<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Often misses the real point, simplifies
Review: As an educator of children, adolescents and adults with autism for over 20 years, I read with dismay Dr. Siegel's simplification of many behaviors exhibited by people with autism. She often makes statements as though they are fact, such as the "why" of many behaviors. At first, it seemed to be an occasional error, but after reading and reading, the book clearly makes arrogant statements about children, parents and education of those with autism which are just plain wrong or strongly misleads with assumptions, rather than factual knowledge. It dismays me to think that a parent, particularly a parent of a young child with autism, would take these statements as absolute fact, simply because they are written by a Dr. Too often, these highly vulnerable parents come away either with false hope, or with utter dispair about what they have just read in her book.
Rating:
Summary: Often misses the real point, simplifies
Review: Having been told that this was an improvement over the author's previous book, I had high hopes for it. Sometimes it was: It focuses less on the differences between different autistic diagnoses, and views autism as a collection of learning disabilities, each of which can happen different amounts in different people. Siegel acknowledges that autistic people can learn and grow, which is an improvement over the pessimism of her previous book. The author has done direct and indirect research on autistic people. As in the previous book, detail is a strong point, the language advanced and technical. It attempts to consolidate a large amount of data into a form that parents and professionals can learn from, both in understanding the way autistic people work and in how to teach us. The catch: While she describes our behavior in exquisite detail, the author frequently misses the mark on the internal. Often terribly. It is not because she is not autistic -- many neurotypical people can form accurate models of autistic people, if they look at all the data available. The problem is that she does not look at all the data. The biggest gap in the research for this book, as shown in the references, is in finding the reasons autistic people say we do certain things. Most of the reasons she gives for autistic people's actions look like guesswork. These may be true for some people, but looking at what autistics write would have shown her there were more. Given the amount of literature by autistic people these days, there is no excuse for ignoring it. Throughout the book, behavior that may have purpose is described as unnecessary. The author writes about echolalia, rigid routines, mental downtime, and stereotypic behavior (like rocking or flapping) as if they are purposeless, unnecessary, and harmless to eliminate. Repeating the same words can aid auditory processing -- I used to do it as a child until I either understood words or memorized them to understand later. Stereotypies often have sensory benefits, and can help autistic people to learn and attend to other stimuli. When it is extinguished, many parents and autistics alike have described overload, pain, aggression, and self-injury. Routines, within reason, can provide order to the environment and reduce the amount of stimuli that must be attended to, allowing an autistic person to function better. Mental downtime gives us time to process information. When professionals prevented me from getting it I could not function. This is all written about by both autistic people and parents. Yet the author often states the exact opposite, and expresses confusion about why parents worry that quelling these things could harm a child. Given how many of us have said precisely why these things are useful to many of us, and precisely why indiscriminately removing them can harm us, I have to wonder how much she is paying attention and how much is guessing. The author seems, in all of these examples, to be coming at autism as if these things are more compulsive in nature than useful. While some autistic people have obsessions and compulsions that control us, many have reasons for doing these things. A good deal of this book makes us sound as if we are strange moving objects that do things for no reason and need to be shaped into moving objects that do less unusual things for reasons that non-autistic people can understand. This is not who or what we are. Another disturbing idea here is that a fairly large number of autistic people can grow up to be 'normalized', and that diagnosing these people with autism would be inaccurate. This is based on the ability to pass for non-autistic and function, and has little to do with the inside of the person. I have known autistic people who fit into this category -- until they had a breakdown, attempted suicide, or quit trying to function, all from the strain and overload of maintaining unnatural behavior. That is what the future holds for many of the autistic people that Siegel is claiming only have 'minor' problems and are not autistic. She is, in doing this and in classifying autistic people according to linear spectra like functioning level, IQ, and developmental age (I don't seem to fit -- I have an average-to-high IQ and poor everyday functioning), looking at the surface. Autism is not a surface condition. The author seems unable to get much below our surface behavior without misinterpreting what lies beneath. Perhaps if she read things by more than just one or two autistic people, and truly paid attention, she would understand more. Similar errors occur throughout the book, beyond the above examples, indistinguishable on the surface from the accurate parts. While it claims to offer ways to individualize things for each person, it mainly uses a lot of detailed descriptions without detailed explanations. Descriptions fit my and others' behavior well while misinterpreting or oversimplifying the purpose. Blanket assumptions about behavior are made when there could be dozens of reasons and responses (which would be a better use for the author's talent for detail). It scares me that a parent could pick this book up, see the wealth of detail and study that has gone into it, and figure that the conclusions of the author must be sound for their own child. I would not want to have been taught based on the principles in this book. When many of these ideas were applied to me, they hindered my learning rather than helping it. This book looks a whole lot more impressive and substantial than it really is. While it is sometimes accurate, I would not expect parents of newly-diagnosed children to be able to sift the accurate and useful from the inaccurate and harmful. If the author had been scientific enough to say "We don't know why they do this" instead of guessing, this book could have been much better.
