Rating: 
Summary: Crying for toasted snow
Review: "The discontented child cries for toasted snow" goes the old arab proverb. How we yearn for things we cannot have. Persons with autistic spectrum disorders and those who work with them, want to give false hope. They want to lead people to believe that they or their offspring can grow up to be a nobel prize winner or president.
As a person with mild autism I really resent this book and the false hope it gives. There is no evidence that Einstein's late talking was a result of autism. There is no evidence to indicate that Einstein's speech developed normally and then he stopped talking the way an autistic person does. Also, there is evidence that Einstein's alleged late talking was apocrophyl as he is reported at age two, upon the birth of his baby sister, thinking it is a toy, to ask "where are the wheels?" Einstein had many friends Also he was married twice and had other relationships with women. This would contradict Einstein having autistic traits. Autopsies of Einstein's brain are also inconsistent with those of autistic persons. Einstein's brain weighed substantially less than a normal brain, while weight and volume of post-mortem autistic brains are higher than average. This disputes the rather superficial information that Ledgin gives about Einstein's brain.
Jefferson's quirks can be explained just as easily by bereavement as they can be by alleged asperger's. You have to remmeber that Jefferson's father died when he was young and his wife died and this could have caused profound psychological problems for Jefferson, explaining his eccentricities and sensitivities to noise. It was the economic panic of 1819 that caused jefferson to go broke, not asperger's. There is no reason any businessman would not keep records of his business.
Also, fires destroyed records of Jefferson's childhood making a retrospective diagnosis of asperger's virtually impossible.
The book's writing is often awkward and hard to follow in the beginning chapters, consistent with Future Horizon's track record of neglecting to edit their manuscripts properly.Not only is this book giving people false hope, as a person with autism, I fear that this book coud be used by ABA practitioners, special educators, and others who have a vested interest in making money from autism treatments to claim that any given person with autism is capabable of being a Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, etc. My autism has caused me great grief. I feel this book does far more harm than good.
Rating: 
Summary: Rebuttal to last review...
Review: I'm very sorry that the autistic person who wrote the last review feels this book is misleading. His information about Einstein's brain is, first of all, erronious. To quote the BBC: "Scientists at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada compared the shape and size Einstein's brain with those of 35 men and 56 women with average intelligence.
They think their findings may well explain his genius for mathematical and spatial thinking.
In general, Einstein's brain was the same as all the others except in one particular area - the region responsible for mathematical thought and the ability to think in terms of space and movement. Extensive development of this region meant that Einstein's brain was 15% wider than the other brains studied.
Uniquely, Einstein's brain also lacked a groove that normally runs through part of this area. The researchers suggest that its absence may have allowed the neurons to communicate much more easily."
Anyone who has read a thorough account of Einstein's childhood and later life can attest that the evidence is overwhelming that this man was indeed autistic. Not all autistic children start out talking and then stop, as the reviewer stated. That is only true in what is known as "Regressive autism" or "Autism syndrome", not classical autism as defined by Kanner in the 1940's. The fact that Einstein had friends is a testament to his brilliance and contributions to science -- not to a lack of autism. The truth is that Einstein had a miserable, friendless childhood; was considered extremely odd by his peers, and, at first, to be "an imbecile" by teachers.
People with high-functioning autism and Asperger's can and do get married all the time. I am married to a man with (previously undiagnosed) Asperger's. He is an engineer. One of my best friends is also married to a man with Asperger's. He is a CPA. My six-year-old son is high-functioning autistic, and though it has taken a great deal of time and effort, he is a brilliant child who is blossoming into a wonderful, lively little boy who is finally starting to make friends. Donna Williams is a very creative and successful autistic person who is married.
I can think of several other contemporary examples of successful autistic people. Temple Grandin, Raun Kaufman, Stephen Shore, and twins Stephen and Phillip Morgan come to mind.
I don't discount the pain that people with HFA and Asperger's Syndrome experience. In fact, as the mother of an autistic child, I greatly sympathize with and respect it. Every one of those people I listed experienced it. But there is the issue of positive attitude and perseverance. Those people had it. Norm Ledgin's book is attempting to help autistic people with that. If you don't want to listen, fine, but please don't impede others who are looking for hope and insight on how to achieve a happy, fulfilling life.
Rating: 
Summary: New perspective for the lonely. Review by Ann Hart Miller
Review: In his book, Asperger's and Self-Esteem, Norm Ledgin offers a new thought toward comfort and hope for those diagnosed with the syndrome. His idea developed as he reviewed the life of his old friend, Thomas Jefferson. Observing the many eccentricities of Jefferson, he realized how like they are to the symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome.
Ledgin has compiled chapters featuring well-known, accomplished people who also express unique personalities. This book brings a new perspective to what is often a very lonely life. Those with Asperger's can read the book and begin exploring areas they had not realized existed for them
Rating:
Summary: Makes an inspiring point. Reviewed by a teacher who cares.
