Asperger's Syndrome For Dummies, UK Edition E-Book

Georgina Gomez de la Cuesta

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 641

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Asperger's Syndrome For Dummies covers everything that both people living with the condition and their families need to know. From explaining symptoms and getting a diagnosis, through to overcoming bullying in schools and choosing between the therapy and medical treatments available, this is a complete guide to surviving and thriving with the condition.

Asperger's Syndrome For Dummies includes:

Part I: Understanding Asperger's syndrome (AS)
Chapter 1: Introducing Asperger's syndrome
Chapter 2: Discovering the causes of Asperger's syndrome
Chapter 3: Diagnosing Asperger's syndrome

Part II: Living with Asperger's syndrome
Chapter 4: Enjoying Life with Asperger's
Chapter 5: Getting the most out of education and the workplace
Chapter 6: Finding independence and advocating for your rights

Part III: Supporting people with Asperger's syndrome
Chapter 7: Parenting and Asperger's syndrome
Chapter 8: Relating to adults with Asperger's syndrome
Chapter 9: Creating an AS friendly environment

Part IV: Discovering therapies, medication, diet and environments for AS
Chapter 10: Navigating Behavioural Therapies for Asperger's Syndrome
Chapter 11: Understanding medication and diet in Asperger's syndrome

Part V: Part of Tens
Chapter 12: Ten Organisations to go for help and information
Chapter 13: Ten positives about living with Asperger's
Chapter 14: Ten famous people who probably had Asperger's

Leseprobe

Asperger's Syndrome For Dummies®

Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/aspergersuk to view this books’ cheat sheet.

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Avoiding confusion over terminology

Offering a short explanation of the autism-friendly approach in this book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organised

Part I: Understanding Asperger’s Syndrome (AS)

Part II: Living with Asperger’s Syndrome

Part III: Supporting People with Asperger’s Syndrome

Part IV: Discovering Therapies, Medication and Diet

Part V: The Part of Tens

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Understanding Asperger’s Syndrome

Chapter 1: Introducing Asperger’s Syndrome

Describing What Asperger’s Syndrome Is Like

Robert as a young child

Robert at school

Robert as an adult

Recognising the Characteristics of AS

Considering Other Aspects of AS

Sensory issues

Routines

Special interests

Looking into the History of AS

Introducing Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner

Understanding autism as a spectrum

Looking at Where We Are Today

Understanding the changing prevalence of autism

Correcting Misconceptions about AS

Chapter 2: Discovering the Causes of Asperger’s Syndrome

Understanding the Biology of Asperger’s Syndrome

Getting to grips with genetics

Identifying differences in the brain

Hypothesising about the influence of hormones

Examining the issue of vaccinations

Sussing out the Psychology of AS

Theory of mind, empathising and systemising

Weak central coherence

Problems with executive function

Strengths of the psychological theories

Continuing Research into the Causes of Asperger’s Syndrome

Bringing together the genetics, biology and psychology

Looking into what we still don’t know

Chapter 3: Diagnosing Asperger’s Syndrome

Making a Diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome

Social interaction difficulties

Social communication difficulties

Social imagination differences, special interests and routines

Discovering other aspects of AS

Uncovering the Different Types of ASC

Classic autism

Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD)

High-functioning autism

Asperger’s syndrome

Pervasive developmental disorder—not otherwise specified (PDD—NOS)

Atypical autism

Autism and autistic traits

The broader autism phenotype

Other conditions associated with ASCs

Getting a Diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome

Finding out how early a diagnosis can be made

Knowing where to go for a diagnosis

Discovering what to expect from a diagnostic assessment

Understanding what should happen after getting a diagnosis

Looking at the pros and cons of diagnosis

Discussing self-diagnosis

Coming to Terms with a Diagnosis

For parents

For adults

Chapter 4: Discovering Additional Diagnoses in Asperger’s Syndrome

Psychological Conditions Found with AS

Uncovering anxiety disorders

Discovering mood disorders

Attending to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Touching on Tourette’s syndrome and tic disorders

Eating disorders

Sussing out substance misuse

Understanding catatonia

Uncovering Common Misdiagnoses

Conditions diagnosed in children

Conditions diagnosed in adults

Chapter 5: Understanding Asperger’s Syndrome in Women

Diagnosing Women Who May Have Asperger’s Syndrome

Masculinising diagnosis

Recognising AS in women

It’s different for girls (and women)

