As I mentioned in my article, First Steps, it is crucial to read and gain as much information about autism as you can. There are hundreds of books on autism, but the very first book I read was Overcoming Autism by Lynn Kern Koegel, PhD and Claire LaZebnik.
It caught my eye because of what was written under the title, "Finding the Answers, Strategies, and Hope that can Transform a Child's Life". The words "Strategies", "Transform", "Finding" but most importantly "Hope", struck a chord with me.
The book's chapters are dedicated to various autistic symptoms. It is written by both a PhD who works with autistic children and a mother of an autistic child. Dr. Lynn Kern Koegel is a researcher and co-founder of the Koegel Autism Research Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara. She writes about the possible reasons certain symptoms occur and the strategies to reduce them. Claire LaZebnik, a writer, gives antidotes regarding her own son's symptoms, their affects and how they transformed throughout the years.
I literally read the book in one day. The day after my son was diagnosed with autism. It is a very easy read and I enjoyed reading the mother's perspective. I sat there constantly shaking my head in acknowledgement. She would describe the quirky things her son did and I would say, "That's my boy."
Overcoming Autism has eight chapters:
- Chapter 1- Diagnosis: Surviving the Worst News You'll Ever Get.
- Chapter 2- Ending the Long Silence: Teaching Your Child to Communicate.
- Chapter 3- Tears, Meltdowns, Aggression, and Self-Injury: Breaking the Cycle.
- Chapter 4- Self-Stimulation: Flapping, Banging, Twirling, and Other Repetitive Behaviors.
- Chapter 5- Social Skills: Turning Language and Play into Meaningful Interactions.
- Chapter 6- Battling Fears and Fixations: Bringing Your Child Back to the Real World.
- Chapter 7- Education: Finding the Right School Placement and Making it Even More Right.
- Chapter 8- Family Life: Fighting Your Way Back to Normalcy.
What's nice about the chapter breakdown is that you can concentrate your reading in the areas where your child is needing the most help. My son is not at all aggressive, but he does have social problems. The call their behavior therapy "Pivotal Response Training". Although the book has some very helpful information regarding the techniques they use it also speaks to the heart when you read the stories about LaZebnik's son Andrew. You indentify with the struggles and hope to soon identify with the triumphs.
I appreciate both Dr. Koegel's easy to read clinical style and LaZebnik's motherly prose. When you first receive the diagnosis of autism for your child it is hard not to just feel torn down and devasted. What is so wonderful about this book is that it fills your soul with hope. Overcoming Autism is a must read and a book I recommend for your own personal library.
