AHA Past Speakers/Authors – Asperger Syndrome & High Functioning Autism Association

AHA Past Speakers/Authors

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	Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior Temple Grandin, Catherine Johnson Amazon.com Price: $10.20 Temple Grandin, an animal behavior expert whose specialty is the design of humane slaughter systems, has autism; in her work with animals she has noticed similarities between typical thought patterns and those of autistics. Her, and Catherine Johnson’s (author of Shadow Syndromes), descriptions of both attempt to dispel myths and increase understanding.
	Asperger’s From the Inside Out: A Supportive and Practical Guide for Anyone with Asperger’s Syndrome Michael John Carley, Ed.D, Peter Gerhardt Amazon.com Price: $10.17 Michael John Carley was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at thirty-six, when his young son received the same diagnosis. He is now the Executive Director of GRASP, the world’s largest Asperger’s organization. This fascinating book reveals his personal experience with the confusion and trauma associated with this condition, and offers insights into living an independent and productive life.
	Asperger’s on the Job: Must-have Advice for People with Asperger’s or High Functioning Autism, and their Employers, Educators, and Advocates Rudy Simone, Temple Grandin (Foreword) Amazon.com Price: $12.48 Up to 85% of the Asperger’s population are without full-time employment, though many have above-average intelligence. Rudy Simone, an adult with Asperger’s Syndrome and an accomplished author, consultant, and musician, created this insightful resource to help employers, educators, and therapists accommodate this growing population, and to help people with Asperger’s find and keep gainful employment. Rudy’s candid advice is based on her personal experiences and the experiences of over 50 adults with Asperger’s from all over the world, in addition to their employers and numerous experts in the field. Detailed lists of “what the employee can do” and “to employers and advocates” provide balanced guidelines for success, while Rudy’s “Interview Tips” and “Personal Job Map” tools will help Aspergians, young or old, find their employment niche. There is more to a job than what the tasks are. From social blunders, to sensory issues, to bullying by coworkers, Simone presents solutions to difficult challenges. Readers will be enriched, enlightened, and ready to work—together! – Description from Amazon.com
	Aspergirls: Empowering Females With Asperger Syndrome Rudy Simone Amazon.com Price: $12.89 Girls with Asperger’s Syndrome are less frequently diagnosed than boys, and even once symptoms have been recognised, help is often not readily available. The image of coping well presented by AS females of any age can often mask difficulties, deficits, challenges, and loneliness. This is a must-have handbook written by an Aspergirl for Aspergirls, young and old. Rudy Simone guides you through every aspect of both personal and professional life, from early recollections of blame, guilt, and savant skills, to friendships, romance and marriage. Employment, career, rituals and routines are also covered, along with depression, meltdowns and being misunderstood. Including the reflections of over thirty-five women diagnosed as on the spectrum, as well as some partners and parents, Rudy identifies recurring struggles and areas where Aspergirls need validation, information and advice. As they recount their stories, anecdotes, and wisdom, she highlights how differences between males and females on the spectrum are mostly a matter of perception, rejecting negative views of Aspergirls and empowering them to lead happy and fulfilled lives. This book will be essential reading for females of any age diagnosed with AS, and those who think they might be on the spectrum. It will also be of interest to partners and loved ones of Aspergirls, and anybody interested either professionally or academically in Asperger’s Syndrome. – Description from Amazon.com
	Understanding Autism For Dummies Stephen Shore, Ed. D., Linda G. Rastelli, Temple Grandin (Foreword) Amazon.com Price: $13.62 Bringing unusual clarity to some of the most confusing issues surrounding autism and its treatment, Stephen Shore and Linda Rastelli team up to bring you Understanding Autism for Dummies as part of the critically acclaimed “for Dummies” series. This popular and accessible book will help you find answers to questions from “what is sensory overload” to choosing the best approaches to help the person you care for on the autism spectrum. Additional topics include practical advice on coping with daily challenges in education, family life and transitioning to adulthood as well as promoting success for all people on the autism spectrum by using their strengths.
	The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome (Softcover Edition) Tony Attwood Amazon.com Price: $ 16.47 Grounded in research from close to 30 years of direct experience, yet very accessible, Dr. Attwood bring understanding of Asperger Syndrome to new heights. Peppered with personal accounts and clear explanations… this book is a “must-have” for everyone, including those with Asperger Syndrome. — Stephen Shore, AHA Advisory Board member and author of Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome.
	Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adult Asperger Syndrome (Guides to Individualized Evidence-Based Treatment) Valerie Gaus, Ph.D. Amazon.com Price: $31.71 An invaluable resource for therapists, this lucidly written book provides research-based strategies for addressing the core problems of Asperger syndrome (AS) and helping clients manage frequently encountered comorbidities, such as anxiety disorders and depression. Detailed case examples illustrate the complexities of AS and the challenges it presents in daily life, relationships, and the workplace. The author presents a cogent rationale for cognitive-behavioral intervention and offers clear guidelines for conducting assessments and designing and implementing individualized treatment plans. Throughout, the emphasis is on helping people with AS decrease distress while preserving and building on their unique strengths. Special features include a case formulation worksheet and other helpful reproducibles. — Description from amazon.com
	The Fool – Part I: Orsath the Singer Rudy Simone Amazon.com Price: $15.00 Orsath is a young man who doesn’t fit in to his world and who spends his whole life trying to find out who he is and where he belongs. It takes many years, and many magical adventures to do so. This book (Orsath the Singer) is part one of three. 155 pages of adventure, magic, music and musings from a hero that is no Harry Potter. Orsath longs to leave his small-minded village, see the world and become a famous singer like his hero, Coist Montpelier, but, except for the steadfast companionship of his Dog, he often finds himself alone and out of his league. He winds up in the company of many strange characters, some who have his best interest at heart and some who do not: the mad Magician Tumulty Fix, the fortune-telling Hassania who also happens to be a wyvern, Cirrus, the mover of souls, Sulahain, a beautiful but spoiled girl who takes Orsath across the world in her airship, the herufan who live in a world where everything is upside down (especially their heads), and many more. The Fool is loosely based on the archetypes of the tarot, but this is a classic YA Fantasy in every sense. Illustrated by the author (and her daughter), it draws on all her early influences: CS Lewis, Tolkien, Monty Python (particularly Terry Jones), Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, Led Zeppelin and a life-long fascination with the beautiful images of the many thousands of tarot decks in existence.– Amazon.com review
	Girls Growing Up on the Autism Spectrum: What Parents and Professionals Should Know About the Pre-teen and Teenage Years Shana Nichols, Gina Marie Moravchik, and Samara Pulver Tetenbaum Amazon.com Price: $13.57 Girls Growing Up on the Autism Spectrum is a clearly written presentation of the significant challenges faced by girls as they make the transition to adolescence and adulthood. The authors have a rich clinical experience and provide detailed practical action plans that families can use and emphasize a flexible problem solving approach.
	Inside Out: What Makes the Person with Social-Cognitive Deficits Tick? Michelle Garcia Winner This book is available through Dr. Winner’s site http://www.socialthinking.com and from AAPC. Children and young people with diagnoses such as high-functioning autism, Asperger syndrome, PDD-NOS or non-verbal learning disabilities often have difficulty with “social cognition.” This manual offers teaching techniques to help students identify and overcome their weaknesses.
	The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man’s Quest to Be a Better Husband David Finch Amazon.com Price: $15.90 At some point in nearly every marriage, a wife finds herself asking, What the @#!% is wrong with my husband?! In David Finch’s case, this turns out to be an apt question. Five years after he married Kristen, the love of his life, they learn that he has Asperger syndrome. The diagnosis explains David’s ever-growing list of quirks and compulsions, his lifelong propensity to quack and otherwise melt down in social exchanges, and his clinical-strength inflexibility. But it doesn’t make him any easier to live with. Determined to change, David sets out to understand Asperger syndrome and learn to be a better husband— no easy task for a guy whose inability to express himself rivals his two-year-old daughter’s, who thinks his responsibility for laundry extends no further than throwing things in (or at) the hamper, and whose autism-spectrum condition makes seeing his wife’s point of view a near impossibility. Nevertheless, David devotes himself to improving his marriage with an endearing yet hilarious zeal that involves excessive note-taking, performance reviews, and most of all, the Journal of Best Practices: a collection of hundreds of maxims and hard-won epiphanies that result from self-reflection both comic and painful. They include “Don’t change the radio station when she’s singing along,” “Apologies do not count when you shout them,” and “Be her friend, first and always.” Guided by the Journal of Best Practices, David transforms himself over the course of two years from the world’s most trying husband to the husband who tries the hardest, the husband he’d always meant to be. — Description from Amazon.com
	Life After High School: A Guide for Students With Disabilities and Their Families Susan Yellin , Christina Cacioppo Bertsch Amazon.com Price: $14.56 Graduating high school and moving on to further education or the workplace brings with it a whole new set of challenges, and this is especially true for students with disabilities. This useful book provides a complete overview of the issues such students and their families will need to consider, and outlines the key skills they will need in order to succeed once they get there. The authors describe the legal landscape as it applies to students with disabilities in the USA, and how to obtain the proper disability documentation to ensure that the student receives the right support and accommodations in college. Focussing specifically on the issues that affect students with disabilities, they offer advice on everything from dealing with college entrance exams and the college application process, to selecting the right college, visiting the campus, and achieving medical and financial independence away from home. A list of further resources guides students and their families towards additional sources of information and support, and stories of students with disabilities who have made the transition from high school to further education or the workplace are included throughout. This accessible and thoroughly readable book offers help and support to students with disabilities of all kinds, and their families, both before and during the transition to life after high school. — Description from Amazon.com
