does anyone have any book recommendations for adults with ASD/AS?

[westie]

Hi, I am a branch officer at the Rotherham National Autistic Society Branch. We have a fairly well stocked library of books relating to ASD/ AS and issues relating to these conditions. Most of them are about/ for children with ASD and we hope to expand our collection of books relating to or for adults with ASD/ AS. Does anyone have any recommendations on books they have found useful. I would be grateful for any suggestions and will pass them on!

 

Also if anyone is aware of any services in the Rotherham/ South Yorkshire area that are for adults with Asperger Syndrome/ Autistic Spectrum Disorder then I would appreciate it if you could also message me about them - we are trying to build up a picture of what is provided in the area as we are due to start a campaign for better adult services in our area. (social groups, daycare, other support)

 

Thanks in advance,

D

 

[Shnoing]

Gisela Slater-Walker, Chris Slater-Walker: An Asperger Marriage

ISBN: 1843100177

 

Luke Jackson: Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome

A User Guide to Adolescence.

ISBN: 1843100983

 

Ashley Stanford: Asperger Syndrome and Long - Term Relationships:

ISBN: 1843107341

 

Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson: Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior

ISBN: 0156031442

 

Tony Attwood has a special page about books on autism - tonyattwood dot com dot au (look for "other authors")

[westie]

Thanks for your reply! I think we already have the Luke Jackson book but will check the others out.

Regards,

D

[trekster]

Aspects of Asperger syndrome

 

Asperger love guide, asperger personal guide, asperger social guide

 

How to be yourself in a world thats different.

[westie]

thanks Trekster, will check out these as well!

Regards

Debbie

[Aeolienne]

In what way is a "user guide to adolescence" relevant to adults?

[Shnoing]

Adolescence is learning to be an adult. So there.

[darkshine]

I don't mind admitting that I've read stuff online that has been for adolescents as well as adults - purely to get ideas

[julieann]

Hi westie,

There is a very useful book called Asperger's and Girls.

 

Featuring Tony Attwood and Temple Grandin, plus 7 more experts.

 

It provides up to date information about girls and women with Asperger's Syndrome. Covering such topics as diagnosies, education, puberty,relationships and careers including dating and marriage

 

Julie

[Aeolienne]

Hi westie,

There is a very useful book called Asperger's and Girls.

 

Featuring Tony Attwood and Temple Grandin, plus 7 more experts.

Here are some notes I made when I read it 3 years ago...

 

Tony Attwood, 'The patterns of abilities and development of girls with Asperger's syndrome'

p.3: "girls with AS are often 'mothered' by other girls" ... no way!

p.5: "Acting can subsequently become a successful career option" ... but surely you need far more than a prodigious memory to act? Are ASDs over-represented at drama schools? Should the latter be offering more in the way of mentoring, career guidance or whatever?

p.6: AS girls are, we are told, entranced by the intrinsic rhythm of Shakespeare and poetry and "some develop their writing skills ... to become successful academics in English literature." Again, there would seem to me to be a need for more than an ear for rhythm to become an academic.

And no, "unusual perception and reasoning" is not confined to Aspies, nor is it intrinsic to their condition.

 

Sheila Wagner, 'Educating the female student with Asperger's'

p.20: So struggling with maths is a symptom of AS, is it?

p.22f: Still don't understand this peer programming malarkey. If it's about ordering pupils (in the main, NTs) to befriend the AS pupils, I can't see how that will work. Surely more profitable to accept that people will befriend whom they want to befriend (otherwise they wouldn't be friends), and the best you can do is eliminate all school activities which involved choosing partners. I.e. appoint partners for PE and project work, have a disco instead of a prom, and adopt zero tolerance to saving places. (None of the above are addressed by SW, oddly enough...) And another thing ... what consolation are stage-managed, teacher-led acquaintances to the more savvy AS teenager who is only too aware that they are no substitute for real friendships? SW states as a fact that "Cliques [among girls] form rapidly and spread often." If this is a given, how can peer programming change human nature?

