- ISBN13: 9781932565300
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Every parent, teacher, social worker, therapist, and physician should have this succinct and informative book in his/her back pocket. Framed with both humor and compassion, the book defines the top ten characteristics that illuminate the minds and hearts of children with autism. Ellen’s personal experiences as a parent, an autism columnist, and a contributor to numerous parenting magazines coalesce to create a guide for all who come in contact with a child on the … More >>
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This is another lovey-dovey “autism has its good points”, parent only has one other child so has no idea of the struggles of trying to fit a child with autism into a larger family, any physical discipline is abuse, sensory issues are 99% of the answer book. No one with any ideas even leaning towards more traditional child rearing will feel comfortable with this book. No one who hasn’t already came to a place of acceptance is going to find any help here.
Autism sucks. Children with autism are capable of misbehavior. I cannot wait for autism writers and advocates to get out of the politically correct, pseudoscience world so we can actually get some progress towards making effective therapy available for our children.
Rating: 2 / 5
Typical curebie propaganda, and a deliberate, hurtful attempt to parody an article an actual autistic adult wrote entitled Ten Things An Autistic Adult Wishes You Knew. Point number one of Ten Things An Autistic Adult Wishes You Knew was that we are not “people with autism”, but that our autism is an intrinsic part of who were are. Quite a polar opposite to what this author thinks tomorrow’s autistic adults want you to know.
ObviouslyNotAutistic, as she should be called, is simply taking curebie words, shoving them into childrens’ mouths, and asking you, the public, to cough up money for it. If the “knowledge and understanding that is increasing even as you read this” statement on her page was true, then books like this would be being cancelled by publishers, and banned as hate literature by countries with true social consciousness.
If you think I am exaggerating, bear these two points in mind. One, I am an autistic adult who is a poster child for what abusing an autistic child or teenager can do years down the track. You can see me describing the horrible conditions I had to grow up in anytime on YouTube, just search for an autistic adult speaking for himself (something curebies like this want to silence). Two, these curebie cowards cannot get the time of day in places like Australia, which happens to be where the foremost expert in autism in the world is based.
Ten years from now, the children ObviouslyNotAutistic is drowning out will rise up and speak for themselves. And what they have to say to her will not be pretty.
Rating: 1 / 5
This book is colossally overrated. It’s okay. There are some redeeming insights but mostly I found the author simply unbelievably full of herself. She’s been drinking her own Kool-Aid and hopes you drink it too so she can profit.
Like many parents of an Autistic child, I often read books related to that topic. They are often gifts or recommended. I find with most of these personal experience type books, I don’t always agree with everything, but usually get something out of them.
There is one main topic in this book that makes my blood boil. Ellen Notbohm had the nerve to write regarding a child with autism, “I have autism. I am not primarily `autistic’.”
You have chicken pox. You have a cold. You have a hang nail. You have a diagnosis of autism. You are autistic!!! My son is Autistic. His neurological make up is different and Autistic is the appropriate word to describe that difference.
But that’s not really what flamed the fire. She goes on to say, “The word `autistic’ is accurate. But so are other words that we no longer use to describe people: spinster (unmarried woman), hobo (migrant worker), cripple (person with a physical handicap), and so on.” Just what would the author say about diabetics or haemophiliacs?
This comparison is offensive. Autism and Autistic are technical terms, medical terms with distinct meaning and diagnostic criteria. Not slang or social language. She supports her reasoning with idea of labels being overused, often unkind, and lead to pre-judgement. Welcome to the Real World lady. As a society we are far too oversensitive to labels. You want the people around you to see past labels, you get to know them on a personal and intimate basis. That is the only way. Fear of labels is not productive.
To be fair, the book is not a total loss. As I mentioned in the beginning of this, there’s always something to be learned from all of these books, despite the often biased and uniformed opinions of some of these authors writing about their personal experiences. If you’re really interested, I’d recommend borrowing from the public library rather than waste your money.
Rating: 2 / 5
This book will ope your eyes to the autistic world. The best book I have read about the subject regarding dealing with an autistic child.
Rating: 5 / 5
great book to have! very helpful with learning how to begin to understand what a child with autism goes through on a daily basis!
Rating: 5 / 5