If you have a daughter with high functioning autism...resources?

[JessReplanted]

We are in the process of trying to get an appointment and a diagnosis. However, the longer we wait and the more I read, the more I feel like this is what we are dealing with.

 

Can anyone recommend resources: books, websites, forums, Facebook groups?

 

Thanks!

[gardenmom5]

temple grandin.

 

she has a number of lectures on youtube.  the movie about her life is also on youtube.  it seems to be helping dudeling to watch it.

 

I can rec' more tomorrow.

 

I take him to a DAN! naturopath. she hasn't been everything - but she's really made a difference.   dh wouldn't let me take him to her until after he talked with one of his clients who coordinates services for asd kids and she said kids who have a DAN! as part of their team do better.  it's looking at their particular chemistry.

 

there are at least three different genetic triggers - and a whole bunch of other stuff.

 

also look into central auditory processing disorder.  there's a lot of overlap with hfasd and capd.

[Pawz4me]

DS is ASD-1. So I'm coming from that perspective, not as someone with a DD on the spectrum. But I'd look at Tony Attwood's books. His Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome is the best overall book I've read on the subject. And he's the co-author with Temple Grandin on Asperger's and Girls. I haven't read that one but it might be perfect for you. Attwood is one of the leading experts on ASD and especially in girls. Here is his website.

[Innisfree]

Attwood's books are the ones I'd recommend as a general reference. If you have more specific issues, we can try to suggest other resources.

[Loesje22000]

I suppose so much depends on the person you have in your home...

The above suggested titles are good, but made no connection with the child I have.

 

We like:

https://www.amazon.com/Aspergirls-Empowering-Females-Asperger-Syndrome/dp/1849058261/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491483418&sr=8-1&keywords=aspergirls+rudy+simone

As she shows how different aspergirls can be.

This book made it possible to dd to explain herself to me.

[TechWife]

Be careful about reading "success stories." I find information from people such as Temple Grandin to be of limited helpfulness. She is an outlier in that most people on the spectrum don't meet with the success she has (steady job with people who understand her, international best selling author, speaking engagements, etc.). Don't set unreasonable expectations for yourself or your family member. 

[Crimson Wife]

What age?

 

For dealing with co-morbid health issues, I really like Dr. Kenneth Bock's Healing the New Childhood Epidemics. We see an integrative neurodevelopmental pediatrician who is a medical school professor. He follows a lot of the DAN/MAPS protocol but takes a more conservative approach that avoids the more risky treatments like chelation and hyperbaric oxygen. We saw big improvements in my daughter's functioning after starting some of the nutritional supplements. Not everything that we've tried has worked, so it is a bit of trial-and-error.

 

If it's one of your younger children, I highly recommend Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy but make sure you find a BCBA who does "Natural Environment Teaching" rather than old-school flashcard drills at a table.

 

If it's your teen, look into a psychologist who practices Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. CBT requires a higher level of language than my DD has at the moment but I think it will be very good for her once she graduates from ABA.

 

Social skills groups can be excellent but finding a good group for a high-functioning girl can be tricky.

[Crimson Wife]

Some other good books:

Zones of Regulation

Unstuck and On Target

TalkAbility (if it's one of your younger kids)

[PeterPan]

If you come over to LC, you can gab ASD, yes. Plenty of it going on over there. 

 

Websites, hmm. Guess I'm sort of burnt. You have whatever you're starting with and what your most pressing issues are, and the most pressing issues for one person might not be the same for the next. So it might be more effective just to come over to LC and start a thread and talk about what you're needing help with. Lotsa hindsight there, like everything from behaviorists to Social Thinking interventions to how to take things out of the box to physical problems to...

 

But really, each person's mix is different. They'll say "If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism" and it's SO true. So it's really about taking a journey to find the answers you need, broadening your team, bringing in help. And yes, the sooner you bring in that help, probably the happier you'll be. We are in a WAY better place now than we were a year ago or two years ago, mercy. It's a journey.

[mom of 2 boys]

Rudy Simone's book "Aspergirls" is pretty spot on.