April is Autism Awareness Month in the U.S. -- books about the Autism Spectrum

Greetings!

April is Autism Awareness Month in the U.S. Every April, I start a thread where people can share comments about books relating to the Autism Spectrum in all its infinite variety. The books may be non-fiction or fiction -- there are many good novels these days featuring characters who are on the spectrum.

This thread is not meant to compete with any other monthly theme or group read for the month. It's just here for folks who want to share reading on the topic.

My own planned reads are:
The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger's by Temple Grandin (non-fiction)
Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer (a novel with a main character who has Asperger's Syndrome)

Please feel free to join in! (And, of course, anyone can post -- except Spammers -- you need not be a member of the 75 Challenge to post here!)

Ooh, I love this theme! I'll be starring this one for recommendations, I'd especially be interested in reading novels featuring characters on the autism spectrum.

I read both The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time and Speed of Dark last year and liked both - I'm not sure how their representations of autism are as they're both written by neurotypical people, though Elizabeth Moon has a son with autism.

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison is a great nonfiction read!

Edit: Wow, Rubbernecker has great reviews - added to my library holds. Thanks, @tymfos!

I have a hold on the OverDrive audio of The Rosie Project. I should get it in time to listen to it before the end of April.

I'm currently about half way through Neurotribes, which is a fascinating read, and I read The Rosie Project last month. The Rosie effect is in my list for fairly soon. The curious case of the dog in the nighttime isn't on the list because I haven't got around to tracking it down yet... A couple more titles have now caught my eye - thanks for starting the thread.

It's just amazing how the awareness of Aspergers / autism spectrum has grown in recent years, particularly when you're aware of the condition's history.

I'm also reading Neurotribes. As someone who knew very little about autism before I started reading, this is simultaneously fascinating and educational. I hadn't realised it would include so much of a history of medical work going so far back to pre WW2 Vienna, which is an unexpected pleasure.

YAY! The thread is up! I have so many books that I want to read (all nonfiction) that it'll probably dribble into May, as well, but here's the list of books I'm interested in:

Neurotribes, by Steve Silberman is one I already own and am about to start as soon as I finish up the book I'm listening to now. I also want to try the new book by John Elder Robison which came out a couple weeks ago Switched On and In A Different Key, by John Donvan and Caren Zucker (also a very new book). I was going to listen to one of Temple Grandin's books, but I'll probably run out of time once I listen to those three.

>1 tymfos: Rubbernecker is one I haven't heard of.

>2 KLmesoftly: I loved The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time and Speed of Dark! Look Me in the Eye was very interesting too.

>3 cbl_tn: I thought about The Rosie Project for this month, and might throw it in for a little fiction, but I'm not sure yet. >4 dajashby: Glad you liked it.

>5 charl08: and >4 dajashby: It'll be nice to have people to discuss Neurotribes with.

I'm a fan of Neurotribes. He pulls together a lot of history and good information in a very readable book.

I liked Curious Incident, The Speed of Dark, and the Rosie books. We saw the play adaptation of Curious Incident in NYC, and it was terrific. My wife and I thought that book would be just about impossible to adapt into a play, but they cleverly pulled it off.

Our daughter lent me In A Different Key, so that's one I'll read in April.

Hmm. Can't seem to get the touchstones to work.

Yep, The touchstones are wonky today, Joe! I'll be reading Rubbernecker, as I have that in the stacks already. I'll check to see if the library has Neurotribes, as that one sounds interesting.

I plan to read Neurotribes too.

I have read The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time and really enjoyed it.

Rubbernecker sounds interesting. Will probably read that one or The Rosie Project.

Another good young adult novel featuring a high-functioning autistic protagonist deserves to be better known: Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork.

Oh, it's good to see so many folks stopping by to share reading choices!

I've read and enjoyed a number of the books mentioned:

Neurotribes
The Speed of Dark
The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time
Look Me in the Eye -- and John Elder Robison's subsequent book Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian (I think that's the title)

When I have some time and the touchstones are back working, I may post a list of some other books I've enjoyed on the subject.

