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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 649
EAN num: 9781853029912
ISBN number: 1853029912
Label: Jessica Kingsley Publishing houses
Manufacturer: Jessica Kingsley Publishing houses
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 216
Printing Date: 2002-03
Publishing house: Jessica Kingsley Publishing houses
Sale Popularity Level: 682868
Studio: Jessica Kingsley Publishing houses
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Product Description:
For parents of a child with an autism spectrum condition, obtaining educational and other services for their child is an ongoing and often intractable problem. This book is a comprehensive 'how-to' guide covering the questions and issues that parents may have to deal with in getting these services. It covers how to deal with the initial diagnosis of autism, how to arrange the best schooling and also to get support from the community. Based on personal accounts (both from the authors and many other parents), it provides honest, open, and practical advice.
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When Ryan Foley was born on May 6, 1985 professionals were just starting to recognize Asperger's Syndrome as part of the autism spectrum. Thanks to previous works by Frith and others, by 1985 spectrum behaviors were starting to receive more recognition.
Ryan was very first considered autistic at the age of 3. He preferred shifting grains of sand and dirt through his fingers than playing with peers; he loved watching oscillating fans from infancy and had special interests over the years. Some of the special interests, such as the colour blue and any object that was blue limited his ability to converse with others; on the other hand, his love for early 1980s club music provided him with a conversational entrance to others. I found it interesting that Ryan said his feelings were not hurt when another child told him she was tired of a subject he had exhausted. I have known many people with Asperger's who take umbrage when told this by others.
Ryan showed high reasoning and analytical skills. When he was in the early grades, another child falsely accused him of breaking a blue ruler. Since Ryan adored the colour blue, the idea that he would damage something that colour was highly unlikely. Both sets of parents were called in and the culprit confessed. I liked it when Ryan pointed out quite logically that falsely accusing someone to save your own hide is "what you would do to an enemy and not a friend." I thought Ryan's assessment was accurate and well thought out. It surprised me that the adults involved were nonplussed by his response, but I felt it was good that Ryan pointed this fact out to his accuser.
Sensory issues are a large part of spectrum conditions. Ryan, like all people on the a/A spectrum had strong responses to sensory input/stimuli. One glaring example was when Ryan would vomit during luch hour when he disposed of his lunch sack in the waste area. I wondered why Ryan didn't just bring his lunch in a lunch box so he would not have to walk past the trash room and endure the stench. Learning coping methods, e.g. avoiding "bad" stimuli and compensatory techniques is an excellent navigational guide for people on the spectrum.
Ryan was fortunate in that he was more or less mainstreamed from the beginning. He was also very fortunate to know what his diagnosis was. I like the way Ryan's parents told him that he had a different form of autism when he asked why another autistic child was nonverbal. Ryan sounded as if he accepted Asperger's as being a part of his life. I like that.
Ryan's parents fought tirelessly on his behalf and their check lists at the end of each chapter as what resources and options are availabe was invaluable. That is what made this book more helpful and effective.
The only thing I didn't like was the word "perseverate." That is a damning, harmful, judgmental and highly charged word that has hurt many. While many parents and professionals may feel it is a helpful shorthand, it is still an intensely destructive word. "Repetition/repetitiveness; special interests" are much more accepting and much more tolerable. The excessive use of that word cost this book one star.
This book does an excellent job of debunking speculations. For example, when Ryan was 5 he liked sleeping on a low shelf in his closet. The assumption that was made at the time had nothing to do with Ryan's reason - he explained he did this because an uncle whom he loved lived in a small apartment and Ryan used the closet to "play apartment."
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