Taking clear-cut cases

Knowing the signs

Examining the Role of Culture in Behaviour

Playing with the girls

Establishing the social order

Society’s expectations for adult women

Issues for Women on the Spectrum

Gauging girls and teenagers

Addressing adult women

Part II: Living with Asperger’s Syndrome

Chapter 6: Enjoying Life with Asperger’s Syndrome

Understanding Yourself

Managing routine and change

Handling sensory issues

Overcoming anxiety and depression

Getting to know your limits

Finding hobbies you enjoy

Coping with Your Family and Friends

Managing family relationships

Making and keeping friends

Mastering the art of conversation

Sorting out your social skills

Looking at Relationships

Meeting someone special

Knowing about sex and sexuality

Thinking about marriage and long-term relationships

Chapter 7: Getting the Most Out of Education and the Workplace

Going to School, College or University

Settling into school

Coping at college or university

Having a Job

Knowing your rights

Understanding Asperger’s syndrome in the workplace

Having a career

Identifying bullying at work

Dealing with unemployment

Chapter 8: Finding Independence and Advocating for Your Rights

Living Independently

Finding suitable accommodation

Achieving financial independence

Taking up travelling

Supporting your local support group

Having an Identity

Learning about Autism Rights

Defining degrees of awareness and radicalism

Knowing the different autism groups

Getting deeper into autism rights

Sticking up for your rights

Part III: Supporting People with Asperger’s Syndrome

Chapter 9: Parenting Children Who Have Asperger’s Syndrome

Managing the Early Years

Communicating with your child

Managing behaviour

Developing routine and preparing for change

Learning social skills

Sorting out sleep

Getting Support for You

Parenting and stress

Looking out for other family members

Dealing with other people

Chapter 10: Parenting During School, College and Adult Life

Sussing Out School

Finding the right sort of schooling

Fighting for adequate support at school

Bullying and AS

Bullying in different ways

Preventing bullying

Dealing with bullying

Making Transitions

Moving from primary school to secondary school

Leaving secondary school

Going on to college

Figuring out further and higher education

Getting a job

Moving out

Planning for the Future

Chapter 11: Relating to People Who Have Asperger’s Syndrome

Interacting with People Who Have AS

Understanding Problems with Relating to Others in AS

Mentalising

Reading faces and emotions

Being the Sibling or Friend of a Person Who Has AS

Getting along with your sibling

Making friendships work

Having a Partner on the Autism Spectrum

Developing understanding

Showing affection

Being the Partner on the Autism Spectrum

Having a Parent Who Has AS

Coping with the difficulties

Focusing on the positives

Being a carer

Relating at Work

Employing a person who has AS

Being a colleague of a person who has AS

Being a Support Worker for Someone Who Has AS

Communicating

Dealing with anxiety and stress

Personalising support

Chapter 12: Sussing Out Sensory Difficulties

Recognising the Sensory Difficulties that Come with AS

Sensing too much or too little

Looking at poor discrimination

Getting distracted

Distortion

Seeing music and tasting words

Overloading your senses

Taking Problems One Sense at a Time

Teasing out difficulties with touch

Sensing the problems with sound

Looking at light

Smelling and tasting trouble

Knowing where you are — proprioception, balance and motor control

Feeling the heat (and the cold, and the pain)

Exploring Sensory Difficulties in Everyday Environments

Coping with sensory issues at home

Coping with sensory issues at school

Coping with sensory issues in the community

Coping with sensory issues at work

Part IV: Discovering Therapies, Medication and Diet for Asperger’s Syndrome

Chapter 13: Navigating Behavioural Therapies

Knowing What Therapy Can (And Can’t) Do

Looking at Specific AS Programmes

Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention

The Son-Rise Programme

Learning to TEACCH

Early Bird training

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)

Checking Out Other Techniques

Speech and language therapy

Social skills groups

Cognitive behavioural therapy

Computers and other technology

Complementary therapies

Assessing Your Options

Knowing what doesn’t work and what’s potentially harmful

Working out what’s right for you

Chapter 14: Understanding Medication and Medical Procedures

Understanding Medication and Asperger’s Syndrome

Finding out about medications your doctor may prescribe

Sorting out side effects

Introducing the Hormones

Melatonin

Oxytocin

Testosterone

Secretin

Considering Medical Procedures

Electro-convulsive therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Chelation

Increasing immunoglobulin

Assessing the Risks

Chapter 15: Digesting Diet

Knowing When Things Aren’t Right with Your Guts

Investigating irritable bowel syndrome

Surviving restricted diets

Avoiding accidents (of the lavatorial kind!)

