Book Review

I have gotten back into the swing of ASD research and wanted to share some of my experiences.

The first book is "Daniel Isn't Talking" by Marti Leimbach. It is a fictional account of one mother's trip down diagnosis lane. I found this book to be comforting. It speaks honestly to the fears, worries, and greif that I went through. The difficulty that the main character- Melanie- had pre-diagnosis, the waiting for something to go wrong, knowing something was wrong but not really "knowing" it, was familiar.

The second book is called "Autism Life Skills" by Chantal Sicile Kira. I found this book to be informative as it provided a nice insight into the what people *on* the spectrum want. So often we speak for our children and write the books ourselves. We speak from our experiences and view point. While most of the items on this list are common sense, the perspective provided and the why's and how's were interesting.

I did find it a bit overwhelming emotionally. Reviewing items such as abuse prevention, living situations, and employment are difficult to digest. This will be a book that I keep on my shelf and refer back to.

Recently, I have found myself back at that point where the ASD diagnosis is painful. Most days, it is okay, however like any grief cycle- which most of us go through- you come full circle and find yourself experiencing the same difficutlies. As a person who has lost three parents, I can tell you that it doesn't go away per se, it just gets easier. The times when it hurts gets further and further apart.

Right now, it is raw again. Maybe because of it is the anniversary or because of the books of nerves from taking the training wheels off. Regardless, I have found that trying to look at the long term- like the material above- is overwhelming.