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Book Summary InformationAuthor: Anne Addison Edition: Hardcover Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2002-09-16 ISBN: 1885477872 Number of pages: 373 Publisher: Future Horizons Accessories:
Book Reviews of One Small StarfishBook Review: An Excellent Resource Tool Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best books about a child with Asperger's that I have ever read. Despite the word "perseverate" which is a damning and harmful word (it also speaks to intolerance) which is better replaced with "repetition/special interests," this is an excellent work. Anne Addison deserves a round of applause for this stellar work. I love the Beatle influence by entitling a chapter "Getting By With a Little Help From Your Friends." That Beatle influence - it's a good one!
Her second child, Jack was born in 1991, a year after his sister Sarah. While Sarah was described as a low maintenance child, Jack had behavioral and sensory issues from the beginning. I like the way Addison looks back at Jack's early behavior and realizes what might have caused it, such as a meltdown he had at age 2 when he wanted a juice box while visiting an unfamiliar relative.
I also like the way she describes her son's schooling; the resource tools she used and the overall layout of Jack's classrooms. Jack initially had a good school experience in pre-kindergarten, but that came to a crashing end the following year. Claustrophobic and highly active (Jack was also described as being ADD/ADHD), Jack was forced to sit in a closet for a time out. The boy was understandably scared out of his mind.
When Jack was in second grade, his world unravelled. He had a meltdown in class; was not well matched for the teacher he had that year and engaged in dangerous behavior such as jumping out of a moving car. He was subsequently hospitalized and the experience sounded nothing short of traumatic. Jack's day in the emergency ward until he was sprung was horrifying enough, but the two month sentence he served in a local hospital (December 1998 - February 1999) sounded horrifying to me. The one thing I took issue with was Addison's wondering if being there on Christmas would affect Jack. Of course it would! The boy probably felt he was being punished and to serve time in a hospital on Christmas - ouch! On Christmas Eve, he wrote a note saying he wanted to get out of that place and who could blame him? Another horrifying event was Jack being locked naked in a seclusion room while Addison waved good-bye. That was very upsetting and one can't help but wonder if Jack felt that was being sanctioned.
The only good thing to come of this experience that I could see was that Jack was on a strict behavior modification program. That helped him learn what social boundaries are. Once released, Jack attended the hospital school (Partial Hospital Program - PHP) until more suitable placement could be found.
After many trials and errors with medication and different types of therapies, including alternative methods such as one that involved manipulating the boy's head and neck, an appropriate school was found for Jack. Readers soar with his progress and growing development.
Since autism/Asperger's (a/A) is a sensory condition, Jack's behavior made perfect sense from a sensory, sensible standpoint. He disliked haircuts because he didn't like the way shorn hair felt on his skin. He found parties too loud and confusing. He understandably didn't like the physical therapies because of his sensitive sensory issues. He had to follow a detailed, routine sequence to perform many routine tasks such as dressing and brushing his teeth.
There were two things that I found confusing: In the chapter entitled What's Going On With the Other Kids in the Family, John is called "Ken" twice. In the Sample Medication Log, Jack is called "William" twice. Who was Ken? Also, the chapters did not line up with the Table of Contents and were off by one number.
Parts of this book were funny. When Jack was asked to cheer a neighbor's daughter whose mother had just died, Jack juggled pillows because he said he thought that would cheer her up. Jack's behavior was logical and he was doing what he thought was right at the time. I thought that was funny.
I like the way strategies are included in this book along with a good resource guide. This is the book parents of children on the spectrum have prayed for. Be sure to get this and make it a very close friend. You will find it to be an invaluable resource and you will be mighty glad to have it close at hand.
Summary of One Small StarfishWinner of an iParenting Media Award! Anne Addison was overwhelmed when she brought Jack home from the hospital. In those first few days, Anne had a vague intuition that something was not right. Two years later, Jack was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, speech and language delays, sensory integration problems, and subsequently, was found to have Asperger?s Syndrome. In this book, Anne shares the easy-to-implement strategies and solutions that she and her family found to the myriad of problems facing parents and those who work with children who are behaviorally challenging, from everyday life skills such as getting dressed and going to bed to crafting a circle of friends, effectively working with the school, encouraging hobbies and interests, and negotiating public situations. Winner of a Benjamin Franklin Award, One Small Starfish is a deep and compassionate story of one mother?s struggle and triumph to raise a child beyond what the world thought he could be.
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