The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome, by Tony Attwood
This is, I believe, a copy of the very first book I ever read on autism, and likely the very book that convinced me I was actually on the autism spectrum. The DSM-IV criteria was not terribly helpful, nor were peoples' telling me I was on it, beyond the psychological testing. This book is now almost a decade old, so I find myself surprised at how much of it still remains valid and familiar.
The book itself is an exhaustive description of Asperger's Syndrome, from the diagnostic criteria to growing up to common mentalities, features, and pitfalls. In retrospect, I don't think I've ever come across a better description of the better-blended section of the autism spectrum. This book would be well worth reading for anyone that needs to understand how we're likely to think and act.
One of the sections of the book I found interesting was the four compensatory/adjustment strategies to being different. The first strategy, depression, was my strategy (or lack thereof). I'd sort of figured most autistic people at least dabbled into this particular strategy unless they weren't aware of being so different. But I've heard of the others from other peoples' stories: escape into imagination, imitation of others/characters, and denial/arrogance.
I once watched a TED talk by someone on the spectrum who had an intensely rich imagination, and one of the previous books I've read also talked about having everything from imaginary friends to imaginary puppies. And I've heard of people on the spectrum latching onto and mimicking a particular, seemingly successful, friend, to the point of unhealthiness. I must have managed to avoid the denial/arrogance option for the most part, which is probably just as well because both those traits can be blatantly harmful to everyone involved. And arrogance, at least, drives me batty. I tend to avoid people with that personality trait. Perhaps I missed that path due to that tendency.
Another section that struck a chord with me was the jigsaw puzzle comparison in Chapter 3. I've talked about how I had to learn social conventions, what to say when, how to make small talk, etc. But it's kind of hard to convey the difficulty of that learning process. Professor Attwood compares social rules to a 5,000 piece puzzle. Neurotypical people have the box to look at, with the complete picture to compare to when needed. Autistic people lack that extra knowledge, so instead we have to learn each bit piece by piece, matching shapes and colors as best we can. The difference, I suppose, between the metaphor and the reality, is that nobody yells at you, shuns you, or hurts you if you try the wrong puzzle piece dozens of times.
It wasn't all flawlessly accurate, of course. The book focuses specifically on visual thinking, influenced heavily, no doubt, by Dr. Temple Grandin's books and other, similar sources. There are many styles of thought in the autism spectrum, and mine is not particularly visual. After half a year or so of puzzling about it, I'm finally starting to understand. Rather than pictures, numbers, or words, I seem to think in patterns. I'll do a separate entry regarding the specifics of my thought processes, but suffice it to say I was confused given that patterns include sounds, words, colors, pictures, and numbers!
Also somewhat inaccurate is the "What Causes Asperger's Syndrome?" FAQ in the back. That's somewhat unavoidable, given the age of the book. New research keeps coming out and it becomes increasingly impossible to keep books up to date. Particularly if they're not textbooks and already being re-released every year.
This is, I believe, a copy of the very first book I ever read on autism, and likely the very book that convinced me I was actually on the autism spectrum. The DSM-IV criteria was not terribly helpful, nor were peoples' telling me I was on it, beyond the psychological testing. This book is now almost a decade old, so I find myself surprised at how much of it still remains valid and familiar.
The book itself is an exhaustive description of Asperger's Syndrome, from the diagnostic criteria to growing up to common mentalities, features, and pitfalls. In retrospect, I don't think I've ever come across a better description of the better-blended section of the autism spectrum. This book would be well worth reading for anyone that needs to understand how we're likely to think and act.
One of the sections of the book I found interesting was the four compensatory/adjustment strategies to being different. The first strategy, depression, was my strategy (or lack thereof). I'd sort of figured most autistic people at least dabbled into this particular strategy unless they weren't aware of being so different. But I've heard of the others from other peoples' stories: escape into imagination, imitation of others/characters, and denial/arrogance.
I once watched a TED talk by someone on the spectrum who had an intensely rich imagination, and one of the previous books I've read also talked about having everything from imaginary friends to imaginary puppies. And I've heard of people on the spectrum latching onto and mimicking a particular, seemingly successful, friend, to the point of unhealthiness. I must have managed to avoid the denial/arrogance option for the most part, which is probably just as well because both those traits can be blatantly harmful to everyone involved. And arrogance, at least, drives me batty. I tend to avoid people with that personality trait. Perhaps I missed that path due to that tendency.
Another section that struck a chord with me was the jigsaw puzzle comparison in Chapter 3. I've talked about how I had to learn social conventions, what to say when, how to make small talk, etc. But it's kind of hard to convey the difficulty of that learning process. Professor Attwood compares social rules to a 5,000 piece puzzle. Neurotypical people have the box to look at, with the complete picture to compare to when needed. Autistic people lack that extra knowledge, so instead we have to learn each bit piece by piece, matching shapes and colors as best we can. The difference, I suppose, between the metaphor and the reality, is that nobody yells at you, shuns you, or hurts you if you try the wrong puzzle piece dozens of times.
It wasn't all flawlessly accurate, of course. The book focuses specifically on visual thinking, influenced heavily, no doubt, by Dr. Temple Grandin's books and other, similar sources. There are many styles of thought in the autism spectrum, and mine is not particularly visual. After half a year or so of puzzling about it, I'm finally starting to understand. Rather than pictures, numbers, or words, I seem to think in patterns. I'll do a separate entry regarding the specifics of my thought processes, but suffice it to say I was confused given that patterns include sounds, words, colors, pictures, and numbers!
Also somewhat inaccurate is the "What Causes Asperger's Syndrome?" FAQ in the back. That's somewhat unavoidable, given the age of the book. New research keeps coming out and it becomes increasingly impossible to keep books up to date. Particularly if they're not textbooks and already being re-released every year.
No comments:
Post a Comment