Free online coloring & free online drawing tool & free drawings at TimTim.com
Asperger's Syndrome - often pronounced as(s)-burger, is a diagnosis used to describe people within the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum. They are single-minded perfectionists with very poor social skills and a very literal interpretation of the world around them. For people like this, the term Aspergers could bring to mind an image like the one in the drawing's thought bubble. The number of children being diagnosed with this learning disability is growing rapidly, and there is a new awareness that many famous and well-known names were/are asperger people. In science, Sir Isaac Newton, Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein, In the arts, Mozart, Beethoven, Glen Gould, Jonathan Swift, Hans Christian Andersen, Herman Melville, Lewis Carroll, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, George Orwell, Leonardo Di Vinci, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, and Andy Warhol.
Asperger’s Syndrome is one of the fastest growing developmental disabilities in the Western World and one of the most difficult to diagnose. In 2001, I knew nothing about it and, like so many others, had only heard of Autism through films like Rain Man. The diagnosis of my only child with Autistic Asperger's Syndrome came like a sledge-hammer blow to my head. I needed help and knowledge – fast!
The Psychiatric counselors at the hospital recommended that I pick up a copy of Temple Grandin’s THINKING IN PICTURES. It is a fantastic read and was like a revelation to me. Her experiences spoke volumes to me about what it means to be in that small group of humans who think in pictures, who have trouble socially, who are far too literal and honest for this mad competitive world in which we live. It was a great help to me personally, but it had little practical use in the day-to-day problems of raising an Aspie child.
Through the tears and fears of the long and difficult diagnostic process, my son’s doctors, out of curiosity, began questioning me and eventually subjected me to a few simple tests. The results clearly showed that I was on the edge of what is known as the Autism Spectrum. I grew up in the USA in the 50s, long before Asperger's was a official diagnosis. I was raised in a large family and have worked at home most of my life doing graphics. My son had no siblings and we live in a dual-language environment. Digging into my son’s condition taught me a great deal about myself because the condition often follows the paternal genes. Puzzling and embarrassing retro-memories from my past began to surface and be understood. I read all I could find on the subject such as Tony Atwood’s renown book ASPERGER’S SYNDROME. It is a great book for defining and understanding the disability, but what I really needed was a practical user-manual for my son - a sort of ASPERGER'S FOR DUMMIES. I had to wait a few years, but now it is here.
QUIRKY YES - HOPELESS, NO, is a book that makes the strange world of aspie children more easy to understand. Award winning children’s book author Beth Brust (herself a mother to a 18 yr old Aspie child) spent 3 years co-authoring QUIRKY, YES – HOPELESS, NO with Cynthia La Brie Norall, Ph. D, a licensed educational psychologist and the founder of the Friends’ Club in California, which has helped thousands of Asperger’s kids learn basic social skills in a structured and supportive environment. The book, now in its 3rd printing, is a reader-friendly A to Z guide to understanding the most common daily struggles of children and teens with Asperger’s Syndrome. The bulk of the book is 85 easy-to-look-up, how-to-do-it subjects with real life examples such as: How to greet others and make eye contact, How to let go and move on to new tasks, How to cooperate and ask for help, How to pay compliments, How to discern someone’s true intentions, How to handle teasing and bullying, How not to be rude, How to deal with clothing and diets, and much, much more.
My son is now 12 years old, doing well at school and will soon be entering that strange teenage world. Despite my own “quirky-ness”, visual thinking, and many years of dealing 24/7 with this invisible, time-consuming, emotional roller-coaster of a disability, I still need guidance from time to time, and my copy of "QUIRKY, YES - HOPELESS, NO" is always with me.
USA Amazon Books link for Quirky, Yes - Hopless, No
UK Amazon Books link for Quirky, Yes - Hopless, No
