Books for an ASD mom?

nomadica

It's looking very likely that my son will be diagnosed with an ASD. I was wondering if anyone has some recommendations for books for being a parent of a child with autism?

lite-bright

The one I've read and liked the best so far is Making Sense of Autism Spectrum Disorders by Dr. James Coplan. It really helped DH and me in terms of understanding what our therapy options were and picking the one that we felt was best for DD1. 

I've read a few others so far and been very irked. Many of them are thinly disguised as education/information on autism and really it's one or two experts trying to sell you on their therapy approach and ladle on the guilt for considering anything else. Others seem to be a free-for-all for snake-oil salesmen. You have to filter out a disappointing amount of junk, IMO. 

I haven't really gotten into reading books on the parenting aspect of it. I google blogs when I want that, so far. They're a lot more immediate and varied. 

nomadica

-auntie-:

I only know one book specificly called "Parenting Your Aspergers Child" but I think it would be better called something else.

 

What are you looking for? Theoretical information? Commiseration? Inspiration? Real world strategies to teach specific skills or behaviors?

 

 

I'm not looking for theoretical information, more about how parents have dealt with it, what it's been like for them, how they have coped both with managing the child's behavior and with their own stress.... (thanks for asking!)

nomadica

-auntie-:

I'm not a huge fan of first person accounts. Pretty much anything that could be construed as "Our Journey" turns me off.

For stress nothing beats a real live therapist devoted to parental well being though a good support group can be useful too.

Teaching the child the behaviors they need to be more capable socially and emotionally will go a longer way toward bringing peace to your home. To that end, an effective treatment plan under the direction of an ASD specialist is critical. That means addressing challenging behvaior, enhancing communication and perspective taking, and teaching adaptive skills and less rigid thinking.

For challenging behavior I like this-

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061906190/ref=noism/oasisonlinesp07

For teaching flexbility and functional play-

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738210943/ref=noism/oasisonlinesp07

For an overview of presentations-

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553806815/ref=noism/oasisonlinesp07

For sensory stuff-

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399523863/oasisonlineasp07

For IEP related issues-

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1892320096/ref=noism/oasisonlinesp07

 

 

 

 

Thank you! Anything specific you'd recommend for reading about working with a child on joint attention? This is our son's major issue other than language delays. Hopefully we'll get real therapy soon but we want to do as much as we can with him in the meantime.

nomadica

-auntie-:

Joint attention could be addressed through Floortime. That would be the Greenspan book, "Engaging Autism".

 

Thank you, you are a wealth of information!

rohansmom

books by tony attwood,