I have The Rosie Project on the shelf. If I have time after I read my other choices this month, I may try that one, too.

I'm picking up some new titles from those that have been mentioned.

>11 jnwelch: I have also read and enjoyed Marcello in the Real World

>13 The_Hibernator: Ah, good to hear, thanks.

I know it's not April but I've finished Neurotribes. Just a great book. Can't recommend it highly enough, and have already warbled on in RL too.

I also remembered I read an interesting memoir a while back of a young man who was (is?) a successful policy wonk. Send in the Idiots: Stories From the other side of autism.

I read books about autism and the spectrum years ago and so my suggestions are old news but I thought they were very interesting books. I heard this author interviewed on CBC radio and then got her books Donna Williams Nobody Nowhere and Somebody Somewhere. She gave a very interesting description of the sensory load that she was dealing with, what others can filter out (figure-ground). I found that fascintating. And of course the Temple Grandin books especially Thinking in Pictures was good. I have Neurotribes on my list. I tried The Reason I Jump and it didn't work for me.

Thanks to Mamie for the reminder about this themed read. I am going to try to read Rubbernecker, too.

I read one of the Donna Williams books years ago and liked it. I have another on the shelf; thanks for reminding me!

I just ordered Send in the Idiots through ILL.

I've started Rubbernecker.

>15 charl08: Yes! Neurotribes is a great book.

Send in the Idiots is new to me. Rubbernecker looks intriguing, too.

May I recommend a romance novel that fits this theme---Carry the Ocean by Heidi Cullinan. The link is to my thread, where I reviewed it in December. It's about two young men who fall in love; one of them is autistic and the other is clinically depressed. I believe it was extremely well done, but read my review for one or two caveats.

I highly recommend both The Boy Who Went Away and Best Boy by Eli Gotlieb.

And I just got The Eagle Tree by Ned Hayes. The touchstone isn't working yet on LT. Release date is May 1, but I got it using Kindle First with Amazon Prime. Here is the write up:

Fourteen-year-old March Wong knows everything there is to know about trees. They are his passion and his obsession, even after his recent falls—and despite the state’s threat to take him away from his mother if she can’t keep him from getting hurt. But the young autistic boy cannot resist the captivating pull of the Pacific Northwest’s lush forests just outside his back door.

One day, March is devastated to learn that the Eagle Tree—a monolithic Ponderosa Pine near his home in Olympia—is slated to be cut down by developers. Now, he will do anything in his power to save this beloved tree, including enlisting unlikely support from relatives, classmates, and even his bitter neighbor. In taking a stand, March will come face-to-face with some frightening possibilities: Even if he manages to save the Eagle Tree, is he risking himself and his mother to do it?

Intertwining themes of humanity and ecology, The Eagle Tree eloquently explores what it means to be part of a family, a society, and the natural world that surrounds and connects us.

Just seen this article by Melanie Walsh, author of picture book Isaac and his Amazing Asperger Superpowers!.

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2016/apr/02/aspergers-au...

I've downloaded an audiobook, Dear Miss Landau by James Christie. I found it in my library's Overdrive catalogue when I searched for 'aspergers'. Based on a true story and concerns a British guy with Aspergers who travels to Hollywood to meet an actress who played the vampire, Drusilla, in Buffy.
I have two audiobooks lined up before this one, but I'm intrigued by the idea of it so will step up my listening time.

I've started Send In the Idiots. It looks interesting.

Oh, glad I finally found this thread! I enjoyed participating last year. I am considering Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism or Autism Breakthrough. I just finished a great book last month on a related theme--auditory processing disorder (APD). It was called When the Brain Can't Hear. It was fantastic, highly recommended. I actually read three books on APD, but this one was by far the best.

I just started In A Different Key: The Story of Autism, which I'm liking so far.

