Spectrum Disorder

A veteran clinical psychologist exposes why doctors, teachers, and parents incorrectly diagnose healthy American children with serious psychiatric conditions. In recent years there has been an alarming rise in the number of American children and youth assigned a mental health diagnosis. Current data from the Centers for Disease Control reveal a 41 percent increase in rates of ADHD diagnoses over the past decade and a forty-fold spike in bipolar disorder diagnoses. Similarly, diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder has increased by 78 percent since 2002.

Diagnosed with pathological demand avoidance (PDA) in his teenage years, Harry Thompson looks back with wit and humour at the ups and downs of family and romantic relationships, school, work and mental health, as well as his teenage struggle with drugs and alcohol. By embracing neurodiversity and emphasising that autistic people are not flawed human beings, Thompson demonstrates that some merely need to take the 'scenic route' in order to flourish and reach their full potential.

This book is a compilation of success stories from adults with autism and Asperger's syndrome. Each shares what helped them during their childhood and young lives that made them the independent adults they are today. One of the most important missions Temple Grandin has is making sure people with autism and Asperger's make something of their lives.

Coping Skills for Teens with Autism provides essential guides and tips for helping teenagers with autism develop the skills they need to navigate life's challenges and improve their quality of life. The coping skills shared here are not just for immediate relief—rather, they will become an integral part of the teenager and fortify them with a lifetime of knowledge and self-help tools.

Although having Asperger syndrome (AS) can make romantic relations difficult, having a fulfilling relationship with an Asperger man is certainly not impossible. A woman in love with a man with AS may interpret his difficulties with communication and socialisation as a lack of interest in the relationship. He may vacillate between being gentle and caring to seeming cold and distant. She may find his behaviour hard to understand, resulting in feelings of loneliness, isolation and confusion.

Recognizing Autism in Women & Girls provides the perspective needed to see how autism manifests in gendered ways allowing for a more accurate diagnosis. In addition to describing each point in the diagnostic manual to include feminine presentations, Dr. Marsh has created “Five Fictional Female Figures” who've been misdiagnosed because they also display symptoms of other similar conditions. She describes their behaviors, both obvious and hidden, from early childhood to adulthood, and demonstrates how these behaviors meet diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder.

Born with autism, both Temple Grandin and Sean Barron now live famously successful social lives. However, their paths were quite different. Temple's logical mind controlled her social behavior. She interacted with many adults and other children, experiencing varied social situations. Logic informed her decision to obey social rules and avoid unpleasant consequences. Sean's emotions controlled his social behavior.

Temple Grandin draws on her own experience to deliver an essential guidebook for guiding and nurturing autistic youth. She gets to the REAL issues of autistic adolescents—the ones parents, teachers, and individuals on the spectrum face every day.

The groundbreaking book that explains Sensory Processing Difference (SPD)--and presents a drug-free approach that offers hope for parents--now revised and updated.

An incisive and deeply candid account that explores autistic women in culture, myth, and society through the prism of the author's own diagnosis.

Many people suffer from feelings of stress and anxiety in their everyday lives. For people with Asperger syndrome (AS), this stress can be particularly difficult to manage. On a daily basis people with AS must fit into a world that seems totally foreign to them, and this can increase feelings of alienation and anxiety, making life's challenges especially hard to cope with. The first book on anxiety written specifically for adults with Asperger syndrome, this book offers practical advice on how individuals with AS can manage their anxiety more effectively.

In Underestimated: An Autism Miracle, Generation Rescue’s cofounder J.B. Handley and his teenage son Jamison tell the remarkable story of Jamison’s journey to find a method of communication that allowed him to show the world that he was a brilliant, wise, generous, and complex individual who had been misunderstood and underestimated by everyone in his life.

Understanding Autistic Relationship Across the Lifespan is an overview of autistic relationships from the early years to old age. The book combines the latest research findings with first-hand accounts to offer insight into the relationships of autistic people and how they differ to those of non-autistic people. This book offers practical recommendations for both autistic and non-autistic people on how to have the healthiest and most satisfying relationships possible.

Autism is a subject that has always fascinated and intrigued me; a closed and impenetrable universe that, after years of research, traditional and modern approaches are allowing us to understand and treat therapeutically. I tried to understand what is hidden in the mysterious and particular world of the autistic child. I wanted, therefore, to deepen understanding of this particular condition.

It may not be an easy journey, but it’s definitely worth the fight—here’s how to help your child with autism survive and thrive in life while taking care of your mental health.

How can I best support the needs of my neurodivergent clients in therapy? With so much information, and so many different perspectives, it can be difficult to know where to start. Further, the mental health field has only recently begun moving away from "treating autism" to working with autistic and neurodivergent individuals in a more affirming way. That's why Dr. Amy Marschall created A Clinician's Guide to Supporting Autistic Clients. As an expert psychologist and a member of the autism community herself, she recognized the need to move away from treatments that pathologize differences.

A comprehensive resource for parents, therapists, caregivers, and educators, packed with lifelong strategies for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) management and support.

If you have a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), your journey together through the teenage years to adulthood may be complicated—not to mention confusing, rewarding, and financially challenging. This book offers scientifically validated guidance to help you raise your tween, teen, or young adult on the autism spectrum. It contains supportive advice for finding good medical and psychiatric care, helping your teen learn executive functioning and social skills to navigate middle and high school, and talking to your teen about sexual development and sexual activity.

Clem Bastow grew up feeling like she’d missed a key memo on human behaviour. She found the unspoken rules of social engagement confusing, arbitrary and often stressful. Friendships were hard, relationships harder and the office was a fluorescent-lit nightmare of anxiety. It wasn’t until Clem was diagnosed as autistic, at age 36, that things clicked into focus. Clem reflects as an autistic adult on her formative experiences as an undiagnosed young person, from the asphalt playground of St Joseph's Primary School in Melbourne to working as an entertainment journalist in Hollywood.

From the renowned child psychiatrist who developed the groundbreaking Floortime approach for children with autism spectrum disorder, Engaging Autism is a clear, compassionate road-map for parents. Unlike approaches that focus on changing specific behavior, Dr. Greenspan's program promotes the building blocks of healthy emotional and behavioral development, showing that children with ASD do not have a fixed, limited potential, and may often join their peers to lead full, healthy lives.