Children's book

[Guest guest]

Hello. I just joined this group tonight. I'm so excited!

My son (5) was diagnosed with AS last year and we've been going

through the adventure of getting acquainted with this interesting

syndrome. And may I say, it is really kind of nice to know that

there's a rational explanation (other than bad parenting) for my

little darling's quirky behavior.

I am working on putting together a children's book about AS and

wondered if I could gather a little input from some of you who have

more experience than I. The book is intended to help relatives and

friends of children with Aspergers to better understand the syndrome--

what it is, and what it isn't, what behaviors to expect from someone

who has AS and how best to deal with them, and hopefully a few

insights as to how someone with AS views the world around him/her.

I'd also like the book to help children newly diagnosed with AS to

have an accurate, understandable and also encouraging explanation of

what AS is like (and how NT's differ from them) and to understand a

little about both the challenges and the advantages of the syndrome.

I'd really like to keep the book personal and fun, and although the

information should be scientifically sound, I don't want the book to

sound too clinical.

I would really appreciate any suggestions you might offer, especially

those relating to these points:

-- How have you explained AS to your child(ren), and to friends and

relatives? [For example, we have discussed with our son that AS

means that his brain is built differently than most other people's

brains and that this means that some things that are easy for most

people will be harder for him, but that some things that are hard for

most people will be easier for him. We discussed specific examples of

both sides of this coin (from his own life), and he seemed to

understand fairly well, but not to be scared or discouraged about it.

What has worked for you?]

-- Which common behaviors related to AS (ex. stimming, tantrums,

sensory issues, social difficulty,...) do you find yourself needing

to explain to family and/or friends in order to help those people to

interact with your AS child in a supportive and loving way? How have

you explained the reasons for the behaviors, and what kinds of

reactions have you asked for from family and friends?

-- Which common behaviors found in " normal " interactions have you

found to be particularly confusing or mysterious to your AS child?

How have you explained these behaviors to your AS child, and how have

you asked them to react to these confusing behaviors? [i'd LOVE to

hear from our AS kids on this one. Kids, what seems particularly

weird about how all those supposedly " normal " people act? How have

you learned to deal with their strange behavior?]

-- What are some common misconceptions about AS that you have

encountered?

I really appreciate any input you can give me on this. I'm still very

much in the planning stages, and I'd really like to make this book

both fun and helpful for the people it concerns most.

Thanks in advance,

Amy