On the fiction side, I just read a mystery thriller which has a great side story of a younger brother with autism: The Life We Bury by Allen Askens.

I just finished the graphic novel, Postal, Volume 1 by Matt Hawkins and Bryan Hill. The main character, Mark Shiffron, has Asperger's and he is the town postman. It's very dark and criminal but Mark proves as adept at solving mysteries as he is at delivering mail.

>29 luvamystery65: That one sounds intriguing, Roberta. I remember Mark liked it, too.

In a Different Key was good, and I reviewed it over on my thread. If I had to pick one autism overview book, it would be the standout Neurotribes. But this one, with its emphasis on personal stories that helped shape where we are today, is a good complement to it.

I'm now reading Rubbernecker.

I just finished reading Sweetland for the Canadian Author Challenge and couldn't help but noticing that one of the secondary characters, Jesse, exhibits many autistic traits. He is high functioning and has a way with computers. He even manages to get his Uncle Moses, the protagonist, to use a laptop to play online poker on those long Newfoundland nights. Good book though rather dark.

I'm not getting much reading done lately -- too busy.

I'm still plodding along with Rubbernecker and Send in the Idiots. I may not get to the Temple Grandin book I wanted to read -- final exam and final project for my class are looming. . .

I finished Send in the Idiots. I'll comment when we have internet and I don't have to type it on the phone. Internet here has been unreliable since Verizon workers went on strike.

I just finished two books on autism. The first is called Autism Breakthrough. For those of you who have mentioned Neurotribes, this is about the Son-Rise Program mentioned in that book. In fact, it is by the founders' son, Raun Kaufman, who, according to him, was cured of his autism by his parents' interventions. I have very mixed feelings on this book. On one hand, I think it has some really good, easily applicable strategies for parents of children with autism. And it is written in a very, very approachable and parent-friendly manner. On the other hand, the author is clearly pushing for Son-Rise as THE program that children with autism need. Never mind that some of their approaches are very similar to the approaches of other programs (Floortime comes to mind). Also, he hints strongly that most children can be cured of their autism. While I applaud his encouragement to parents to continue to seek an approach that works best for their child, I think it is very misleading and dishonest to promise a "cure," when each individual with autism is so unique with his/her own strengths and challenges. So, I might recommend this to parents who have a newly diagnosed child, with the huge caveat that they not buy into Kaufman's "cure" or only-my-program-works philosophy.

I also read Uniquely Human, by Barry Prizant. Prizant is one of the biggest names in the treatment of autism. I have never had the opportunity to hear him speak, so I was delighted when this book was released last year. He has worked with thousands of families and their children with autism, and consulted in hundreds of schools. In this book, he brings all of his experience to bear, and it is a beautiful thing. Prizant takes the side of the individual with autism, and he encourages the reader to understand the "behaviors" of autism through their eyes. If a child with autism is having a huge, massive tantrum because he/she doesn't want to go to the cafeteria, is it because he/she is being defiant, or because the child is particularly disregulated that day and knows the noise in the cafeteria is more than he/she can bear? Prizant gives many such examples. He goes on to discuss the social challenges for people on the spectrum, and then he discusses families and autism. Two of my favorite quotes. "Here are my top priorities: building self-expression and self-esteem, instilling happiness, creating positive experiences, and emphasizing healthy relationships. It's also important to increase self-awareness and the ability to emotionally self-regulate."
And, "Whether or not "recovery" is possible, pursuing it as a singular goal and viewing it as the principal marker of a successful outcome can be emotionally and financially exhausting for parents and stressful for children, particularly when the focus is on reducing "autistic behaviors." And when professionals present recovery as likely, despite research indicating it is rare, they violate ethics of professional practice, especially when they make such claims to promote their services." (Ahem, cough, Raun Kaufman.) So, highly recommended if these quotes appeal to you.

>34 karspeak: Wonderful detailed reviews of the 2 books!

