Rating: 
Summary: Great Book Worth Reading, It could raise false hopes however
Review: I am proud of this writer for sharing her insights. The Autism Spectrum has many variations. She is definately on the highest end of the functional curve. It took me 40 years to understand enough about humans, their world with its complex social instituational and workplace expectations to keep a job. I only barely function well enough to remain employed now with lots of help. I manage my autistic issues within the parameters of most human social tolerances. I have mastered living alone in human society with few exceptions.
I picked up the book upon reading the first few pages most of her experiences were immediately familiar to me. I guess where she and I diverge is in the fact she has done so well socializing with the humans. She also seems to have an understanding of human society, culture and its sophisticated ways that shocks me. My struggle has been hard, I have come from total backwardness to bare basics functionality in this world. I am not jealous of her success I respect it but she sounds so normal and in control it scares me.
I guess thats the problem. She sounds as if she has everything about her AS under control. For me managing the anger and other issues associated with tantrums, desires to self mutalate, desires to fight those who touch me, make sudden loud noises among other things is a constant battle I am not always so certain I will win. Many times if things get too rough at work I have no alternative but to leave before I lose control and revert to feral instinct driven primal less appropriate resolutions of workplace situations.
Her book almost frightens me because for some on the AS spectrum things are not that neat, cut, dry and controlled. I am so happy she does not have to deal with the uncontrolled issues threatening to get away I manage every moment, but I wish I knew how she managed to get things set up so nice. I still do not socialize well at all. I have no connection with anyone outside work. I do not socialize with family not because I do not want to, I LOVE my family, I just do not know how to establish and maintain connections with humans in situations that do not involve meeting a deadline or completing a structured task. Human relationships outside work have no structure and I am a lost foolish thing in such circumstances. The writer seems as adept plying the waters of human interpersonal relations as any so called neuro-typical human.
She seems to have decoded even mastered the human equation expectations model far better than I have in my lifetime of trying. Me I am just struggling to stay afloat on the vast unforgiving sea of human reality. I must be satisfied to barely survive among humans in their society; as the best I can do is just enough to keep from being rejected from my job and institutionalized. I never even thought someone with AS could understand this world well enough to interact among the humans on advanced levels this writer has reached. The writer is doing more than just surviving among humans its almost as if she has mastered things in the human world I still do not know exist.
This book is a great read and worth buying but please do not think all people with AS have it this easy. Please know that if you have AS you have a good chance of being successful in your chosen field if you stick with it and let NO ONE stand in your way. This book paints a picture of a person with AS that has had the best possible outcome which you must understand is extremely rare. My only problem with this book is I hope it does not give false hope to those struggling with the issues associated with living with AS or living on the spectrum. Please know that for most people with AS you will likely succeed if you try with all your heart. Just know that success in life will MORE LIKELY THAN NOT be a constant often painful struggle at college, on the job, at home and expecially in unstructured social situations among humans. Success in this human reality will more likely be a fight to survive in the storm of adversity not a cake walk in the sunshine of bright smiling faces that is this writers experience.
Rating: 
Summary: The message of this book should not be lost!
Review: I can only assume a few of the reviews on this book, really read a different book. To say Liane Wiley had it easy in school because she was part of the in crowd, and so can't have Aspergers is just stupid. Liane says clearly in her book it was just a few popular friends who brought her with THEM into the in crowd. Liane says she did not happen on a career easily. In fact, Liane has never had a full time job. She is a part time teacher and has never gotten the career her degrees and experiences should warrant. She is happily married, but she admits she is married to a man who has many Aspergers traits. To minimize Liane's issues because she happened into the in crowd and found a husband, is just ridiculous. The point of Liane's book is to tell people that friends and family are the key to a happy life with aspergers. Liane says she would not be where she is today if it weren't for her friends and family. She is a strong advocate for Aspergers and she tries hard to tell everyone how hard life is, but how good it can be. Without her, I would think life with ASpergers is the worst possible. By the way. She is no longer self-diagnoses. She has been diagnosed by a very qualified psychologist who spent a long time with Liane and her family and her records before diagnosisng her as Aspergers. Don't loose Liane's message just because she had a decent school career. That's just ridiciulous!
Rating: 
Summary: Thoroughly irritating book
Review: I ended up thoroughly irritated by this book and its author. It's a symptom of Asperger's to have poor social skills, but the self-promotion and emotionalism of Ms Willey are not at all the rule. Selling her highly sentimental life story as a typical experience of an AS patient is very misleading to anyone who's trying to gain insight into this strange disorder.I really don't know if the author was correctly diagnosed or not. It doesn't matter: psychiatrists don't agree with one another and there's a huge variation in symptoms. At one end are the people who can just as easily be diagnosed as autistic. At the other end are people like Albert Einstein and Bill Gates, who clearly display(ed) some typical AS traits. Having just read 'A Beautiful Mind', the story of mathematician John Nash who was institutionalized for schizophrenia, I recognized many AS characteristics in him. Asperger's, autism and schizophrenia overlap in their symptoms and, maybe, cause. It isn't true that all Asperger's patients are male: it is true that it is much commoner in boys and that AS girls adapt better to adult life. It also isn't true that all AS patients become mathematicians, scientists or technologists. It is true that those vocations are often appealing to people with little affect, but good strengths in logical thinking and the ability to concentrate. I had great hopes that this book would help dispel myths about AS patients always being mentally retarded or always being male. Ms Willey has obviously faced down evident mental or psychological problems with great spirit. Equally obviously she is not a good case model of people with Asperger's Syndrome. What a pity she had to put a faddish word in the title of her book, and didn't just tell her story as that of an interesting and courageous person.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I first checked out this book from the library. I decided it was a 'must have' and have since purchased the book. It is well written by a mother of 3 girls who is married. The author has AS as does her youngest daughter. She describes the actual and emotional ups and downs of AS for her as a child and then how it helps her to help her child while at the same time recognizing her own limitations. It is nice to read about her successful life in terms of her family and her ability to adapt to everyday life in many instances. It concludes with practical approaches for the Non-AS person. A nice list of resources is found in the back.Also a small glossary for those not familiar with many of the commonly used words to describe AS. I thank the author for writing this very enlightening book!