Working Out What’s Wrong with Your Diet

The elimination diet

Gluten- and casein-free diets

Discovering Dietary Supplements

Zoning in on zinc

Meditating on melatonin

Befriending friendly bacteria

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 16: Ten (Or So) Sources of Support and Information on Asperger’s Syndrome

National Autistic Society

Autism Helpline and Signpost

Asperger United

NAS campaigns

Lorna Wing Centre

Research Autism

Autism Education Trust

OAASIS

Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Autism Research Centre

Autscape

The Many Organisations Named “ASPIRE”

Impetus ASpire

Autism West Midlands ASpire

Aspire: Asperger’s Syndrome Association of Ireland

Romsey Mill Aspire Programme

Fife Aspire

Asperger Syndrome Partners & Individuals Resources, Encouragement & Support (ASPIRES)

Asperger and ASD UK Online Forum

Aspie Village

Asperger’s Syndrome Foundation

Aspies For Freedom

Chapter 17: Ten Positives about Living with Asperger’s Syndrome

You See Details that Other People Miss

People Always Want You to Join their Quiz Team

You May Have an Exceptionally Good Memory

You Are Trustworthy

You Are Loyal

You Are an Individual and Don’t Succumb to Peer Pressure

You Can Live Outside Social Norms

You Are Creative

You May Have a Steely Determination

You May Feel Stupid

Chapter 18: Ten Famous People (Some Fictional) Who May Have Had Asperger’s Syndrome

Isaac Newton

Sherlock Holmes

Doctor Who

Paul Cézanne

Ian Curtis

Mozart

Alfred Hitchcock

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Jane Austen

Mr Grewgious

Appendix A: A List of Books You Might Like to Read (And Some Discs)

For adults

For anyone

For children

Appendix B: Glossary

Cheat Sheet

Asperger's Syndrom For Dummies®

by Gina Gomez de la Cuesta, PhD and James Mason

Foreword by Dr Judith Gould

Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Director, The National Autistic Society Lorna Wing Centre for Autism

Asperger’s Syndrome For Dummies®

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About the Authors

Gina Gomez de la Cuesta, PhD is charming, vivacious, hyperintelligent, and hates writing about herself, so this was written by the Goth! She went to school, studied psychology at Oxford, then did a PGCE, becoming a science teacher. She decided to do a PhD in autism at the Autism Research Centre, Cambridge (Oxford and Cambridge, I know!), before going to work for the National Autistic Society as their Action Research Leader. She used to have a more conventional name, but then she got married to a Spaniard (the Goth used to have a normal name, too, but that’s explained below). She enjoys long walks in the countryside, exercising her Spanish-speaking skills and going on holiday, especially to remote, sunny places (don’t we all!). Gardening and watching wildlife are her new-found hobbies which make her feel remarkably middle-aged!

James Mason the Goth has been called the Goth on three separate occasions by three entirely unconnected people, so it must be appropriate. He doesn’t wear black or write vampire fiction. He has High-Functioning Autism, which was diagnosed at the age of 34. He went to a mainstream comprehensive, then went travelling. He has studied physics, maths, psychology and linguistics. He continues to study a wide range of more and less obscure subjects in between reading any novels that people recommend. He works for the National Autistic Society editing and producing Asperger United magazine, and also reviews autism-related books, edits translations, sits on the web-steering and employment committees of Research Autism, is a member of the Autism Accreditation standards body and provides training and gives talks about autism to those on the spectrum, parents and professionals. All of this work, directly or indirectly, came his way because of his diagnosis. Before his diagnosis he worked, when he worked, in the civil service, in personnel and insurance administration (still awake?). He enjoys walking (especially when there’s wildlife) and socialising (especially over a pint of Mr Harry). If you’ve read this far you’ll realise that he knows a lot more about himself than he does about Gina. When he was 19 he learnt Tibetan, which is bound to come in useful soon.

