The Strangeness of Strange Son

I recently read Portia Iverson's book, Strange Son: Two Mothers, Two Sons, and the Quest to Unlock the Hidden World of Autism, and it was... strange.

Don't get me wrong. It was an easy read, fairly well-written, and interesting in its own way. But based on the title, wouldn't you expect it to be about, oh, I don't know, two mothers and two sons? Instead what we have is an autobiographical work by Iverson that focuses pretty much exclusively on her own experiences and only her point of view. For a lot of the time, really, just her. Her thoughts, her ideas, her lay-person scientific research, her struggle to get scientists to listen to her, etc., etc.

Despite the fact that she begins the book insisting that it was her own son's "descent" into autism that inspired her to undertake a research campaign, and for her and her husband to start the organization Cure Autism Now!, there is truly very little about her son in the book at all, until he begins to communicate. From page 16 until page 286, Dov is essentially invisible, which is a period that probably covers about 10 years of his life, though it's hard to tell, because his own chronology in the book is so rarely mentioned.

Instead, the vast majority of the book that isn't devoted to Iverson herself is devoted to Tito Mukhopadhyay, whose existence took the autism world by storm when he was first brought to public attention, as he has severe behavioral and sensory issues, but communicates quite fluently through independent writing. Iverson appears to spend all of her free time with Tito and his mother, Soma, convinced that Tito is a key to understanding low-functioning autism. She reports extensively on the conversations she and Tito have about his perceptions of the world, his thought processes, his life dreams. She also gives interesting accounts of his visits to various cognitive researchers to undergo tests. These appear to be largely frustrating experiences.

So there's a mother and a son. Where's the other mother? Iverson does talk about Tito's mother, Soma, more than she talks about her own son, Dov, because Soma is always there when Tito is there. She notes that it often seems that Tito cannot initiate communication without Soma there to prompt him. She does give Soma huge amounts of commendation for the apparent miracle she worked in getting Tito (and eventually Dov) to communicate. But I couldn't help thinking that the two mothers had a very odd relationship, what with Iverson being so obsessed with Tito, and Soma being so isolated from everything not related to him. Soma herself develops a strange fixation on whether or not she is Iverson's "best friend."

I was at times forcefully reminded of the mother/other mother's child relationship seen in the movie Spanglish, where the Anglo mother "adopts" the Mexican nanny's daughter because she's so much smarter and prettier than her own daughter. The near complete absence of Iverson's own son from the book, who cannot communicate and remains at the same level he was at when he was 5, compared with her fascinated exchanges with Tito, who is the shining star of the severe autism world, is perhaps more revelatory than Iverson might wish.

However, the book does give an interesting sort of backstage view into the world of autism research in the early 90s*, as well as detailing some very interesting insights into the life of Tito (though admittedly from her perspective only), who is truly an fascinating individual in his own right. What's more, Iverson's own theories about low-functioning autism and brain functioning are intriguing, and do leave the reader wondering if anyone's ever followed up on them. So it's not that I don't think people should be interested in or read the book, it's just that I found it rather... strange.

*I will admit that her claim early on in the book about there being "no research" on autism before she and her husband started CAN really put me off. Just what is it my mother and all her colleagues were doing all those years while I was growing up, then? So, yeah, take things in this book with a shaker of salt.

ASNC Conference 2007 Report

We're back from the ASNC Annual Conference in High Point! As you can see, we took a few things with us. Actually, these pictures only show a fraction of what we took with us, and that in turn is only a fraction of what we have in the store! The conference was quite a success this year, the first year it's been in the western part of the state for quite some time. The pre-conference workshop on Friday had 182 attendees, and the conference itself on Saturday had 349!

Those of you who were at the conference know that our fabulous pre-conference workshop speaker was Dr. Jed Baker. He got rave reviews from all the attendees we overheard in the bookstore. For those of you who weren't able to attend, or who don't live anywhere near North Carolina, you can still buy Dr. Baker's fantastic books! His first two books, Social Skills Training and The Social Skills Picture Book, have long been bookstore favorites, and his two latest books, Preparing for Life and The Social Skills Picture Book for High School and Beyond, continue this tradition. We highly recommend you take a look at these books:

Social Skills Training for Children and Adolescents with Asperger Syndrome
This book contains 70 skill lessons that were created to help teach social skills to children and adolescents with Asperger Syndrome and social-communication problems. These skill lessons are grouped in the following categories: conversational skills; cooperative play skills; friendship management; self-regulation; empathy; and conflict management. It is Dr. Baker's view that intervention should not focus solely on the child with a social skills deficit. Rather, he believes that skills should also be taught to typical children who may be ignoring, teasing, or rejecting the child who has communication difficulties. As a result, the last chapter of the book is devoted to sensitivity training for typical peers and incentive programs to promote peer acceptance. This is an indispensable social skills curriculum for parents and professionals.