Rating:
Summary: A personal account with sound advice
Review: I give the book three stars because the author spends too much time on personal narrative about her marriage to a nice husband who understands and is tolerant of Asperger's and her childbearing and -rearing experiences, which are of no interest to the reader looking for detailed information on the disorder. Also, the publisher neglected to include an index, a serious flaw. However, Appendix 1 with information for parents, teachers, employers, and others makes up for the books faults. Tony Attwood's book, "Asperger Syndrome, a Guide for Parents and Professionals" contains more objective and helpful material, even though most of it applies to children.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Book
Review: I had the Pleasure of Hearing Liane Holliday Willey in person. (April 5 2000) In Jackson Hole Wyoming. I enjoyed hearing her story about her life with Aspergers Syndrome. and to know her daughter has Autism as well. I was touched by her story. She is a remarkable woman.
Rating:
Summary: Thank Goodness!
Review: I have a son that was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which is a mild form of autism. It has been a challenge to keep him on track, for this syndrome is not a mental retardation, but it affects their social skills and how they react to people. I try to see things through his perspective as much as I can, but this book really helped. Theirs is a different world from ours, but not so different that they can't be very productive members of society. In fact, there is a theory that says the stereotyped 'nutty professors', brilliant people that slave away alone in laboratories and universities might have been people afflicted with this syndrome. This book does give valuable insight on the thoughts and mind workings of these unique people. If there is someone in your life with Asperger's, I urge you to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Glimpse Into Their World
Review: I have a son that was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which is a mild form of autism. It has been a challenge to keep him on track, for this syndrome is not a mental retardation, but it affects their social skills and how they react to people. I try to see things through his perspective as much as I can, but this book really helped. Theirs is a different world from ours, but not so different that they can't be very productive members of society. In fact, there is a theory that says the stereotyped 'nutty professors', brilliant people that slave away alone in laboratories and universities might have been people afflicted with this syndrome. This book does give valuable insight on the thoughts and mind workings of these unique people. If there is someone in your life with Asperger's, I urge you to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: This book is for real!
Review: I have never written a review before, but I feel compelled to write one for _Pretending to be Normal_ by Dr. Liane Holliday Willey. I am writing to correct some misinformation other reviewers have suggested as fact. Contrary to what another reviewer said, Dr. Willey did not write that her daughter was diagnosed in infancy. She was in the first grade when she received her AS diagnaosis from Kansas University's Child Development Lab. Further, while it is true most people with an AS diagnosis are male, the top researchers feel this is so because females fly under the wire. Read Tony Attwood's article called, "Discovering Aspie" for more info. on the male/female debate. Lastly, it is true that most people with AS perform better in math when compared to language, but this is not true of everyone. In fact, females with AS are often quite good in language skills and many researchers suggest some of our best actors and writers are indeed, people with AS. I find it terribly disheartning to read so much misinformation. I hope my words set the record somewhat straighter. Sue, PhD in cognitive psychology
Rating:
Summary: One additional thought...
Review: I posted a review here for this book on April 6, which was essentially highly laudatory. I just want to make a couple of very brief additional comments... I recommended track and field as a sport, if young people who have this believe themselves to be in circumstances that leave them no alternative but to participate in sports. I'd just like to point out that there's something about the constant driving yourself, the constant lunging forward in particular, that in certain respects can constitute a profound violation of the basically still, trancelike state that the authors of this book describe so perceptively. I just want to add that brief caveat -- track is still a good sport for people with Aspergers, because you need zero coordination, but make sure you don't let the constant pushing yourself forward totally abnegate your ability to trance out... Personally, I experienced this conflict as a war between my ability to relax into the BACK of my mind, and the necessity of taking all that energy and putting it physically in the FRONT of my mind, or face, and sort of clench it there.. something like that. It's hard to explain, this is just a vague feeling I'm talking about here, but I thought it could be worth sharing. Just be careful, and if possible, let yourself take the energy that the demands of Youth drive you to put into physical activity, and instead, put that energy into scientific pursuits, like you know you want to do anyway. That's the way to make the world a better place.... just my two cents worth. Once again, this book is a truly stellar achievement. Pick up a copy, and share it with your boss, friends, family, etc.
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