Three Book Reviews Dealing With Guides for Kids With ASD

In a previous post, Yoga Helping Autistic Children, I wrote about the amazing benefits yoga classes seem to bring to individuals with Autism. My post was especially about how Yoga helps autistic kids get in touch with their bodies, become aware of their emotions and their feelings, and provides them with the ability to cope when they start to feel anxious, upset or stressed.


The following are a few books on the same topic and also these books provides creative, practical strategies for helping children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) to function effectively at home and in the community.

 Social Skills for Teens and Adults with Asperger’s Syndrome by Nancy J. Patrick

Nancy J. Patrick, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist and Autism Consultant, Assistant Professor, Messiah College, Harrisburg, PA, USA, writes about strategies in the home and community for children with Autism Spectrum and other disorders. Dr. Nancy Patrick says:

“Persons with ASDs may particularly benefit from yoga … in that heightened anxiety, poor motor coordination and strength and weak self-regulation are three areas in which most persons with autistic spectrum disorders struggle and for which there are few other solutions. Yoga poses and breathing techniques could prove to be very helpful interventions for increasing the quality of life for children and adolescents with ASDs.”

Your school does not offer yoga sessions? This book is a great resource for parents:

Yoga For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Step-By-Step Guide For Parents And Caregivers by Dion E. Betts, Stacey W. Betts

Stacey W. Betts is an attorney and assists families with children with disabilities. Dion E. Betts, Ed.D., is Assistant to the Superintendent for Instructional Support at South Western School District in Hanover, PA. He and his wife have five children, two of whom have AS.

Product Description of this paperback: "Having successfully used yoga to combat the stress of their own busy lives, Dion and Stacey Betts discovered its potential for their son Joshua, who has Asperger Syndrome.

This fully-illustrated book combines the authors' professional expertise with their experience of parenting, offering a range of gentle and fun yoga positions and breathing techniques that are effective in dealing with the increased levels of anxiety, disorientation and tactile sensitivity often found in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs),"

Publishing Date: May 2006
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Pub
Number of Pages: 101

If you appreciate those first two books, you are in for a treat as Dion E. Betts and Nancy J. Patrick joined forces and wrote one together.

Homespun Remedies Strategies in the Home and Community for Children with Autism Spectrum and Other Disorders by Dion E. Betts and Nancy J. Patrick In this book you will find sensible and specific approaches to tackling day-to-day problems faced by parents and carers, such as bathing, feeding, haircuts, and shopping. Homespun Remedies explains easy changes that result in big improvements in the quality of life for autistic children, their families and caregivers.

Have other good resources for families dealing with Autism?

Shonda Schilling 's Frank Account Of Son With Asperger's Syndrome

Just found another book to help families coping with Autism to shoulder the weight of their added responsibilities and challenges. “The Best Kind of Different: Our Family’s Journey with Asperger’s Syndrome” is written by Shonda Schilling. In more than 200 pages, Shonda tells us about their third child, Grant, now 10 yrs old, and how their family struggled while learning to cope with his Aspergers.

Baseball fans will know Shanda’s husband, Curt Schilling. Wkiipedia tells us that Curt is a former American Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series in 1993 and has won World Series championships in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and in 2004 and 2007 with the Boston Red Sox. Curt retired in 2008 because of injuries.


Shonda, who graduated from Towson State College majoring in journalism, writes it exactly how it is. Even though they had all the comforts of life to raise their four children, the overwhelming hardship of raising a child with Aspergers and the struggle to keep their family intact was just the same as everybody else.



The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) gives the following description for Asperger syndrome (AS). “It is a developmental disorder. It is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The most distinguishing symptom of AS is a child’s obsessive interest in a single object or topic to the exclusion of any other. Their expertise, high level of vocabulary, and formal speech patterns make them seem like little professors. Other characteristics of AS include repetitive routines or rituals; peculiarities in speech and language; socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior and the inability to interact successfully with peers; problems with non-verbal communication; and clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements.”



Grant was only diagnosed at the age of 7. “You go through different stages,” Shonda Schilling told FoxNews.com. “You mourn the child that you thought you would have. You’re sad because you’re afraid of the future and you feel guilty. You feel guilty because you’ve just spent the first seven years of his life yelling at him when he had no idea why you were yelling at him.”



All of the Schillings’ children, including Grant, are enrolled in the public school system in a Massachusetts town. Their lives have all been affected. Shonda revealed that her son Gehrig became anorexic while the family was dealing with Grant’s Asperger’s diagnosis; that she and Grant both wound up on medication, one for depression and the other for ADHD; and that she and Curt got counseling to save their marriage.



Shonda said:“This book shares our story and admiration for any parent faced with a diagnosis within the autism spectrum. Through our family’s story, I want other families to know that they’re not alone or isolated. The book is a celebration of children, and how wonderful they are, no matter their differences.”


What do you think must be the most challenging aspect of raising a Special Needs child?

Mar19 Special Needs Stats and News- Jodi Picoult's House Rules

Jodi Picoult has another book to instruct and, at the same time, entertain the reader. House Rules is published by Atria Books and sells for less than $30.

 All families dealing with Asperger Syndrome in their lives will want to read the over 500 pages of Jody Picoult latest book. It’s about Jacob Hunt - a boy with high-functioning autism (HFA) - who is accused of murder...

“Picoult’s research is impeccable and she deals intelligently with charged questions about autism and Asperger’s.” — Publishers Weekly

“ House Rules is a page-turner... well-paced and thoughtful. And it certainly leaves readers with more compassion and understanding for sufferers of a condition that puts them always on the outside without a way in.” — Boston Globe

“Picoult’s research is impeccable and she deals intelligently with charged questions about autism and Asperger’s.” — Publishers Weekly

Over the last 18 years, Jody Picoult has written 17 novels--three of which became television movies and another, My Sister's Keeper, starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin turned into a theatre play.

Have you read any other books by Jodi Picoult? Do you think such books make the general public aware of the difficulties Special Needs families face every day?

Related posts:
Three Book Reviews Dealing With Guides For Kids With ASD 

Shonda Schilling's Frank Account of Son With Asperger's Syndrome 
Asperger's On the Job by Rudy Simone ~ A Review