Social Skills Picture Book: Teaching Play, Emotion, and Communication to Children with Autism
In this book, Dr. Baker demonstrates approximately 30 social skills in the areas of communication, play, and emotion. Each social skill is formatted sequentially through photographs and conversation bubbles, similar to a comic strip. These picture stories show children exactly what to say and do in social situations, and they will be of particular value to those children who have difficulties with auditory and language processing, abstract thinking, and sustaining attention. This book is a dynamic teaching tool for educators and parents, and is appropriate for students ages 12 and under.

Preparing For Life: The Complete Guide to Transitioning to Adulthood for Those with Autism and AS
Dr. Baker has written this guide to help parents and professionals teach valuable social and life skills to adolescents and young adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger Syndrome. He focuses on the importance of allowing persons with HFA and AS to continue to be unique and accepted, rather than judged. However, he also recognizes the need to help adolescents build specific skills that they can utilize throughout their lives, and this book emphasizes adding to those skills rather than replacing behaviors, which can empower young adults to attain goals while still remaining true to themselves. Specific targeted skills include: respecting personal space; dealing with anger; conversation strategies; advocacy; conducting a job search; interview skills; managing money; and many more. The program encourages person-centered goal setting, as well as planning and training to help ensure a successful transition to adulthood.

Social Skills Picture Book for High School and Beyond
Dr. Baker has created this picture book edition for adolescents and young adults. Part one describes how to implement and individualize this book, and it also focuses on the importance of visual aids. In addition, an emphasis is placed on helping students generalize the information provided. Part two of the book teaches specific social skills through conversation bubbles and photographs of teens interacting in real-life situations. These skills are illustrated with step-by-step instructions and examples of the right way and the wrong way to approach specific situations. The social skills featured range from greetings and interrupting a conversation to dealing with mistakes and interviewing for a job, and older students will learn expected behavior as well as how to make good social choices. This resource is especially helpful for individuals who have difficulty with abstract thinking, sustaining attention, and auditory processing.

Finally, our readers may be interested to know that Dr. Baker is also featured in the Asperger Syndrome: Success In the Mainstream Classroom DVD. Locally-owned Coulter Video, located in Winston Salem, does a fantastic job producing these videos, and they come highly recommended.

Please visit our website through any of these links to read more about the books or to place an order! Feel free to contact us with any questions.

ASNC Annual Conference 2007

It's that time of year again! The bookstore will be traveling to the ASNC Annual Conference, being held this year at the Radisson Hotel in High Point, NC.

The bookstore will be open in the Kittinger Room:
Friday 3/23, 7:30am-9:00pm
Saturday 3/24, 7:00am-3:00pm

We will have a large selection of books available, and all of our staff* will be available to help you, so please, feel free to stop by!

*Since we will all be at the conference, the regular bookstore will be closed Thursday afternoon and all day Friday.

Brotherly Feelings: Me, My Emotions, and My Brother with Asperger's Syndrome

Local authors Robin Schiffmiller and her son Sam Frender wrote this book together to help Sam deal with some of the issues he faces having a brother on the spectrum. He writes about the feelings of being: worried, protective, guilty, hurt, optimistic, loved, etc. He writes about his full range of emotions, including his own struggle with the need to be perfect and always responsible so that he is not a burden to his parents. I think this is what makes the book stand out. Although the range of emotions Sam writes about are brought about by his relationship with his brother, the reader can't help but be aware of Sam's sense of responsibility not only for his brother but for his family as a whole. I am sure this is one reason Robin suggested they write some of these issues down so that Sam and his family could work through them together. Sam's wish is that other children and families will identify with some of his experiences and know that they are not alone.

Robin and Sam live right here in Raleigh, NC! It is great to have a local family letting others know about life with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Robin is also the coordinator for the Wake County Autism Society Sibling Support Group for children ages 9 to 12. The group (now in its second year) has been a wonderful addition to the support groups offered and has filled a need to not only support the parents of individuals with ASD but also the growing number of siblings.

Visit our website to purchase a copy of this book. It is located in our Sibling Issues category.

For a preview of Sam's book, go to NBC17 News and see Sam and his mother Robin interviewed.

An Excellent Documentary Featuring Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum

For those of you who were fortunate enough to see MTV's documentary series True Life last night, I'm sure you would agree that it offered a compelling look at three teenagers who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Titled I Have Autism, this episode highlighted the aspirations and daily challenges of three amazing young men: Jeremy Sicile-Kira, who is 17 years of age; Jonathan Lerman, who is 19 years old; and Elijah Wapner, who is 16.

Jeremy Sicile-Kira is a cheerful teenager who is nonverbal, and he was diagnosed with severe autism at age 3. His mother, author Chantal Sicile-Kira, knew that Jeremy had thoughts and feelings that he wanted to communicate, so she introduced a letter board that he learned to point at to show in words what he could not say aloud. When Jeremy was 15, Chantal bought a handheld device for him called a Lightwriter, which utilizes a speech synthesizer that reads aloud what is typed. Jeremy became encouraged by his ability to communicate with others (including his peers), so he decided to use the device to invite his classmates to his 18th birthday party, which turns out to be a huge success. I would like to note here that Jeremy's mother Chantal is the author of two popular (and highly recommended) books in our bookstore: Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum: A Parent's Guide, and the award-winning Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Complete Guide.

