Life with Aspergers

Today, I'm blogging over at Special-ism. The article is called; What is Stimming and why is it Important In the article, I look at those rocking, blinking, fidgeting and general noise-making behaviours commonly seen in children on the autism spectrum and I explain why they're important. Head over to Special-ism and have a read.  Note: With the closure of Special-Ism, this article is available in my free book  " The Special-Ism Posts volumes 1 and 2 " Also, because this was a fairly popular post, I've reprinted the article on my website; What is Stimming and why is it important

The secret of the Songshell is a young adult book with a difference.  It's written with the intention of providing a fictional hero with Asperger's Syndrome that young people with Asperger's can look up to and call their own. At just over 300 pages, it's not a short book by children's standards but it's well within the reading range of most twelve year olds.  My son's learning difficulties weren't entirely up to the task but most children should have no problems. The story concerns a young boy named Joel, who has Asperger's syndrome and an interest in music. He is transported to a fantasy world where his music plays an important part in events.  This is a fantasy with monsters and fantasy weaponry powered by musical instruments - and it's quite a good story. The treatment of Asperger's syndrome in the book is mainly positive with just a single awkward moment when Joel is having a conversation which includes the word diagnosis.  The

I don't often talk about specific issues with my kids on this blog preferring instead to tackle general topics which could benefit everyone. (and of course, I try to protect their privacy a little). I'm going to make an exception in this case because it illustrates perfectly some of the issues and decisions which parents of special needs children face all the time. My eldest son, aged almost 12, is in year six, his final year of primary school. He's been in "special needs" since kindergarten seven years ago and on ritalin almost as long. Over the years we've had our share of school issues, both social and academic and it takes each new teacher nearly an entire year to understand him. It was always our hope that one day, when he was old enough to "self-regulate", we could ditch the ritalin and I think that we all expected him to be off it by now. There have been many times over the years when we've forgotten the ritalin (or run out).

Special Note: For Today Only (apparently); The Kindle edition of Ethan's story can be obtained from Amazon for free. Don't delay, get it now . You don't need to have a kindle or an ipad to read this book because you can read it in your web browser (via the free Kindle Cloud Reader). Ethan's Story; My Life with Autism by Ethan Rice with Illustrations by Crystal Ord Ethan's story is a very special book because it was written by an eight year old with autism. In this book, Ethan explains his differences simply and from a child's point of view.  It makes the book a very honest read which is suitable for all ages.  The illustrations are great too. Ethan's story is a very good way to explain autism to children. Ethan's Story is available from Amazon .