	Living Well on the Spectrum: How to Use Your Strengths to Meet the Challenges of Asperger Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism Valerie Gaus, PhD Stephen Shore, EdD (foreword) Amazon.com Price: $14.93 Navigating the “neurotypical” world with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism (AS/HFA) can be extremely stressful. But by understanding the specific ways your brain works differently–and how to tap into your personal strengths–you can greatly enhance your well-being. In this wise and practical book, experienced therapist Valerie L. Gaus helps you identify goals that will make your life better and take concrete steps to achieve them. Grounded in psychological science, the techniques in this book help you: Learn the unspoken rules of social situations. Improve your communication skills. Get organized at home and at work. Manage anxiety and depression. Strengthen your relationships with family and friends. Live more successfully on your own or with others. A wealth of stories, questionnaires, worksheets, and concrete examples help you find personalized solutions to problems you are likely to encounter. Finally, a compassionate, knowledgeable, positive guide to living well on the spectrum. – Amazon.com description
	Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger’s Love Story (Paperback) Jerry Newport & Mary Meinel Newport Amazon.com Price: $11.70 Jerry Newport and Mary Meinel Newport’s Mozart and the Whale is an honest and engrossing account of two adults on the spectrum who meet, fall in love, and don’t necessarily live happily ever after. Jerry Newport is on AHA’s advisory board and has always been a tremendous resource and support to many families and individuals on the spectrum. This affecting memoir manages to be both bluntly candid and romantic: while the Newports clearly love each other, love is not at first enough for two such complex people. One of the most valuable contributions this book makes is its demonstration of the social and emotional learning that can go on well into adulthood, learning that makes their second try at marriage more successful.
	Social Literacy: A Social Skills Seminars for Young Adults with ASDs, NLDs, and Social Anxiety (With CDROM) Dr. Mary Riggs Cohen Amazon.com Price: $37.96 All adults need strong social skills to find and keep a job, establish relationships, and participate fully in adult life—but building these skills can be a special challenge for people with autism, Asperger syndrome, nonverbal learning disorder, social anxiety, and other disorders that affect social learning. The essential supports are outlined through instruction and coaching in this field-tested curriculum for high-functioning young adults and adults. Based on the highly acclaimed Social Skills Seminar at the University of Pennsylvania, this engaging, hands-on curriculum by Dr. Mary Riggs Cohen is an invaluable addition to college counseling programs, vocational groups, and to any other program helping people with social learning disorders. It is the first program of its kind to target the social learning needs of young adults and adults.
	Succeeding with Autism: Hear My Voice Judith H. Cohen Amazon.com Price: $25.95 Among a growing literature of first person books about the life experiences of individuals on the Autism spectrum, this account stands out because of the additional perspectives of so many significant people and the comparison of these perspectives on the same events and times. -Lynda Geller, Ph.D.
	Thinking About You, Thinking About Me Michelle Garcia Winner Amazon.com Price: $51.18 This book is once again available through Amazon.com, and always through Dr. Winner’s site http://www.socialthinking.com and from AAPC Children and young people with diagnoses such as high-functioning autism, Asperger syndrome, PDD-NOS or non-verbal learning disabilities often have difficulty with “social cognition.” This manual offers teaching techniques to help students identify and overcome their weaknesses.
	Thorn in My Pocket: Temple Grandin’s Mother Tells the Family Story Eustacia Cutler Amazon.com Price: $16.47 The mother of one of the most inspiring and vocal members of our community writes about growing up with Temple Grandin.
	22 Things a Woman Must Know: If She Loves a Man With Asperger’s Syndrome Rudy Simone Amazon.com Price: $10.85 Although having Asperger Syndrome (AS) can make romantic relations difficult, having a fulfilling relationship with an Asperger man is certainly not impossible. A woman in love with a man with AS may interpret his difficulties with communication and socialization as a lack of interest in the relationship. He may vacillate between being gentle and caring to seeming cold and distant. She may find his behaviour hard to understand, resulting in feelings of loneliness, isolation, and confusion. This book shows how to overcome these difficulties and maintain a loving relationship with an AS partner. From an unwillingness to show affection in public or even sleep in the same bed to problems holding down a job, this book looks at 22 common traits that women may discover when they are dating, living with or married to a man with Asperger’s Syndrome. Rudy Simone explores the complications of Asperger’s relationships with honesty and understanding, drawing on research and personal experience to inform and advise women with AS partners. She offers helpful tips for improving the relationship and finding fulfilment both individually and as a couple. This book will help women to understand the male Asperger’s mind and, equally, it can help men with AS to see things from their partner’s perspective. It will also be of interest to counsellors working with couples where one partner has Asperger’s Syndrome.

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