There’s a big problem with bestselling books that discuss autism – they are the success stories. They are about unique individuals who overcome the hurdles of their genetics.
Just like a biography of a pop or track star, they are the odd-ones-out. The majority of people who put in the same amount of dedication fail to improve their lot by enough to be book-worthy.
So it is a relief to see an ordinary account of dealing with an Aspie child!
From Aeon magazine:
Since he had no real friends, just some kids in his special-ed classroom whom he’d talk with fitfully, I was his sole audience.
Lately I have noticed books such as Jennifer Elder’s Different Like Me and Jennifer Cook O’Toole’s The Asperkid’s (Secret) Book of Social Rules, which promise to deliver guidance to young Aspergians. I don’t know who reads these books, but even if they’d been available in 2009, they would have been no use to Carson: he simply wasn’t interested in getting along in the world.