Amanda Baggs and DJ Savarese on Anderson Cooper 360°

Monday night's Anderson Cooper 360° featured a segment entitled "Finding Amanda," that explored the fascinating world of Amanda Baggs, a remarkable woman with autism who has become an Internet celebrity through the videos that she single-handedly shot, edited, and posted on YouTube. Although nonverbal, she is able to communicate intelligently and eloquently with the aid of a computer and voice synthesizer. She has become something of a hero to many people, and was even invited to speak at a summit organized by the Autism National Committee entitled, "Autism, Living Life to the Fullest."

Among Amanda's biggest fans is fifteen-year-old, DJ Savarese; like Amanda, DJ has autism and is nonverbal. Another similarity that he shares with Amanda is his gift for expressing himself, which he is able to accomplish with the aid of facilitated communication. In fact, DJ is so remarkable that he authored a chapter in his father's book, Reasonable People: a Memoir of Autism and Adoption, a book that we have blogged about in the past.

You can view a video of the segment here.

An Introduction

Hello! I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Jessica Champion, and I am the newest staff member here at the Autism Society of North Carolina Bookstore. To give you a little background on myself, I am originally from Massachusetts, where I obtained a bachelor's degree in English from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. While attending MCLA I spent some time working in a group home, and I found it to be an incredibly rewarding experience.

After college the travel bug hit me, and I spent two years in South Korea teaching conversational English, before returning to the United States to obtain my master's degree in Library Science from the University at Buffalo. Desperate to escape from the infamous Buffalo winters, I hopped the first plane to North Carolina, and here I am. I hope to put my research skills to good use and help in any way that I can. It's great to be here.

Look Me in the Eye - SIGNED COPIES!

Those of you who read our post on John Elder Robison's book, Look Me In the Eye, may have noticed that he posted back and said he would be glad to provide our organization with signed copies. WOW!!! Needless to say, we were thrilled.

A limited number of signed copies are now available for sale, so purchase your copy while supplies last. This book would make a wonderful holiday gift!

Local Author Featured in "Our State" Magazine

At Home in the Land of Oz, written by North Carolina author Anne Clinard Barnhill, is featured in the November 2007 issue of Our State magazine in the "quick lit" section. This is a well-written and illuminating work, and below is the book description from our website:

Anne Barnhill and her younger sister Becky grew up in small town America in the 1950s and ‘60s, long before autism was a common diagnosis. Becky was diagnosed with “emotional disturbance” early in her childhood, and Anne chronicles her family’s struggle to maintain a normal life amid the chaos of her sister’s behaviors and ever-changing needs. Anne recounts how the decision to place Becky in institutional facilities early on, for rehabilitation and reprieve, left marks on her family that will endure forever. Many details Anne did not discover until she became an adult are revealed in this tale of two sisters, such as the struggle to find a proper diagnosis and the financial and emotional burdens her parents endured, but kept from her. She also frankly discusses her own coming of age against the backdrop of disability and the guilt, pain, faith, courage, and acceptance she found along the way. As the girls grow up, their similarities and differences shine through, from Beatlemania and The Wizard of Oz to boys, jobs, and leaving home for good. At the age of 37 Becky began a new chapter in her life when she was properly diagnosed with autism, and Anne began her new journey as, what she has called, "her sister’s keeper."

ASNC Top Ten Bestsellers List for October

October 2007 Top 10 Bestsellers

1. Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew
   
   
2. Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew
   
   
3. Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Decoding Social Mysteries Through the Unique Perspectives of Autism
   
   
4. Tasks Galore
   
   
5. Tasks Galore: Making Groups Meaningful
   
   
6. TEACCH Transition Assessment Profile (TTAP)
   
   
7. Tasks Galore for the Real World
   
   
8. Parenting Across the Autism Spectrum
   
   
9. Visual Supports for People with Autism: A Guide for Parents and Professionals
   
   
10. How To Take the Grrrr Out of Anger
    

Please visit our website to read detailed descriptions of these and other popular titles. We are also adding new books weekly, so check out our New Items category to see our latest offerings.

