Part of the Reading Well scheme. 35 books selected by young people and health professionals to provide 13 to 18 year olds with high-quality support, information and advice about common mental health issues and related conditions.

Winner of the NASEN & TES Special Educational Needs Children's Book Award 2003

Have you ever been called a freak or a geek? Have you ever felt like one? Luke Jackson is 13 years old and has Asperger Syndrome. Over the years Luke has learned to laugh at such names but there are other aspects of life which are more difficult. Adolescence and the teenage years are a minefield of emotions, transitions and decisions and when a child has Asperger Syndrome, the result is often explosive.
Luke has three sisters and one brother in various stages of their adolescent and teenage years but he is acutely aware of just how different he is and how little information is available for adolescents like himself.
Drawing from his own experiences and gaining information from his teenage brother and sisters, he wrote this enlightening, honest and witty book in an attempt to address difficult topics such as bullying, friendships, when and how to tell others about AS, school problems, dating and relationships, and morality.
Luke writes briefly about his younger autistic and AD/HD brothers, providing amusing insights into the antics of his younger years and advice for parents, carers and teachers of younger AS children. However, his main reason for writing was because "so many books are written about us, but none are written directly to adolescents with Asperger Syndrome. I thought I would write one in the hope that we could all learn together".

Auteur

Luke Jackson is 13 years old and has three sisters and three brothers. One of his brothers has AD/HD, one is autistic and Luke has Asperger Syndrome. He is the author of A User Guide to the GF/CF Diet for Autism, Asperger Syndrome and AD/HD, also published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Contenu

An introduction - me and my family. 2. Asperger Syndrome and the Autistic Spectrum. A label or a signpost? 3. To tell or not to tell? Giving the news. How and when to tell other people. 4. Fascinations and fixations. Specialist subjects. Collections. Compulsions. Controlling a compulsion. 5. Sense and sense abilities. About all of the senses - our different sensory perceptions. All in a muddle. 6. A different physiology. Dietary Differences. 7. A word about sleep. Medication. Sleeping solutions for people with AS. Sleeping solutions - tips for parents.8. Language and learning. Teenage talk. Literalism and logic. Precise parents make cheerful children. 9. The problem with school Reading, Writing and `Rithmatic. Not to mention homework! Not much fun and games. School or otherwise - if it still goes wrong. 10. Bullying. My experiences. What is bullying? Why me? When is a bully not a bully? Dealing with bullies.11. Taekwondo. My Taekwondo class. The History of Taekwondo. The benefits of Taekwondo.12. Friendships and socialising. How to win friends and influence people. A word of warning for pushy parent. 13. The dating game. Fathom out those feelings. Top tips to enhance your chance. The rules of the game - do's and don't of dating. 14. Morals and principles - representation and reality. Negative publicity. Rules are not made to be broken. Moral musings for adolescent Aspergers. 15. One final note. Idioms - an explanation. Further reading. Websites and links. Index.