Stefan Gleeson is a consultant psychiatrist practising in Hampshire, although he grew up in Italy. His experience of autism-spectrum conditions stems from working in child guidance clinics, Learning Disability Services, autism diagnostic clinics and work with street children in Guatemala. He’s also published work on schizophrenia, personality disorders and social inclusion. In the face of overwhelming distractions from his four children, guitar, wife and church, he’s attempting to complete an MA in Medical Education. He says he will one day succeed. He remains hopeful.

Dedication

Gina dedicates this book to all who’ve encouraged her with studying and writing, and all the families and people on the autism spectrum who’ve inspired her (the Goth being one of them!). Thanks to Ramon, my long-suffering husband, for putting up with my inability to do anything else useful while writing this book and for his constant support.

The Goth dedicates this book to all those who, knowingly or otherwise, helped him to stop seeing the world as such a scary and bewildering place. Heartfelt thanks to Boojum, Krissy, Lynn, the Raven, Leila, Carol, Bottom, Mary, Mat, Sara, Tony, Pat, Ellen, Andy, Steve and Alison.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

Many people have helped with information for this book or with stuff elsewhere in our lives so that we could get on with the book. The book could not have been written without their kind support and incredible knowledge.

We would especially like to thank Carol Povey (that’s Gina’s boss) and Kathryn Quinton (that’s the Goth’s boss) for letting us take on this crazy project and supporting us with it throughout.

We would also like to say a warm thanks to Alison Green, Carly Oberheim (whose experience of supporting people and understanding people were invaluable), Beth (who helped enormously with the woman’s perspective), Ramon Gomez de la Cuesta and all of our friends who helped with both the writing part and the moral support part during the roller coaster ride of writing. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Our sincere gratitude goes to all individuals who helped contribute small or large parts of the book. Thanks to Stefan Gleeson (super psychiatrist and really nice guy), David Perkins, Sarah Hendrickx, John Booker, Laura and Scott Brougham, Anne, Jack, Elizabeth and Paul Wady, Judith Gould, Lorna Wing, Dave, Sarah, and Tony’s wife (who didn’t wish to be named). Thanks also to Meng-Chuan Lai and Teresa Tavassoli for their helpful comments on our writing.

Huge thanks also to Nicole Hermitage, Simon Bell and everyone at Wiley for their incredible patience and hard work to enable this book to get finished!

Thanks to people we’ve accidentally missed out from these acknowledgements. If we have, we are sincerely sorry — please accept our deepest thanks.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Commissioning, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Simon Bell

Commissioning Editor: Nicole Hermitage

Assistant Editor: Ben Kemble

Copy Editor: Kate O’Leary

Publisher: David Palmer

Production Manager: Daniel Mersey

Cover Photos: © iStock/Shilpa Talluru

Cartoons: Ed McLachlan

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees

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Indexer: Claudia Bourbeau

Foreword

You may think “Not another book about Autism!” Rest assured, this book is different and offers a new dimension to a fascinating subject.

I have specialised in the field of Autism for around 40 years and thought I knew a great deal. However, this book provides some fresh insights into the complex enigma of autistic conditions. The book collates a broad range of information to interest and inform a wide audience, using the accessible style of the For Dummies series of books.

The writers have sensitively woven together details of potential strengths and difficulties commonly experienced by anyone who fits into this pattern of behaviour, and have highlighted how this affects other people within their family and broader social network. The book skilfully relates potential causes and theoretical explanations of the condition to real-life, practical day-to-day situations. The authors give clear direction about management techniques and ways to understand how a person and their family cope in a confusing, unpredictable and often socially alien world.

Importantly, the book emphasises the individual ways in which autism spectrum conditions impact on each person. It can still be hard to obtain a diagnosis and sadly, clinicians attribute diagnostic labels at times without sufficient assessment of each individual’s specific needs. To quote from the book “autism spectrum conditions are just that: a spectrum. This means that people are affected differently and each person is unique”. This is too easily forgotten when discrete labels are used in isolation, and there is a danger that general assumptions about autism may be applied to all people on the spectrum.

Another valuable reminder is that often those with Asperger’s syndrome do not ask for help, which can lead to problems perpetuating to a marked degree. The book takes a proactive stance and signposts the reader as to where to get support and appropriate help.

