child feel truly accepted, valued, and celebrated for who they are. Most resources available for parents come from psychologists, educators, and doctors, offering parents a narrow and technical approach to autism. Sincerely, Your Autistic Child represents an authentic resource for parents written by autistic people themselves. From childhood and education to culture, gender identity, and sexuality, this anthology tackles the everyday joys and challenges of growing up while honestly addressing the emotional needs, sensitivity, and vibrancy of autistic kids, youth, and young adults. Contributors reflect on what they have learned while growing up on the autism spectrum and how parents can avoid common mistakes and overcome challenges while raising their child. Part memoir, part guide, and part love letter, Sincerely, Your Autistic Child is an indispensable collection that invites parents and allies into the unique and often unheard experiences of autistic children and teens.

The Autistic Brain

The Autistic Brain PDF Author: Temple Grandin
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547636458
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
Weaving her own experience with remarkable new discoveries, Grandin introduces the neuroimaging advances and genetic research that link brain science to behavior, even sharing her own brain scans from numerous studies. Readers meet the scientists and self-advocates who are introducing innovative theories of what causes, how it is diagnosed, and how best to treat autism.

In a Different Key

In a Different Key PDF Author: John Donvan
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307985687
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 688

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Book Description
Finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction An extraordinary narrative history of autism: the riveting story of parents fighting for their children ’s civil rights; of doctors struggling to define autism; of ingenuity, self-advocacy, and profound social change. Nearly seventy-five years ago, Donald Triplett of Forest, Mississippi, became the first child diagnosed with autism. Beginning with his family’s odyssey, In a Different Key tells the extraordinary story of this often misunderstood condition, and of the civil rights battles waged by the families of those who have it. Unfolding over decades, it is a beautifully rendered history of ordinary people determined to secure a place in the world for those with autism—by liberating children from dank institutions, campaigning for their right to go to school, challenging expert opinion on what it means to have autism, and persuading society to accept those who are different. It is the story of women like Ruth Sullivan, who rebelled against a medical establishment that blamed cold and rejecting “refrigerator mothers” for causing autism; and of fathers who pushed scientists to dig harder for treatments. Many others played starring roles too: doctors like Leo Kanner, who pioneered our understanding of autism; lawyers like Tom Gilhool, who took the families’ battle for education to the courtroom; scientists who sparred over how to treat autism; and those with autism, like Temple Grandin, Alex Plank, and Ari Ne’eman, who explained their inner worlds and championed the philosophy of neurodiversity. This is also a story of fierce controversies—from the question of whether there is truly an autism “epidemic,” and whether vaccines played a part in it; to scandals involving “facilitated communication,” one of many treatments that have proved to be blind alleys; to stark disagreements about whether scientists should pursue a cure for autism. There are dark turns too: we learn about experimenters feeding LSD to children with autism, or shocking them with electricity to change their behavior; and the authors reveal compelling evidence that Hans Asperger, discoverer of the syndrome named after him, participated in the Nazi program that consigned disabled children to death. By turns intimate and panoramic, In a Different Key takes us on a journey from an era when families were shamed and children were condemned to institutions to one in which a cadre of people with autism push not simply for inclusion, but for a new understanding of autism: as difference rather than disability.

The Spark

The Spark PDF Author: Kristine Barnett
Publisher: Random House Canada
ISBN: 0307362779
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The extraordinary memoir of a mother's love, commitment and nurturing, which allowed her son, originally diagnosed with severe autism, to flourish into a universally recognized genius--and how any parent can help their child find their spark. Today, at 13, Jacob is a paid researcher in quantum physics, working on extending Einstein's theory of relativity. Diagnosed at 1 with severe autism, at 3 he was assigned to life-skills classes and his parents were told to adjust their expectations. The goal: tying his own shoes at 16. Kristine's belief in the power of hope and the dazzling possibilities that can occur when we keep our minds open and learn to fuel a child's true potential changed everything.

The Obsessive Joy of Autism

The Obsessive Joy of Autism PDF Author: Julia Bascom
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
ISBN: 1784501506
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
'Being autistic, to me, means a lot of different things, but one of the best things is that I can be so happy, so enraptured about things no one else understands and so wrapped up in my own joy that, not only does it not matter that no one else shares it, but it can become contagious. This is the part about autism that I can never explain. This is the part I never want to lose.' Julia Bascom's depiction of the joy of autistic obsessions tells a story about autism that is very rarely told. It tells of a world beyond impairments and medical histories, where the multiples of seven can open a floodgate of untranslatable joy, where riding a train can make everything feel perfectly sized and full of light, and where flapping your hands just so amplifies everything you feel. The Obsessive Joy of Autism will resonate powerfully with other autistic people, and encourage those who have a person with autism in their lives to look out for that joy, to chase it, to get obsessed.

An Early Start for Your Child with Autism

An Early Start for Your Child with Autism PDF Author: Sally J. Rogers
Publisher: Guilford Press
ISBN: 160918470X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
Presents strategies for helping children with autism interact with others and achieve their potential, covering such areas as back-and-forth interactions, nonverbal communication, and imitation.

Bright Not Broken

Bright Not Broken PDF Author: Diane M. Kennedy
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470623322
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
The future of our society depends on our gifted children—the population in which we’ll find our next Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, or Virginia Woolf. Yet the gifts and talents of some of our most brilliant kids may never be recognized because these children fall into a group known as twice exceptional, or “2e.” Twice exceptional kids are both gifted and diagnosed with a disability—often ADHD or an Autism Spectrum Disorder—leading teachers and parents to overlook the child’s talents and focus solely on his weaknesses. Too often, these children get lost in an endless cycle of chasing diagnostic labels and are never given the tools to fully realize their own potential. Bright Not Broken sheds new light on this vibrant population by identifying who twice exceptional children are and taking an unflinching look at why they’re stuck. The first work to boldly examine the widespread misdiagnosis and controversies that arise from our current diagnostic system, it serves as a wake-up call for parents and professionals to question why our mental health and education systems are failing our brightest children. Most importantly, the authors show what we can do to help 2e children, providing a whole child model for parents and educators to strengthen and develop a child’s innate gifts while also intervening to support the deficits. Drawing on painstaking research and personal experience, Bright Not Broken offers groundbreaking insight and practical strategies to those seeking to help 2e kids achieve their full potential. Diane M. Kennedy, author of The ADHD-Autism Connection, is a long time advocate, international speaker/trainer, and mother of three twice-exceptional sons. Rebecca S. Banks, M.A., co-author of The ADHD-Autism Connection, is a veteran educator, national speaker/trainer, and mother of two twice-exceptional children. Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is a professor, prolific author, and one of the most accomplished and renowned adults with autism in the world.