Look Me In the Eye: My Life with Asperger's

By John Elder Robison

Several months ago I re-visited Augusten Burrough's website because he is a favorite author of mine and I was very anxious to see when his next book was to be published. You may have heard of his most popular book, Running with Scissors, where he describes his incredibly dysfunctional childhood, his parents, and briefly his brother who was diagnosed at 40 with Asperger Syndrome (AS). Much to my disappointment, Burrough's latest book is not scheduled to come out for quite some time, but I was THRILLED when I saw his post from April 2007 about his older brother, John Elder Robison, and his new book about his life with AS that was to be published in the fall of 2007!!

While on the road for book signings for Running with Scissors, Burroughs was shocked at the amount of people who wanted to know more about his brother and all of the people who also identified themselves as having Asperger Syndrome. Burroughs encouraged his brother to write a book about his life and experiences before his diagnosis and what receiving the diagnosis so late in life has meant for him. Robison takes a wonderfully honest and matter of fact look back at his past: what might have been different, what had no impact, and how he has grown as a person because of, as well as regardless of, his diagnosis.

Please see our complete description of his book, Look Me In the Eye, for more details.

You can also visit Robison's own blog at: http://jerobison.blogspot.com/.

There are also a couple of other interesting and insightful interviews with Robison featured on YouTube, one where he is interviewed briefly by his brother and another on Greater Boston .

National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week is Oct. 21–27, 2007

This week is National Bullying Prevention Week.

The Autism Society of North Carolina Bookstore has a few key recommended titles on the subject of bullying. We would like to highlight a few of those titles here to alert parents and professionals about the resources we have available on this important topic. The titles we're featuring include a DVD and three books.


Being Bullied: Strategies and Solutions for People with Asperger's Syndrome is a 30-minute DVD program based on a presentation by Nick Dubin on the effects of bullying in school on children with Asperger Syndrome (AS). His presentation is primarily aimed at teachers and administrators, in order to give them ideas on the steps they can take to minimize the incidence of bullying in their schools. He provides sobering statistics on the number of children bullied each year, and he also offers constructive, encouraging advice on how to break down the culture of "bystander apathy." In addition, he introduces strategies for empowering the bullied child as well as the bully, so they can utilize their energy for more constructive purposes. His presentation is interspersed with clips of people with AS giving their thoughts on how bullying has affected their lives.


Gray's Guide to Bullying is an issue of The Jenison Autism Journal that features a series of articles on bullying written by educator and internationally known author Carol Gray. This publication is devoted to helping children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) deal with circumstances in which they encounter bullying. Gray, the creator of the Social Stories™ method, published this series of three articles in response to numerous questions she received about helping children with ASD who are bullied in various situations. This issue combines those articles on ASD and bullying into one useful guide that can be used by adults who live and work with children who have ASD.


Perfect Targets: Asperger Syndrome and Bullying is also an excellent resource on bullying. As the author notes, children and adolescents with Asperger Syndrome (AS) have a lack of social understanding that can lead to bullying by their classmates. These children are not only hurt emotionally and sometimes physically, but they are also deeply confused because they cannot make the distinction between manipulation and friendliness. This practical resource examines the social phenomenon of bullying and the social challenges and needs of children with AS. The author provides many insights and effective strategies for creating a bullying prevention program, and she also discusses specific environmental factors that foster bullying behaviors. The book also includes a chapter that offers a variety of personal perspectives on the subject. Written for parents and professionals, this book focuses on a whole-school approach to bullying prevention that involves administrators, teachers, parents, and students.


We also carry a children's book about bullying. Titled Nobody Knew What To Do: A Story About Bullying, this beautifully illustrated book for readers ages 4 to 8 tells the story of how one student gained the courage to deal with bullying. Ray, a student, is frequently the target of bullying. The other students don’t like it, but they are afraid to inform their teachers. One day, after having been beaten up the day before, Ray does not come back to school. A classmate hears the bullies talking about their future plans for Ray, and he gains the courage to tell his teacher. When Ray returns to school, the teacher and principal intervene, and the classmate tells of his pride in learning to stop bullies by working together with others. On the last page of the book, there are bullying prevention tips for educators and parents.