My favourite chapters were those describing how to interact with a person with Asperger’s syndrome. No-one can make general assumptions, and we all need to be aware of just how differently a situation may be perceived by those with Asperger’s syndrome. We need to take a fresh perspective for each individual and ensure we behave and react in the ways that meet their individual presentation. This is a challenge we must all embrace.

Throughout the book, the authors make important references to sensory issues. This has often been a neglected area in the past, although increasingly we are now recognising the tremendous environmental implications. Highlighting these concerns in this book is much applauded.

A personal interest of mine relates to the ways in which autism conditions present in women and girls. The chapter relating to this was fascinating and illuminating. I could relate the different ‘types’ of behaviour described in the women to my clinical work. This area is one in which we need to reflect and learn much more and it was positive to see attention has been given to such an important topic. Clinicians do need now to move away from just considering the male-dominated descriptions of Asperger’s syndrome and embrace the differences between genders, particularly if they are to support women and girls in effective ways.

Overall, this book should help any reader get closer to understanding, respecting and valuing the differences between individuals within this broad spectrum. The insider perspective is rightly emphasised. Our understanding of this complex pattern of behaviour is undoubtedly incomplete, but reading this book may move us further forward in such a quest.

Dr Judith Gould

Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Director, The National Autistic Society Lorna Wing Centre for Autism

Introduction

Asperger’s syndrome is a form of autism spectrum condition that affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with other people. As the term suggests, autism spectrum conditions are not a single thing but several closely related things. Like a rainbow, the autism spectrum is made up of a range of conditions, including Asperger’s syndrome (AS). And like a rainbow’s colours, identifying exactly where one condition ends and the next begins isn’t possible. Often, diagnosticians disagree about exactly which autism spectrum condition (ASC) to diagnose somebody with.

Because it’s part of a spectrum, it’s thus impossible for us to write a book solely about AS. At first, recognising the similarities between some of the conditions on the spectrum is difficult. This book helps you to understand why these conditions are grouped together, and also why people with these conditions can seem so different to each other. If you or those you care for have an ASC, we hope you find this book useful.

No one’s done a recent study of how common AS is. A study looking at the prevalence of all forms of autism in children found that 116 people in every 10,000 were on the autism spectrum (that’s roughly 1 in 100). A similar prevalence rate was estimated for adults with an ASC. These results suggest that more than 700,000 people in Britain have some form of autism. This number sounds a lot, but many specialists believe that some people on the spectrum, particularly adults and women with Asperger’s, are being overlooked, so this number is probably an underestimate.

About This Book

As well as being informative, this book sets out to be autism friendly. That is, we’ve written it using language and in a way that should be easier for people on the autism spectrum to understand. To achieve this ease of understanding we’ve had to allow for literal interpretation of language, black-and-white thinking, and difficulty with understanding humour. So, in complete contrast to most writers, we avoid elegant and clever descriptions in favour of direct, simple, repetitive language, and we try to make the ForDummies’ trademark humour clear and obvious. Most of the jokes and the passages in which we’re being a little light-hearted are indicated with a liberal use of exclamation marks.

We’ve written a book about AS, but it also covers other forms of autism that come under what some would call the patronising term “higher-functioning forms of autism”. Basically, what you can do in terms of learning, therapy, drugs, diet and everything else has to be individually tailored, no matter what the diagnosis.

If you want more detail on helping someone with “lower-functioning autism”, Understanding Autism For Dummies by Stephen Shore and Linda G. Rastelli (Wiley) may be more suitable.

Avoiding confusion over terminology

You may well come across quite a number of terms used to describe people with AS or another form of autism. Sometimes the terms can be used interchangeably, but not always. Collectively, they’re sometimes called autism spectrum disorders or autistic spectrum conditions. So let’s spell a few things out.

Pervasive developmental disorder, autism and autism spectrum disorder all mean the same thing (regardless of the number of hyphens you may see added in). The word autism is also used for what is, strictly speaking, called childhood autism. The term childhood autism is very confusing because adults can have it, so even doctors usually just say autism or classicautism when they mean childhood autism.

Diagnostic terms

The autism spectrum is usually broken down into several groups:

Childhood autism

Regressive autism

Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD), which sounds really scary, but is very rare; many professionals avoid using this term and use the broader term “regressive autism” to include CDD.

