Product Description

This book offers a comprehensive overview of clinical, personal and research perspectives on Asperger Syndrome, including contributions from parents and experts in the fields of psychology, social work, psychiatry, genetics, sexology and vocational counselling. It includes first-hand accounts from children, young people and adults with AS, highlighting their difficulties in areas such as social competence and education. The book addresses specialist perspectives on AS, including sexuality and relationships, finding and keeping employment and anxiety and depression very sensitively. The viewpoints of parents and other family members explore ideas of how to parent AS individuals. These varied approaches to living with AS complement the emerging literature on theory, research and practice in this area.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2425146 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Review
'This new emphasis in the field on the more able group with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is an important one for researchers and practitioners so this comprehensive book is a welcome addition to the literature. The editor has assembled a distinguished group of contributors, representing a wide range of disciplines and perspectives. The result is a comprehensive volume that adds immeasurably to our understanding of theory and practice in this important area. Although the contributors are primarily Canadian, their themes and reputations are international, and readers will appreciate the multitude of experiences they bring to these important issues. Clinical practice is highlighted but there is a solid section on theoretical perspectives as well. Of particular interest to many are the personal perspectives of individuals with ASD and their parents. The book will be of interest to parents, professionals, academics, and everyone else affected by or interested in ASD. It is a welcome addition to the literature and the editor and contributor are to be thanked for their efforts.' - Gary B. Mesibov, Ph.D., Professor & Director, Division TEACCH, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

About the Author
For 25 years, Kevin Stoddart has worked with children, young people, adults and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), mental health issues and developmental disabilities. For the last 15 years, people with mild ASDs and Asperger Syndrome have been his clinical focus. He has worked primarily in community treatment settings where he has provided individual and family psychotherapy and now has a private psychotherapy and consultation practice. He has carried out research and published on ASDs and other developmental disabilities, Stoddart received his doctorate in Social Work from the University of Toronto and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Asperger Society of Ontario.

Customer Reviews

It's been done before.
Basically, a slightly updated version of Margot Prior's Learning and Behavior Problems in Asperger Syndrome, this book includes much of the same information and even some of the same authors. The only real improvement was the inclusion of three authors with diagnoses on the autism spectrum rather than one, but I found Margaret Lawson (who was in LBPAS) to be much more positive and evocative than any of these three. One of them very much wanted to be cured, apparently not understanding that would so fundamentally change who he was to the point that he would no longer be the same person (tantamount to a suicide wish, in my view).
Much of the same information debunking the idea that AS is fundamentally different from Autism is present, though not presented as well as in the previous text. Additionally, the writer they chose for the section on autism culture never even mentioned our important groups, such as Autism Network International, or important autism-culture events, such as Autreat. Considering how many of us (Aspies and HFAs) there are on the web, why didn't they get one of us with basic training in anthropology or sociology with connections to one or more of our self-advocacy organizations to write this section? It would have had much better information, more accuracy, and less outright speculation if they had. For that matter, why not use those same organizations to find one of us who feels fundamentally positive about our differences from neurotypicals? I'm VERY TIRED of books telling us how all of our differences are deficits, rather than emphasizing the strengths that also come with our differences.
If you have one of these two books, don't bother getting the other - and I'd generally say that Prior's 2003 book was better, even if the information is a couple more years "out of date". The DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10, and the various critiques thereof, have not changed substancially in two years, nor has the educational approach.