>34 karspeak:, >35 mdoris: Agreed. That's really helpful and interesting. Uniquely Human sounds like one I'd like to try.

>35 mdoris:; >36 jnwelch: Thanks!

I read Neurotribes this past December, and I thought I'd post my review here, since several others mentioned Neurotribes on this thread.

Neurotribes was an excellent, well-written, well-researched, exhaustive history of autism. I definitely recommend it for people who have an interest in autism. I have read many, many books on autism, and I still found it a very worthwhile and informative read.

At the end of the book, the author firmly opines that people with autism should be accepted as individuals with disabilities instead of "cured." He compares adults with High Functioning Autism to the Deaf community. Well, does it really have to be one or the other? Is he saying a 3 year-old with autism that can't speak should just be accepted and not receive speech therapy? (Full disclosure, I am a pediatric speech pathologist.) Or that an 8 year-old with a severe sensory disorder shouldn't receive sensory integration intervention? I think he probably means that the social delay component of autism should not be addressed, while other issues could be addressed. But many of the pre-teen and teenage kids that I have worked with have been very grateful for receiving help in how to interact socially with others. I absolutely agree that all individuals with autism should be accepted for who they are (as should anyone), but I think interventions can also be hugely beneficial.

>37 karspeak: Well said. That makes sense.

I finished listening to The Rosie Effect, the sequel to The Rosie Project and I really enjoyed it. The first one didn't quite hit me right when I read it last year and I got a bit of flack for not enjoying it as much as others here on LT did.

And while I think The Rosie Effect was less favored here on LT, for me this one hit all the right notes - perhaps because I listened to it on audio. The reader, Dan O' Grady, was wonderful. He gave Don a full measure of respect while highlighting his confusion over the illogic of emotional situations. And since Dan and Rosie moved to NY, where Don was teaching at Cornell, while Rosie was juggling finishing her PhD, entering med school and being pregnant, emotions flew and miscommunications almost ruled.

A funny and sympathetic look at different sort of person-hood. 4 stars.

>37 karspeak: Neurotribes is among other things a history of attempts to diagnose and cure autism, and the conclusion that you can draw is that in almost every case attempts at cure have resulted in very bad outcomes. Once people started accepting autism for what it is, and switched to attempting to help people live with the condition, outcomes have greatly improved. I don't think the author is arguing against intervention. He just wants the right intervention.

I just finished The Eagle Tree by Ned Hayes and enjoyed it a lot. I do not personally have children on the spectrum, but my daughter attended a school for kids with learning differences and about 1/3 of the kids were high functioning autistics. I thought the book rang true.

Plot summary from the back of the book:

Fourteen-year-old March Wong knows everything there is to know about trees. They are his passion and his obsession, even after his recent fall—and despite social services’ threat to take him away from his mother if she doesn’t keep him out of their branches.

But the young autistic boy just cannot resist the captivating pull of the Pacific Northwest’s lush forests just outside his backdoor.

One day, March is devastated to learn that the Eagle Tree—a monolithic Ponderosa pine near his home in Olympia—is slated to be cut down by developers. Now, he will do anything in his power to save this beloved tree, including enlisting unlikely support from relatives, classmates, and even his bitter neighbor. In taking a stand, March will come face-to-face with some frightening possibilities: Even if he manages to save the Eagle Tree, is he risking himself and his mother to do it?

Intertwining themes of humanity and ecology, The Eagle Tree eloquently explores what it means to be a part of a family, a society, and the natural world that surrounds and connects us.

“Every human experience is unique, but The Eagle Tree provides insight into one distinctive and uniquely important perspective. The Eagle Tree… seems very authentic to me.””— Temple Grandin, New York Times bestselling author of Emergence: Labeled Autistic.

“The Eagle Tree is a gorgeously written novel that features one of the most accurate, finely drawn and memorable autistic protagonists in literature. Credible, authentic, powerful. A must-read.”–– Steve Silberman, New York Times bestselling author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity.