Review: Making the point that someone quirky can still be an achiever, Norm Ledgin has selected 13 famous figures from the 18th through 20th Centuries who had all the earmarks of Asperger's. They succeeded nonetheless. I doubt there's a young person with such a condition out there who will fail to draw comfort and inspiration from this book. As a teacher, I know how tough it is to inspire, but Asperger's and Self-Esteem does that.
Rating:
Summary: As a high functioning Aspie...
Review: This book is very well written and gives a good broad view of Asperger's Syndrome (as opposed to "Classic Autism"). As someone on the Autism Spectrum, knowing that on one side is "Severe Classic Autism" which most people think of when thinking of autism... and on the other end are those like Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, and myself who all have Asperger's Syndrome... shows that the Spectrum is VERY WIDE. I have both a Doctorate of Divinity and a PhD in Psychology. Both are "abstract" and not "scientific" (most "Aspies" tend to be VERY STRONG in the sciences, and of course by definition are VERY DETAIL ORIENTATED). One must clearly differenciate between "Classic Autism" and "Asperger's Syndrome"... those with CA are VERY DIFFERENT than someone with AS...as this book plainly shows, in investigating famous people with the particular form of Autism on the Autism Spectrum known as Asperger's Syndrome. I also recommend Notm Ledgin's "Diagnosing Jefferson" (ISBN: 1-88-5477-60-0), which is also published by Future Horizons... which like this book discusses a famous person with Asperger's Syndrome, but since it is on a single subject, it goes into MUCH MORE DETAIL in showing the very strong Asperger's traits that the second President of the United States of America had. This shows how someone with high functioning Asperger's Syndrome can function, even as the author of the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution of the United States of American... and even as President of the United States. So families with children with Asperger's Syndrome and those with Asperger's Syndrome can find much hope and information in these two books.
Rating:
Summary: Not accurate about Charles Darwin
Review: This book was, as a whole, an excellent source to help Asperger syndrome victims improve their self esteem. My only concern was with the chapter that I have the most knowledge about, the chapter about Charles Darwin. Much is said about "Darwin's secret," implying that he figured out evolution on his own and had health problem as a result of his discovery. First of all, he did not discover evolution but only popularized the idea. Evolution was believed by many many persons before Darwin. ... Furthermore, he accepted the use and disuse theory (Lamarckism) as a major part of his theory, an idea that has now been disproved. He also advocated the pangenesis theory, now also disproved. We still even today face the same problem that Darwin tried to solve, the origin of genetic information. Many theories exist today to try to explain this major problem, none of them are satisfactory. This is why evolution is still so controversial (a fact that the author tries to trivialize). It is a good idea to read both sides before writing a book. I am not very knowledgeable about the other persons profiled so can not comment, but I do know about Asperger's disease and he is on target here.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible detective work
Review: This is a brilliant book. What a marvelous job of forensic biography. Mr Ledgin continues to unravel the mysteries of Asperger's and of some of the people who have it . As a person who has always been considered "different" but who has accomplished a lot, it is marvelous to see that there are others who are "different" yet who have accomplished great things. An extraordinary book
Rating:
Summary: Crying for toasted snow
Review: This is a lively, entertaining and obviously provocative book. Whether you endorse or denounce post mortme diagnoses of AS,one has to admit that soem famous thinkers have had traits consistent with AS. A whole host of thinkers are listed from science, the arts, music and even the theatre. Some of the choices are likely to be more controversial than others, but I won't comment on that. My major concern with such a book is that it is always open to the charge of selectivity. The fact that someone had traits consistent with AS does not allow us to derive the conclusion that they had AS. To be fair to the author, he does make comemnts to this effect in the beginning. The strength of the book is that is in inspirational. You to can succeed if you have AS. The weaknesse is that skirts the argument that you should only conclude AS when the 'AS traits' interfere with a person's abliity to cope. In other words, Asperger syndrome is only a problem when it is a problem. Nevertheless the book gives us plenty of food for thought. I hope that the author will produce another with more forensic detail however.
Rating:
Summary: Lively, entertaining and obviously provocative
Review: This is a lively, entertaining and obviously provocative book. Whether you endorse or denounce post mortme diagnoses of AS,one has to admit that soem famous thinkers have had traits consistent with AS. A whole host of thinkers are listed from science, the arts, music and even the theatre. Some of the choices are likely to be more controversial than others, but I won't comment on that. My major concern with such a book is that it is always open to the charge of selectivity. The fact that someone had traits consistent with AS does not allow us to derive the conclusion that they had AS. To be fair to the author, he does make comemnts to this effect in the beginning. The strength of the book is that is in inspirational. You to can succeed if you have AS. The weaknesse is that skirts the argument that you should only conclude AS when the 'AS traits' interfere with a person's abliity to cope. In other words, Asperger syndrome is only a problem when it is a problem. Nevertheless the book gives us plenty of food for thought. I hope that the author will produce another with more forensic detail however.
Rating:
Summary: Not accurate about Charles Darwin
Review: Utterly fascinating! Certainly explains the "unusual" traits of some very famous people. A must read for relatives of those afflicted with Asperger's Syndrome.
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