Asperger’s syndrome (also known as Asperger syndrome, AS and Asperger’s disorder)

Pervasive developmental disorder—not otherwise specified (PDD—NOS)

Atypical autism

Personal terms

When people talk about themselves and their loved ones, they tend not to use the diagnostic labels but to call themselves Asperger, Asperger’s, Aspergic, Aspergian or Aspie so you’ll find all of these terms in books on autism and AS. Because “Asperger” has a capital letter, some people like to put Autie, Autist and Autistic on an equal footing. Because Asperger’s is a form of autism, some people with AS like to call themselves autie, autist, autiste (if they’re female) or autistic — they see the connection between all people with autism as more significant than the differences between the diagnoses.

You may be wondering why the Goth calls himself that. He doesn’t wear black, but even so, people have chosen to name him “the Goth”, and after the third time it happened he decided to adopt it as his name. More details of this story are provided in the “About the Authors” section at the front of the book and also in Chapter 6.

Our terminology

The existence of all these terms means we have to make a choice and also try not to offend anybody with the words we use — which actually is impossible. We choose to use the terms:

Asperger’s syndrome (which we sometimes abbreviate to Asperger’s or AS)

Autism spectrum condition (or just ASC)

Person who has AS or person who has an ASC

Person on the (autism) spectrum

Autist

Autistic

We make these choices because when you shorten Asperger’s syndrome to Asperger’s it’s logical, but to shorten Asperger syndrome to Asperger’s is not. The readers of Asperger United, a quarterly magazine by and for people on the autism spectrum, chose “autism spectrum condition” in preference to “autism spectrum disorder”, and “person on the spectrum” is one of the preferred phrases of the National Autistic Society. Sometimes when the Goth is writing from the perspective of a person on the spectrum, he uses the terms autist and autistic, because many people on the spectrum object to the politically correct “person first” language that uses phrases like “person with AS”. Instead of “person with AS” we sometimes use the term “person who has AS”, which is somewhat less offensive. Chapter 6 has more on political correctness. We do not intend to cause offence with any of the terms used in this book.

Offering a short explanation of the autism-friendly approach in this book

People with any form of autism have more problems with reading, language and understanding than most people, so we try to be clear in a way that people on the autism spectrum will understand. All For Dummies books contain humour, but because people on the spectrum find understanding whether or not something is a joke particularly difficult, we’ve taken special care to make it clear when we’re joking.

For those with visual problems, we’ve avoided using single quote marks where possible and use longer dashes (called em dashes) than is usual in modern books.

Conventions Used in This Book

We use the following conventions to help you get the most from this book:

We use italics for emphasis, to highlight titles of books and films (such as The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), and to draw your attention to new words or terms that we define.

We use boldface to highlight key words or phrases in bulleted lists like this one.

We use monofont for web and email addresses so that they’re easily identified.

We use sidebars — see “Why sidebars are called sidebars” for more on these grey boxes.

Foolish Assumptions

This book makes the following assumptions, which we hope aren’t really that foolish.

We assume that you have AS, another ASC, are the parent of someone with an ASC, or someone else affected by an ASC personally or professionally. We assume that you or the person you care for may not have a formal diagnosis, and even if you do, that diagnosis could be any condition on the autism spectrum.

Why sidebars are called sidebars

You’re doing it now. Reading a sidebar, that is. But it’s at the bottom of the page, not the side.

Originally, sidebars were used in magazines to “enliven” the text, and they were placed down the sides of wide magazine-style pages. So they were at the side and narrow, hence the name. To a lot of people on the autism spectrum, these features are just confusing and pointless, especially when the main text doesn’t tell you when to read them. However, they’re part of what makes a ForDummies book a For Dummies book, and here they’re shaded grey and appear at the top or bottom of a page. So some would say they should have a different name like “topbars”, but we’re going to stick with the traditional name here and make every effort to make sure that every one is referred to in the main text.

Every sign and symptom of ASCs, such as poor social skills, is found “throughout the general population”, as psychologists say, and that’s everybody. What qualifies a person as having a form of autism is the sheer number of signs and symptoms they display. So, even though this is a book about AS, anyone on the autism spectrum will find it useful.

We assume you want to learn a lot about AS, including what it is and why it is (as far as anyone can tell), and that you want to be able to understand, or at least look up, the technical terms used by medical professionals.