p.24: Pre-teaching of content - where do I begin ... I can only see negatives / objections: How do you find the time for this extra coaching - aren't school timetables full enough as they are? Wouldn't it make classroom lessons too easy, encourage the AS girl to think "Heard this all before, don't need to pay attention" and switch off? At best she might miss out on important announcements about homework assignments or field trips; at worst she might develop a habit of poor concentration which might take years to quit. Far from being "viewed in a better light [by her peers]", surely she'd be regarded as a swot or a teacher's pet? And if this extra coaching gets her a higher grade than she would otherwise have received - say A instead of B - and she ends up in a higher ability stream or a certain university course or career training programme, how will she then be able to cope without the spoon-feeding? Or are we to assume that anyone with Asperger's can play the disability card throughout their lives and always claim extra coaching and supervision?

Why should it be considered a great loss if an Aspie can't get into university? Surely it's more important that she's provided with careers advice and support appropriate to her ability - she could still go to university as a mature student, with some years of work experience behind her. Obviously I'm biased, because what I missed out on most of all at school and university was work experience - extra academic coaching is no substitute for that.

The only version of pre-teaching I could support would be if the teacher put the contents of her lessons on a website which pupils could access if they hadn't been able to follow during the classroom environment. But this should be accessible to all pupils, not just "special needs" cases. Other than that, encourage the Aspie pupil to develop her own coping mechanisms - point her in the direction of the library, brief her as to what questions are appropriate. Is that so hard to do?

p.25: I can certainly se the attraction of reduced homework assignments, just as I can also see the attraction of jumping the lunch queue and bunking off PE. But isn't there a danger of being inadequately prepared for the next stage in life?

p.29: "Typical students alone are usually self-conscious, embarrassed or highly amused at the [sex education] provided and if they ask questions, they often do so to gain a reaction from their peers." Is this a misprint? If a student is alone, then there aren't any peers around, by definition - or am I missing something?

 

Lisa Iland, 'Girl to girl: advice on friendship, bullying and fitting in'

p.40: Is this stuff about "levels of popularity" w.r.t. dating really true? I've read opposing advice on at least one problem page. Anglo-American cultural differences?

pp50-1: Can't see the point of boning up on MTV and celebrity gossip. Accumulating information about a topic parrot-fashion is no substitute for a genuine interest at a level that an NT would deem appropriate. Maybe things are very different today, but among my peers the only gossip they were into was about their own social circles e.g. what X said to Y when A saw P snog Q at B's party. You can only contribute to said conversations if you've attended said parties, but you only get invited to said parties (or at the very least tipped off) if you're in the "in" crowd. Catch-22.

 

Jennifer McIlwee Myers, 'Aspie dos and don'ts: dating, relationships and marriage'

JMM protests against the assumption that "... marriage is the best goal for everybody, especially everybody between the ages of twenty and forty". And yet she got married at 28!

p.92: "No one goes to singles activities for the actual activity." And yet I for one am frustrated at the tiny window of opportunity for actual socializing. Is this just another example of Anglo-American cultural differences?

p.95: JMM's use of the present tense is somewhat confusing coming from a woman married for 12 years. This is in the context of advice for dealing with rejection: "One, always be aware that rejection is not a real setback ... Two, I use a somewhat cognitive-behavioural approach to deal with the depression and general crankiness that can follow rejection."

p.95: "the best tools that a girl with AS has are logic and facts." How often have I been accused of over-intellectualizing my situation? And how can you apply logic when you don't know the facts (as in the reason why I've never had a relationship)?

p.98: In a roundabout way, JMM says that she had difficulty attracting men in her teens and 20s - but she became aware of the reason why when she was happily married and so this problem had somehow gone away of its own accord. So what advice is there for 30somethings who still don't attract? Why don't I attract even the users?

p.105: "Girls with AS need lots of factual information, rationally put, about everything from how to turn down a date..." Oh yes!

p.106: This is assuming a lot, that the people you meet at a special interest group will become your friends, and that they will go so far as introducing you to their extended family members. What if your level of acquaintance is still stuck on "How's the job?" and "What was your name again?" snatched in the all-too-brief coffee break?

p.107: Not all volunteer supervisors are willing or obliged to give "clear but kind feedback". And what if JMM's special interests had not been "Fred Astaire movies and old-time radio shows" but something more contemporary?

