Losing the books, losing the guilt | Autism PDD
There is a Barnes and Noble downtown here. But, true story, if you don't have the right clothes on and act the right way, the cops will harrass you into leaving. Sometimes I really hate it here.
Tammy
I agree with everyone. When I first suspected DS had autism- I read several books on Autism ( my favorites- Slant of the Sun, Let me hear your Voice). It validated my concerns- b/c DS was only 15 months old then and still very social. Everyone including DH thought I was crazy! These books also gave me hope. But honestly I don't read those anymore. I then moved onto books than helped give me ideas on how to work with DS- my favs Greenspan's The Child with Special needs and More Than Words.
But these days I don't do much reading on Autism- I definately prefer Harry Potter. Unfortunately, I've already finished the book!
Oh yeah- I never buy autism books- I always get them from the library or go to Barnes and Noble for a coffee and a few hours of reading!
Heres a link to a site with MANY books to choose from.... Autism Resources
I haven't read any books yet. I've just printed out 100's of pages from inet and also have printed out many many posts from here to hang on to. But I may check into the books you all have mentioned if, indeed, ds is dx'd.
I know it sounds odd, but I'm sort of hoping he is dx'd. I would be happy if he isn't, but then I don't know where I'll be. If nothing is going on w/ him, then why is he so odd and what's w/ his social probs. This will just mean to me that we have been doing something wrong as a parent and he really is just a spoiled tantruming brat(which some people have so politely said to me). At least w/ a diagnosis I'll be able to understand what's going on and plan what to do about it. Am I making any sense? Anyhow thanks for posting this sally so I could find out about the best books out there to get when I need to
Amber Okay, this is going to sound really strange but I cannot handle reading these AUTSIM books anymore! I've been dutifully trying to read all I can about the subject but it is making me MORE tense, worried, anxious and just plain paranoid and I don't seem to be getting anything USEFUL out of them. I'm reading one now (Overcoming Autism) and while it's a fine book, it's really not helping because 1) I'm already doing the techniques in there just by instinct (positive reinforcement, gradual exposure. etc.) and 2) I've tried it all just by virtue of the fact that I've been living with a child with pdd-nos for 3 years. I mean, come on, you do get resourceful, you HAVE to and these things may apply in general but not to every kid, or MY kid, so I don't feel like the "experts" can really know that much more about it all and esepcially my particular child, than I do. 3) It's making me stress out about the future or possbile outcomes or lack thereof for my dd and keeping my head firmly entrenched in the "world of autism" (another autism book title I have, btw
Reading these books make me fret about the future, worry about symptoms that I wasn't worried about before, and other troublesome stuff like that but don't actually offer comfort or solace or real strategies that I haven't thought of or tried before (like this board does). I have bought so many and I keep getting more from the library but I think it's really contributing to my feeling overwhelmed and maxed out. I'm losing myself in my quest for autism info. Now that Harry Potter is out, I've decided that I want that to be my reading this summer, not these autsim books that give me no break from the topic and make me feel pressure every minute of the day. And those books, especially the ones by the moms who "cured" or "saved" their child and never had a moments' doubt or rest or impatience - just make me feel worse. My concern however, is that there might be some really great book out there with that really great strategy that really is going to make a difference.
Sallys, Hey there. I've been where you are. I got tired of reading all the books especially written by parents that seemed to have endless patience. The only book I refrence to anymore is the "out of sync child" . This one I actually pull out every now and again and get all kinds of ideas to work with him on sensory related issues. I also plan on getting "the out of sync child has fun" To get more ideas from there. It's amazing all the daily activities that can be made into sensory situations for our children. When I look for a book now that deals with the spectrum I look for books that have ideas to help in the now and I tend to steer away from the books that just explain the spectrum or are based on a parents success story. Your right though...reading too much info can cause stress. I think it's a good idea to read harry potter for a while and take a break!
Karrie Actually I never read one book on autism. Some of us haven't. Now if they want to give them away for free I might just read them. But I am not gonna go pay 14.95 to 24.95 for a book that might or might not help me. All the stuff I have learned with my kids is from observation and intuition. And I do ask alot of questions. Some people say I ask too many questions. But I learned years ago that if you don't ask you won't know the answer. Or that could be the journalism training in high school kicking in. But as you said you don't know whether it will work with your child. And quite honestly I just don't have the time to read right now. I am way too busy and I probably wouldn't remember what I read anyway. I have a short term memory loss from taking antidepressants, which is a main side effect of those meds. Tammy Hi Sallys~I feel you!!! Sometimes I too become completely overwhelmed with the info...and truly have to take a break (as my dh says "lighten up for a while!") I have the Out-of-Sync Child though, and it really is a good book...and the OOSC Has Fun is also really good and PACKED with great ideas for home. I'm on what I'll just call a "strict budget" (heehee) and so I rented the second one from the Library, they let you keep them for 3 weeks...so I skimmed, found good activities that worked for us, and copied the pages! Second...a very dear friend recommended the following book to me, and her words were, "you'll never want to read another book, get rid of all the others, this is the best book I've ever read." (She has two boys w/Autism, one Severe non-verbal, the other not quite HFA). I haven't gotten it yet (that darn budget) but I certainly plan to...till then, this message board, which helps with "real-time" and "real-world" situations is the only thing I'm reading!!! Good luck! OMG! I know just how you feel! Sometimes its just better if we lay off the "my child has ASD" and just be parents to our kids. Just chill out, do something simple and fun and forget about the friggin' dx for a bit. We even took a break this month from speech therapy. Mostly because of bad scheduling, but it turned out very well. Even the kids seem more relaxed this month since we're not running to bajillions of appts. Everyone, even the kiddos, needs a break from the stress of the dx once in a while. Soon enough school will start along with speech therapy and all sorts of new and difficult things. We also plan to take a nice vacay early in august. Hope all is well, Rachelle Well I never read any books .... never found the time nor the energy... if I had time to relax I didnt want to read about autism.... or I would sit to relax and zonk out..... Exhaustion does crazy things.... SO keeping in mind I havent read the books the one I hear most about is the out of sync child so I would say that would have to be #1 then........ considering others opinions here too Looking at the developmental pediatricians recommendations when my son was dx'd he recommended Autism: The Facts by Baron - Cohen and Bolton Now I saw one I bookmarked and thought would be interesting.... And Incorporating social goals in the classroom http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/185302967X/ref =pd_sim_b_6/103-2209801-5325407?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glanc e since we obviously cant count on the school district. I know there was a thread started once before about book recommendations.... here is a bunch of book links from Unlocking Autism's site http://www.unlockingautism.org/news.asp?action=13 Through Amazon.com you can actually view through the inside of the book too!
~Lesley
Anyway, I know what you mean, sally, about feeling overwhelmed by all
the info. It can get pretty upsetting, especially the negative
things that are written. Additionally, as Lesley said, the books
by parents would make you think that they're perfect,
they never have a day where their child drives them INSANE, and they
have tons of money & help/resources/support ... situations that
many of us cannot identify with.
I vote for Harry Potter. It'll be really good for you to get your
mind off this autism business. It'll still be there when you're
done with the book. 
Educating Children with Autism http://www.nap.edu/books/0309072697/html/
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