How This Book Is Organised

This book is split into five parts, plus the contents, this introduction and the index. These last three elements are there to help you find exactly the information you need, without having to read the whole book. Each chapter has been written to be complete, so it doesn’t rely on information in previous chapters. Where a chapter does mention something which is described elsewhere in the book, we add a reference such as “more on this can be found in Chapter 9”. Nevertheless, we realise that many people with autistic traits are going to want to read the book from cover to cover, so we’ve attempted to arrange the chapters and parts in the most logical order. Here’s a brief explanation of what appears in each part.

Part I: Understanding Asperger’s Syndrome (AS)

We hope that what you need to start with is an overview of what AS is, the history of AS, its causes and what it’s like to have it. We go on to explain the biological causes and psychological theories of AS, how it’s diagnosed, how to obtain a diagnosis if you want to, and how to decide whether you want to.

Part II: Living with Asperger’s Syndrome

If you’re reading this book, you’re probably already living with AS! This part draws a picture of life from the point of view of people with AS: how to understand (and maybe even cope with!) family, friends, school, relationships, work, college and living independently. Part II also deals with self-advocacy, the benefits system and autism rights. This is an enormous subject area, but all the essentials are here.

Part III: Supporting People with Asperger’s Syndrome

You may need to support someone on the autism spectrum even if you bought this book because you yourself have Asperger’s. We try to cover everything you need to know to make that person’s life, and your life, better. From parenting a child with Asperger’s to managing stress, coping with sensory difficulties, managing other people, joining a support group and relating to people with AS — it’s all here.

Part IV: Discovering Therapies, Medication and Diet

Part IV covers the different approaches that parents and individuals can look into that may help with communication, social skills, behaviour and well-being. These approaches fall into three main groups: therapies, medication and diet. We provide an overview of each, along with pointers to further information.

Part V: The Part of Tens

Here’s the part you find in every ForDummies book. It includes three short chapters, each listing ten of something: helpful organisations, good things about AS, and famous people and characters who might have had AS.

Icons Used in This Book

The icons used in this book highlight particular paragraphs. The different icons represent the different reasons for highlighting the paragraphs.

This icon highlights information that will help you deal with problems, hassles and irritations. Of course, the whole book should help you too, but the tips are short and easy to implement.

This icon highlights information that you need to bear in mind; the sort of stuff that everyone who wants to know about autism should know.

This icon highlights suggestions for things you might like to try. These suggestions are a bit more involved than the Tips, and some can result in considerable changes to your life; others, however, are just fun.

This icon highlights the fine details of a given subject. None of this information is essential, but reading it will round out your knowledge of the subject and deepen your understanding. Feel free to skip it, though, especially on your first reading of this book.

This icon highlights information about potential risks of any course of action. Please pay attention to the warnings we give in this book. We’ve phrased them to be as autism-friendly as possible, so in places we’ve gone into quite a lot of detail about exactly what we mean.

Where to Go from Here

“Follow your nose” is the saying. From an autist’s point of view, that instruction’s either obvious — what else can you do? — or deeply confusing. No one ever explains what they mean. Well, for once we are going to explain. This expression means “let your desire or your interest lead you towards something you want”. The expression “to sniff out” comes from the same idea: following an interesting scent to its source. So if you really want to find out about a specific subject, look it up in the contents or the index now and start reading the book there. Otherwise, also “following your nose”, just turn the page and keep reading. When you get to the end of the book, don’t stop! An appendix lists other books you may want to read, and a glossary explains some key terms.

Part I

Understanding Asperger’s Syndrome

In this part . . .

In Part 1, you get an overview of what Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) is and a little bit about what living with AS is like. For the historians amongst you, we run through the changes in understanding of autism and AS over the years. We explain the current knowledge about the causes of AS in terms of genetics, biology and psychology, and get to grips with the different diagnostic criteria for AS. You can find out about the process of getting a diagnosis in childhood and adulthood, the pros and cons of diagnosis, and what to do after you get a diagnosis.

On top of all that, we review the other possible conditions and psychological disorders that commonly occur alongside AS, such as depression and anxiety. Finally, we explain how women with AS might have different experiences from men. After reading about all of this, you’ll have a great overview of AS and be able to think about some of the trickier issues we discuss later.