A Mind Apart: Understanding Children with Autism and Asperger Syndrome

By Peter Szatmari

Book Overview

Why would a child refuse to talk about anything but wasp wings-or the color of subway train doors? What does it mean when a nine-year-old asks questions about death hundreds of times a day? And how can parents build a close relationship with a little girl who hates to be touched? In this compassionate book, leading autism authority Dr. Peter Szatmari shows that children with autism spectrum disorders act the way they do because they think in vastly different ways than other people. Dr. Szatmari shares the compelling stories of children he has treated who hear everyday conversation like a foreign language or experience hugs like the clamp of a vise. Understanding this unusual inner world-and appreciating the unique strengths that thinking differently can bestow-will help parents relate to their children more meaningfully, and make the "outer world" a less scary place.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1572305444
• ISBN13: 9781572305441
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Guilford Publications
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

First-hand accounts are now common...

and provide more insight. Temple Grandin (HFA) and Liane Holliday-Wilson (Aspergers) have done good jobs with their books both in explaining their particular problems and in providing strategies that may work with children. For a mere professional, he didn't do to bad of a job. I only caught him in a couple of what I would consider minor errors. The one that bothered me the most was our suppossed "lack of imagination". I would like to correct that to lack of ORIGINAL material in our imaginations. I had a very lively fantasy world when I was a child, mostly based on Tolkien. But as I grew older, instead of simply redoing the scenes from the books over and over again in my head, I completely redid the world and took it in new directions. What we lack in originality, Aspies and HFAs make up fore in having a different set of "rules" our logic works by, so that even out of old, familiar material we can create things that look completely unfamiliar to neurotypicals (those not on the autistic spectrum). As for his refusing to diagnose a woman as Asperger's just because she had a career, a husband, and seemed relatively content... I just don't see it. Now, I don't really have a career (I'm not very good at the social stuff to build one, but I'm strong academically), and my marriage to a neurotypical has basically fallen apart and is awaiting its official burial in the court systems, so I'm not a great example either. But I know of at least two people in the local Asperger's group who I consider to be of a similar functional level to myself who have successful relationships and careers. I don't really see what either have to do with diagnostics.

Get this book now!!!!!!

If you have a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder, buy this right now!! It will help you gain insight into your childs head! Dr. Szatmari actually shows you the beautiful side of the disorder, while never forgetting how difficult it can be. Excellent, excellent book!!!!!!