Rating: 
Summary: Hinders learning -- detailed data, skewed interpretations
Review: Having been told that this was an improvement over the author's previous book, I had high hopes for it. Sometimes it was: It focuses less on the differences between different autistic diagnoses, and views autism as a collection of learning disabilities, each of which can happen different amounts in different people. Siegel acknowledges that autistic people can learn and grow, which is an improvement over the pessimism of her previous book. The author has done direct and indirect research on autistic people. As in the previous book, detail is a strong point, the language advanced and technical. It attempts to consolidate a large amount of data into a form that parents and professionals can learn from, both in understanding the way autistic people work and in how to teach us. The catch: While she describes our behavior in exquisite detail, the author frequently misses the mark on the internal. Often terribly. It is not because she is not autistic -- many neurotypical people can form accurate models of autistic people, if they look at all the data available. The problem is that she does not look at all the data. The biggest gap in the research for this book, as shown in the references, is in finding the reasons autistic people say we do certain things. Most of the reasons she gives for autistic people's actions look like guesswork. These may be true for some people, but looking at what autistics write would have shown her there were more. Given the amount of literature by autistic people these days, there is no excuse for ignoring it. Throughout the book, behavior that may have purpose is described as unnecessary. The author writes about echolalia, rigid routines, mental downtime, and stereotypic behavior (like rocking or flapping) as if they are purposeless, unnecessary, and harmless to eliminate. Repeating the same words can aid auditory processing -- I used to do it as a child until I either understood words or memorized them to understand later. Stereotypies often have sensory benefits, and can help autistic people to learn and attend to other stimuli. When it is extinguished, many parents and autistics alike have described overload, pain, aggression, and self-injury. Routines, within reason, can provide order to the environment and reduce the amount of stimuli that must be attended to, allowing an autistic person to function better. Mental downtime gives us time to process information. When professionals prevented me from getting it I could not function. This is all written about by both autistic people and parents. Yet the author often states the exact opposite, and expresses confusion about why parents worry that quelling these things could harm a child. Given how many of us have said precisely why these things are useful to many of us, and precisely why indiscriminately removing them can harm us, I have to wonder how much she is paying attention and how much is guessing. The author seems, in all of these examples, to be coming at autism as if these things are more compulsive in nature than useful. While some autistic people have obsessions and compulsions that control us, many have reasons for doing these things. A good deal of this book makes us sound as if we are strange moving objects that do things for no reason and need to be shaped into moving objects that do less unusual things for reasons that non-autistic people can understand. This is not who or what we are. Another disturbing idea here is that a fairly large number of autistic people can grow up to be 'normalized', and that diagnosing these people with autism would be inaccurate. This is based on the ability to pass for non-autistic and function, and has little to do with the inside of the person. I have known autistic people who fit into this category -- until they had a breakdown, attempted suicide, or quit trying to function, all from the strain and overload of maintaining unnatural behavior. That is what the future holds for many of the autistic people that Siegel is claiming only have 'minor' problems and are not autistic. She is, in doing this and in classifying autistic people according to linear spectra like functioning level, IQ, and developmental age (I don't seem to fit -- I have an average-to-high IQ and poor everyday functioning), looking at the surface. Autism is not a surface condition. The author seems unable to get much below our surface behavior without misinterpreting what lies beneath. Perhaps if she read things by more than just one or two autistic people, and truly paid attention, she would understand more. Similar errors occur throughout the book, beyond the above examples, indistinguishable on the surface from the accurate parts. While it claims to offer ways to individualize things for each person, it mainly uses a lot of detailed descriptions without detailed explanations. Descriptions fit my and others' behavior well while misinterpreting or oversimplifying the purpose. Blanket assumptions about behavior are made when there could be dozens of reasons and responses (which would be a better use for the author's talent for detail). It scares me that a parent could pick this book up, see the wealth of detail and study that has gone into it, and figure that the conclusions of the author must be sound for their own child. I would not want to have been taught based on the principles in this book. When many of these ideas were applied to me, they hindered my learning rather than helping it. This book looks a whole lot more impressive and substantial than it really is. While it is sometimes accurate, I would not expect parents of newly-diagnosed children to be able to sift the accurate and useful from the inaccurate and harmful. If the author had been scientific enough to say "We don't know why they do this" instead of guessing, this book could have been much better.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy 2 copies -- One for You and One for your Child's Teacher
Review: I am the parent of an AS child, and I can only say "At last, a book that demystifies the 'puzzle' of autistic learning."
