Autism Treatment Guide, 2nd Edition

Rating:
Summary: Autism Treatment Guide is a handy book for new families
Review: After my oldest son was diagnosed in the spring of 1998 I had the opportunity of attending a lecture at a community college where the guest speaker was the author of Autism Treatment Guide, Elizabeth Gerlach. I purchased this book at the event for roughly ten dollars. It consists of one hundred thirty-one pages broken into sixteen chapters as well as an index and appendix.

Autism Treatment Guide has an outline on Autism Defined and Diagnosis that discusses the tools used to observe the child and make the diagnosis. These include the CHAT (Checklist for Autism in Toddlers), Form E-2 from ARI (Autism Research Institute) and the DSM-IV, which is the American Psychiatric Association's Fourth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

The CARS (Childhood Autism Rating Scale) is not mentioned, which is what I used when diagnosing my second son while observing behaviors not presented by the older son already diagnosed. As stated in Autism Treatment Guide, " Autism is treatable. Autism is behaviorally defined." This section gives an overview of PDD and PDD-NOS. This simply means Pervasive Development Disorder - Not otherwise specified. There are children that fall into this category and it depends on the score on the particular tests to see where the child fits in the spectrum.

The resources offer a wide range of where to obtain these services and therapies. There is no personal experience offered in way of what the author has achieved with her own son within these treatments. In my opinion this is a good resource book to start with but certainly there are other aspects to these treatments and discussing with other parents before attempting any of these is the right step to make.

The resources are national and might not be available in your area and there is no section that mentions how to get these funded and what options to choose and how to get second opinions, etc. There are theories explored that mention some researchers but no idea of what organizations found this data.

Rating:
Summary: OK, It's Hard. This Award Winning Book Makes it Easier
Review: I cannot get over the fact that one woman took it upon herself to gather together in this small, yet totally thorough guide, all the treatments concerning autism available to us here in the United States. This is a remarkable feat.

This Guide is an invaluable asset and you are behooved to own it, if you have an autistic child or adult in your life. It should be in the library of every single person who has any sort of connection to autism, be it professional, or familial. It will show you all the options we can turn to in the most easily understandable manner. It is not a judgemental tract. That is not the intention. It is a source of information and explanations.

So do not expect the author to tell you what to do with your child or relative with autism. DO expect the author to present you with the vast array of treatments available in a concise, clear manner.

I know, as a mother of two autistic children, that out there, this determined woman did all the legwork for all of us, did it well, updated it just this year, and I am grateful. You can throw this in your pocketbook for school meetings, you can read it when your child has first been diagnosed and you know nothing, or you can use it to look up any sort of therapy you might have heard a bit about from someone in passing. It's all in here. AMAZING, EXTRAORDINARY BOOK. A MUST HAVE!!! Thank you, Elizabeth Gerlach.

Rating:
Summary: Good for someone who has no knowledge about Autism
Review: I was somewhat disappointed with this book.It is a reference book just explaining what some of the treatments are that are available.

Rating:
Summary: This is an invaluable book concerning autism treatments
Review: Where do you start when you need help gathering information on the many autism treatments available? Right here, with this guide. No treatment is overlooked, and everything is laid out in an easily understood, non-judgemental way. I have referred to this book many times. It has always been extremely helpful and easy to understand. An invaluable guide!