Aspies For Freedom

This book is the reason I am here. I few years ago I was given ABC's by my Aunt Percilla.
I read it every once in awhile because it's very well written. Albeit 15 years ago,it still seems fairly accurate. My thoughts in red.

Understanding the Nature of Defects page.156
I'm guessing by the title,Alma E. Guiness the Editor wouldn't be very supportive of this site. Oh well,still just a start.

A Boy Called Noahpage.157
An autistic child can fray but need not break the bonds that unite a family,as Noah Greenfield's parents found in their endless search for a way into their son's mind. An undersized cerebellum may hold the key to the mystery of autism.
Convincing. Anyone have an opinion?
The picture and caption compare a normal brain to the brain of an autistic person. The area in blue in the autistic perons brain is smaller than the the normal persons brain.

I can't tell if a book is accurate if I haven't read it.

"An autistic child can fray but need not break the bonds that unite a family"

I don't know what that really means, is it something religious?

That just means that the problems and heartache and tension an autistic child will cause will not necessarily cause the family to break apart (as in divorce, for instance). Sometimes hard times will bring a family closer together, and sometimes they will break it up.

I haven't read the book so can't comment on its accuracy or not. I do have some issues with the idea that it is always the autistic child who causes the family bonds to fray or break.

It is often the unrealistic expectations engendered in parents about having their child "cured" and the resulting disappointment that cause the problems. Hard as it is, it's better to face early on the reality that the child won't be cured and accept the child as they are and not some kind of idealised version of that child.

This inevitably involves a lot of grieving and shattered expectations but going for endless "treatments" and possible "cures" only draws this process out.