I don't think I need to say anything more. 4 stars

>40 dajashby: Good point.

There's been some good discussion and reviews posted here!

I finally finished Belinda Bauer's novel Rubbernecker. I didn't like it as much as some folks did. This surprised me, given the subject matter and the fact that I usually enjoy Bauer's novels. The plot just drove me a little bit batty.

Thanks to everyone who posted here in this thread! Even though April's over, feel free to drop a post here if you read other books dealing with the autism spectrum in some way.

>37 karspeak: I too am a (retired) Speech Language Pathologist with great interest in autism as I worked with many children in the school system helping develop programmes to support them. I think what he is saying in Neurotribes is to stop trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. I'm sure he would never agree that interevention is unwarranted. There are so many interesting books about autism and the ones I especially like are the ones that give us the information from an autistic point of view, teaching us about their sensory world.

>45 mdoris: I'm sure you and dajashby are right about Neurotribes, I must have misconstrued the author's intent somewhat. Have you read Carly's Voice or Ido in Autismland? Fascinating from a communication perspective. Also, it is worth googling "Carly Channing Tatum." It's a video clip of Carly Fleischmann, a young woman with autism who communicates with a text to speech device, interviewing Channing Tatum, and it's pretty awesome:). The book Carly's Voice is about her and partially written by her.

>46 karspeak: Thanks so much for the book suggestions!

An anthropologist on Mars, by Oliver Sacks is definitely on my list. It contains an essay about Sacks' involvement with Temple Grandin. I'm also intending to chase up some of her books.

>48 dajashby: I very much want to read An Anthropologist on Mars. I hadn't realized the title was taken from Temple Grandin's comment about her perspective. I liked her The Way I See It a lot. She's remarkable.

I've just read an article about Shtum by Jem Lester, a debut semi-autobiographical novel about raising an autistic child. I've requested this frommy library as it sounds very good.
The article also mentions an Israeli tv series about raising a child with autism in a rural setting - Yellow Peppers which has been remade in the UK as The A Word.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/novel-explores-how-autism-can-teach-a-family-to-com...

I couldn't get on with Dear Miss Landau, I had the audio read by the author so maybe it's an easier read in print form.

Ok, my copy of Shtum finally arrived from the library and I read it in one sitting.

This was a compelling read. It's based on Lester's own experience of raising a severe autistic child and the battle with the local council to get their son into a residential school that was best suited for his needs.

Ben and his wife, Emma love their son Jonah, but at eleven he's mute, still in nappies, increasingly violent at times and difficult to care for. Their own lives have been put on hold since he was diagnosed as a severe autistic. Jonah will be leaving his current school in the following year and the couple know that his best needs can only be met at a specialised residential school. They have to convince their local council that this is the best option for Jonah as the school is only open to students paid for by their local councils, it's a difficult legal process.
Lester shows how hard it is to care for a growing autistic child. He wanted to be honest and show the world that severe autism has devastating effects for a family. Nothing can be normal. Every trip out into the public is a possible minefield. He builds it into a story of the relationships between three males, grandfather, father and son. It's sad, full of soul but illuminating and Ben is certainly not perfect, in fact he's been running away from himself all his life.

That sounds like a book that was worth waiting for!

It was a very good novel and highlights the difficulty of getting the correct care for a teenage severe autistic. Lester says that along with his ex-wife and her partner, they fought a difficult and expensive (40,000 GBP) legal process to win the right for their son to attend a wonderful residential secondary school that would cost the local council 200,000 GPB per year. Yet, while they submitted to this process (he sold his home to help finance the legal costs) he also expressed the anxiety that the other severe autistic children in their son's specialist primary school would all go on to the schools that they as parents had rejected for their own son.

I described it as sad, though it isn't a misery type read at all, more a realistic honest look at the toll it takes on the parents. Ben is their first child and so even sex becomes off limits to the couple as they become afraid of bringing another autistic child into the world.