 

Ruth Snyder, 'Maternal instincts in Asperger's syndrome'

Where were RS's common special interests with the men who entered her life?

p.124: "I had no problem finding dates or men wanting to date me." Lucky cow!

p.127: How did RS manage to marry someone given her track record of "immediately all or nothing" (p.124)?

p.130: "I had no one helping me with career choices; there were no services that could help me to understand or decide what I needed to do in life ..."

"Working on a career was much easier compared to working on relationships. There were steps, routes, degrees, and road maps to where I wanted to go." Make up your mind!!

p.132: "Even though I had given up on relationships, they did not give up on me." What's her secret?

p.134: What sort of Aspie mum laughs at her son's sporting inability?

[julieann]

Aeolienne

 

I was just saying that I personally found the book useful. Clearly you didn't which is ok as not everyone thinks the same.

 

Regarding your comment p3 "Girls with AS are often mothered by the other girls"...no way!

 

The pupil that I supported with AS in secondary school from Yr 7 - Yr 10 was mothered by the other girls.

 

In a class of 15 nearly all the girls looked after her. If she was upset they would go and sit with her. They were very protective of her.

She seemed to like the attention although it did change at the start of Yr 9 when the other pupils were talking about boys and soap programmes.

She wasn't allowed to watch the soaps incase she took them seriously and therefore couldn't talk about them.

Everyone is different in what they like and dislike.

 

Another AS pupil I supported would have said exactly the same as you "No way! or even Yuck. She didn't like close contact from anyone.

 

Julie

[Special_talent123]

freak geeks and asperger syndrome

[Aeolienne]

Aeolienne

 

I was just saying that I personally found the book useful. Clearly you didn't which is ok as not everyone thinks the same.

 

Regarding your comment p3 "Girls with AS are often mothered by the other girls"...no way!

My use of "no way" was meant to indicate scepticism rather than disgust. I went to an all-girls' school and never experienced that degree of protection. I've disliked all-female gatherings ever since.

[julieann]

I supported at an all girls school for 8 years. Boys seem to socialise differently to girls.

I personally think my pupils difficulties with communicating and socialising were made more obvious to them because it was an all girls school.

Would you have prefered to go to a mixed school?

[Temple Grandin]

any thing by temple grandin is great i love them.

[highlandcow]

Aeolienne,

I never knew there were all these books out there on Aspergers and women. I'd really like to read some of them and must look out for them. What a great idea to write notes on each. Would be good for me to do that as I forget what I've read by the time I reach the end of the book! Must print out your post.

[Aeolienne]

What a great idea to write notes on each. Would be good for me to do that as I forget what I've read by the time I reach the end of the book! Must print out your post.

I haven't done that for every book I've read - only the one quoted above plus a couple of Donna Williamses so far.

[Voodoo Child]

A couple of books that I have enjoyed and found useful:

 

"Asperger Syndrome & Anxiety" (Nick Dublin)

 

"Aspergers - If you only knew" (Sophia Summers) : This is more autobiographical.

 

 

I have read a few books about AS, and these 2 in particular resonated with me.

[aspergers mom]

good book You are not alone by Stephen Gandy on Amazon and Kindle one person who has aspergers and tourettes and his life full of advice coping strategies real life tinged with humor and sadness

[Special_talent123]

standing down falling up- nita jackson

living through the haze- paul isaac

aspects of asperger's success in the teens and twenties- Maude Brown/Alex Miller

[aspergers mom]

You Are Not Alone by Stephen Gandy for downloading from Amazon onto PC or for a kindle