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thebobsphere's review
3.0
Since I work in a school where a couple of the students are autistic, I decided to check out this book in order to see if i'll gain anything out of it.
As such Moore does have some interesting points but the book's main problem is how it is told - there are tons of dull bits and passages which repeat themselves constantly. This would have made a first class 50 page book.
sandyd's review
5.0
A compelling, amazing, eye-opening book - part memoir, part educational non-fiction about autism. I had another very good book going, but when I picked this up I abandoned it because I couldn't put this down. It's funny, beautiful, fascinating, and like Nick Hornby says in the foreword, asks - and more impressively, answers - important questions, questions that apply to all of us:
To what extent are we really prepared to accommodate our children? Are we properly equipped to love them the way they are?...Do six After Eights constitute a decent breakfast?
Here's a couple of excerpts that I loved: about the GF/CF diet (which works well for one of her kids and not for the other), and food in general:
There are some autistic children who eat healthy, balanced meals three times a day. There must be. I'd guess it would be most unlikely that the parents of such children would consider tampering with their diet. There are many, many more children who, like Sam, live on a diet of crisps, fingernail clippings, and fresh air. When you decide to change a diet like this you've got little to lose, and possibly a great deal to gain (p. 115-6).
On psychotherapy:
Having any bright, kind, sympathetic adult interact closely with your autistic child on a regular basis is a good thing, and so as far as that goes, psychotherapy could be of use. But I feel that, as a system, it underestimates the autisticness of autism and misinterprets symptoms that may well have an organic rather than a psychological origin. I did smile quietly to myself when George pooed in his pants in the therapy room, and his therapist told me that she was "glad that he felt able to bring something to the session". Hmmm. Beware of geeks bearing gifts. (p. 150).
Honestly, this book has everything - excellent chapters on schooling, different types of therapies, on how to help the parents of any autistic kids you know, on diagnosis, on Asperger's and the history of treatment and diagnosis, food, religion (and the Tooth Fairy), and sleep. I would love to hear what parents of autistic kids think of this book. It is also fun for reading about Great Britain - oast houses, Aga stoves, etc.
To what extent are we really prepared to accommodate our children? Are we properly equipped to love them the way they are?...Do six After Eights constitute a decent breakfast?
Here's a couple of excerpts that I loved: about the GF/CF diet (which works well for one of her kids and not for the other), and food in general:
There are some autistic children who eat healthy, balanced meals three times a day. There must be. I'd guess it would be most unlikely that the parents of such children would consider tampering with their diet. There are many, many more children who, like Sam, live on a diet of crisps, fingernail clippings, and fresh air. When you decide to change a diet like this you've got little to lose, and possibly a great deal to gain (p. 115-6).
On psychotherapy:
Having any bright, kind, sympathetic adult interact closely with your autistic child on a regular basis is a good thing, and so as far as that goes, psychotherapy could be of use. But I feel that, as a system, it underestimates the autisticness of autism and misinterprets symptoms that may well have an organic rather than a psychological origin. I did smile quietly to myself when George pooed in his pants in the therapy room, and his therapist told me that she was "glad that he felt able to bring something to the session". Hmmm. Beware of geeks bearing gifts. (p. 150).
Honestly, this book has everything - excellent chapters on schooling, different types of therapies, on how to help the parents of any autistic kids you know, on diagnosis, on Asperger's and the history of treatment and diagnosis, food, religion (and the Tooth Fairy), and sleep. I would love to hear what parents of autistic kids think of this book. It is also fun for reading about Great Britain - oast houses, Aga stoves, etc.
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