Jonathan Lerman, 19, is a sensitive, language-impaired young adult with autism who has difficulty with abstract thought and is severely affected by loud noises (he often wears headphones). However, he has been given the label of autistic savant because of his extraordinary artistic ability. His drawings have been featured in several solo shows in New York, and a book of his artwork was published in 2002 titled Jonathan Lerman: Drawings By an Artist with Autism, which we also sell in our bookstore. Jonathan is shown with his family, attending school (a high school for kids with disabilities), and drawing in his art studio. He has been experiencing increasing episodes of outbursts and tantrums, and his source of frustration appears to be his autism and his inability to fit in. He is shown visiting a neurologist, who is uncertain what is causing Jonathan's outbursts. However, Jonathan does have another successful solo art show (without a tantrum), and his parents decide that next year he should be mainstreamed into a high school with typical teenagers. In the meantime, he is also being tested for a possible seizure disorder.

Elijah Wapner is a charming, humorous, 16-year-old teenager who has been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. His deep interest in comedy has helped him learn how to communicate with the world, and he has aspired to make people laugh since he was a young boy. He decided at an early age to become a stand-up comedian, and he eventually learned to write his own material. He is shown both at home and on the road with his mother, author Valerie Paradiž, who is his biggest supporter. Elijah begins to prepare for his appearance at the Las Vegas Comedy Festival, and it is at this event that Elijah decides, for the first time, to talk about his autism in front of an audience. Although he experiences anxiety about revealing his diagnosis to strangers, his show turns out to be a success, and Elijah decides that revealing his autism should be a permanent part of his future performances. (Elijah has a new website, so be sure to check it out.) Elijah's mother, author Valerie Paradiž, wrote the book Elijah's Cup, which we also have available in our bookstore. This book has become a classic, and it is now in a revised edition.

Born on a Blue Day Offers Entry into a Savant's Mind

Honestly, who isn't fascinated by savants? Everyone dreams of discovering they have some amazing, superhero-like powers, and savants come closer to living that dream than almost anyone else.

Daniel Tammet seems particularly more blessed than ordinary mortals. He is a savant with Asperger Syndrome (AS). In his autobiography, Born on a Blue Day, he lets us in on what it's like to live inside his superpowered brain. He describes in detail his synaesthetic relationship with numbers, and how this aids his phenomenal memory. He is perhaps most famous for his record-setting recitation of pi to 22,514 digits in one sitting, as a fundraising event for the UK's National Society for Epilepsy. When describing his trip to the US for the filming of the documentary Brainman, he talks about some of the tests specialists did with him to try to understand his unique mental processes. As one of the highest functioning savants known, many researchers consider Daniel an important key to understanding these amazing brain functions.

His most fascinated talent to me, though, is his facility with learning languages. He speaks some 10 languages fluently, including one he created on his own. (Believe me, constructing a functional language system is harder than it may seem.) For the last part of the Brainman documentary, he was sent to Iceland to learn Icelandic, determined to be one of the most complex languages the producers could find, in less than a week! And yet, as Daniel describes it, it is clear he managed to take this challenge in stride, too. He now runs his own website, where he writes online language-learning courses. Basically, he has the very superpower I wish I had. (Alas, to date, I can only speak Spanish passably and Japanese moderately-poorly.)

Like any superhero, Daniel does have his weaknesses. He talks about the problems he has faced with social interactions, with inflexibility with regard to routines, with learning to drive, and other typical issues many people with AS deal with every day. But he has managed to cope with them all, and indeed seems quite happy with who he is, AS, savant syndrome, and all.

Daniel covers a lot more of the details of his life in the book, such as his childhood epilepsy, and his relationship with his partner, much more than I can go into here, and I can't recommend the book enough. A fascinating, and fast, read.

Daniel has been featured by The Guardian, the New York Times, and 60 Minutes.

ASNC Bookstore's Top 10 Bestsellers List for February 2007

Starting with our February 2007 sales, we are going to post the Autism Society of North Carolina Bookstore's Top 10 Bestsellers List on a monthly basis. This will give our customers, as well as other visitors, the opportunity to find out what our readers are buying. Our Top 10 List will also contain links to detailed book descriptions on our website, so visitors can learn more about the key resources that our customers are purchasing. So, let's move on to the list!









February 2007 Top 10 Bestsellers

1. Tasks Galore: Making Groups Meaningful
   
   
2. Tasks Galore for the Real World
   
   
3. Tasks Galore
   
   
4. Answers to Questions Teachers Ask About Sensory Integration
   
   
5. Exploring Feelings: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to Manage Anxiety
   
   
6. Exploring Feelings: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to Manage Anger
   
   
7. TEACCH Transition Assessment Profile (TTAP)
   
   
8. Albert Einstein
   
   
9. Inclusive Programming for Elementary Students with Autism
   
   
10. Al Capone Does My Shirts: A Novel