"How can a child who seems so bright and verbal not understand such basic things as how to line up for lunch or not to invade other people's personal space?" Over the past few years, I must have answered some variant of that question over one hundred times as my child's teachers, coaches, camp counselors, etc. tried to come to terms with the seemingly random pattern of strengths and disabilities presented by my child. This book explains the neurobiology of the brain which CAUSES some areas to be underdeveloped and others overdeveloped, and explains why someone who gets the same ANSWER to the problem, but uses a different mechanism to get there, may have trouble understanding and adapting to other people's way of doing business. It helps your teachers to understand why your child might be very good at some things and weak in others and how they can best go about helping your child.
Be warned, some of her statements ARE controversial -- including her dismissal of the vaccine argument and the GFCF diet. You might not agree with her. But don't let that keep you from reading this book and taking something away from it. Just bear in mind that she has her own viewpoint which is woven throughout the book.
Particular highlights of this book for me were:
-Her discussion of the CAUSES and heritability of autism, and the different ways it may be presented in different generations of the same family (the spectrum). She makes some statements about the probability of having additional autistic children in your own family that she does not fully support, but she notes that these are just her own theories.
-Her discussion of the notion of an 'autistic culture' and comparisons with the 'deaf culture', and the pro's and con's of nurturing such a culture.
-Her case study of appropriate and inappropriate ways of mainstreaming and using an aide to help your child
This is the book I want my school to own, and my child's teacher to read. I only wish I had had this book about 3 years ago, when we had no diagnosis and were struggling to understand my child. It explains so much about the puzzling picture which these kids can present!
Rating:
Summary: A Gem!
Review: I become so overwhelmed with joy when I come across a book that is practical, informative and inspiring! Ms. Siegel's years of experience working with individuals with autistic spectrum disorders is so wonderfully conveyed in this book. Ms. Siegel very thoroughly and intelligently discusses (without using unnecessary psychological jargon) the varying degrees of abilities characteristic of ASDs & recommends appropriate treatment plans.
As the mother of a two-year-old son recently diagnosed with autism, I urge all professionals and families who have personal contact with individuls with ASDs to read this book; it is truly insightful.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book from Byrna Siegel
Review: This book packs quite a punch. Being the parent of a child with autism I've read many books on treatment approaches but this one was undoubtedly the best one I've seen to date. Byrna does a great job of informing parents without using intimidating verbage. I would recommend this book to any parent or professional working with a child who has autism.
Rating:
Summary: A great resource
Review: This is an exceptional resource for anyone who is interested in helping children with autism. There is a wealth of information in this 498 page book - based on research and professional experience.
Bryna Siegel begins with a discussion of the definition of autism and its impacts on children, including development and strengths and weaknesses. By understanding how autism works and effects children, their supporters can find ways to teach them that are effective. The second major section focuses on social and communication problems that face autistic children. It explains how and why it affects their learning and functioning in society. The last third of the book presents various treatment options - descriptions and strengths and weaknesses.
I highly recommend this book. It is a remarkable resource for anyone who really wants to delve into the world of autism.
<< 1 >>
|
