Autism Boys

Written by Naoki Higashida, a very smart, very self-aware, and very charming thirteen-year-old boy with autism, The Reason I Jumpis a one-of-a-kind memoir that demonstrates how an autistic mind thinks, feels, perceives, and responds in ways few of us can imagine. Parents and family members who never thought they could get inside the head of their autistic loved one at last have a way to break through to the curious, subtle, and complex life within.

In 1997, writer Patricia Stacey and her husband Cliff learned that their six-month-old son Walker might never walk or talk, or even hear or see. Unwilling to accept this grim prediction, they embarked on a five-year odyssey that took them into alternative medicine, the newest brain research, and toward a new and innovative understanding of autism. Finally their search led them to pioneering developmental psychiatrist Stanley Greenspan who helped them save their son and bring him into full contact with the world.

When Kate Swenson’s son Cooper was diagnosed with severe, nonverbal autism, her world stopped. She had always dreamed of having the perfect family life. She hadn’t signed up for life as a mother raising a child with a disability.

Until two years of age, Craig and Samantha’s son Connor was just like other kids - playful, verbal, and affectionate. Then everything changed. He stopped talking, displayed behavioral problems, and withdrew into his own world. The official diagnosis - autism. Faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, Craig and Samantha refused to believe a meaningful life for Connor was impossible. God confirmed their faith by revealing to Craig that Connor would one day touch the lives of thousands of people around the world.

Henry Markram is the Elon Musk of neuroscience, the man behind the billion-dollar Blue Brain Project to build a supercomputer model of the brain. He has set the goal of decoding all disturbances of the mind within a generation. This quest is personal for him. The driving force behind his grand ambition has been his son Kai, who has autism. Raising Kai made Henry Markram question all that he thought he knew about neuroscience, and then inspired his groundbreaking research that would upend the conventional wisdom about autism, expressed in his now-famous theory of Intense World Syndrome.

"Like most fathers, I'd dreamt of doing all sorts of things with my son. I had so many plans, but when I was told my son was autistic, those plans seemed more like a fantasy. Well, eight years after that dreadful diagnosis, I am writing this book to let every father know that your plans for you and your son can still be a reality. It's just the path that takes you there that has to be altered."

Seahawks star running back Curt Warner and his wife, Ana, were prominent figures in Seattle in the early 1990s. When they dropped from the public eye after Curt’s retirement, everyone assumed it was for a simpler life. But the reality behind their seclusion was a secret they hid from even their closest friends: their twins, Austin and Christian, had been diagnosed with severe autism. What followed was a painful struggle to hold their family and their marriage together in a home filled with chaos, emotional exhaustion, and constant fear for the safety of their unpredictable but beloved boys.

Alex loves his family, and yet he struggles to connect with his eight-year-old autistic son, Sam. The strain has pushed his marriage to the breaking point. So Alex moves in with his merrily irresponsible best friend on the world’s most uncomfortable blow-up bed. As Alex navigates single life, long-buried family secrets, and part-time fatherhood, his son begins playing Minecraft. Sam’s imagination blossoms and the game opens up a whole new world for father and son to share. Together, they discover that sometimes life must fall apart before you can build a better one.

Dale was still a baby when his parents realised that something wasn't right. Worried, his mother Nuala took him to see several doctors, before finally hearing the word 'autism' for the first time. Dale's autism was severe and violent and family life was a daily battleground. But the Gardner's lives were transformed when they welcomed a gorgeous golden retriever into the family.

We feel like parents in a fairy tale turned to stone by a curse and condemned to stand like statues with our hearts thudding in our chests as our son plays wild games, all alone in the palace. He sees us, he knows us, he expects us always to be in our right places - but he has no idea that we are human, too. David is 11 years old. He is happy, healthy and affectionate. He loves school, climbing trees and Disney songs. But he's also profoundly autistic.

Written by Naoki Higishida when he was only 13, this remarkable book explains the often baffling behaviour of autistic children and shows the way they think and feel - about the people around them, time and beauty, noise, and themselves. Naoki abundantly proves that autistic people do possess imagination, humour and empathy, but also makes clear, with great poignancy, how badly they need our compassion, patience and understanding.

Inspired by a true story, The Stallion and His Peculiar Boy will touch your heart as no other horse story has before. World War II is raging. Hitler is hiding away the world's most beautiful purebred horses in a little village in Czechoslovakia. Lipizzaners, Thoroughbreds, and the prize Polish Arabians are being used in his experiments to create the perfect war horse. A peculiar twelve-year-old boy from the village named Teodor becomes the groom for one of those special horses - Witez II, one of the most famous Arabian stallions of all time. Witez helps the boy face his challenges and find ...

The definitive guide for parents of autisic children, written from the perspective of neurodiversity. Written by Jessie Hewitson, an award-winning journalist at The Times, Autism is the audiobook she wishes she had listened to when her son was first given the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. It combines her own experiences with tips from autistic adults, other parents - including author David Mitchell - as well as advice from autism professionals and academics such as Professor Simon Baron-Cohen.

What causes autism? Is it a genetic disorder, or due to some unknown environmental hazard? Are we facing an autism epidemic? What are the main symptoms, and how does it relate to Asperger syndrome? Everyone has heard of autism, but the disorder itself is little understood. It has captured the public imagination through films and novels portraying individuals with baffling combinations of disability and extraordinary talent, and yet the reality is that it often places a heavy burden on sufferers and their families.

Jeni Decker is five-foot nothing and one hundred and [redacted] pounds - a self-described roly-poly, forty-something, Reubenesque bon-bon of a gal, often called cute but never sexy. She has two sons with autism on opposite ends of the spectrum (Jake and Jaxson), a husband who prefers hunting to household chores, an Australian Shepherd named Sugar, and an albino frog named Humbert Humbert. This is her story - a brash, personal, and sometimes shocking memoir.

In his deeply personal account, Rupert Isaacson tells the amazing story of his autistic son and his transformation through the healing power of horses. From his home in Texas to the wilds of Mongolia, we follow the Isaacson family on an epic journey on horseback - a journey that would test their love, challenge their beliefs and change their lives.

Author Angela Gachassin shares the moving chronicle of her and her son's daily experiences as they struggle to conquer his autism symptoms. Glenn was a nonverbal child diagnosed with severe autism at the tender age of two. Yet with very little help from doctors, Angela incorporated lifelong skills and strategies into his daily life, which allowed him to live with endless possibilities to soar.

When Kate Swenson’s son Cooper was diagnosed with severe, nonverbal autism, her world stopped. She had always dreamed of having the perfect family life — watching her boy play at baseball games, walking him down the aisle. She hadn’t signed up for life as a mother raising a child with a disability. At first, Kate experienced the grief of broken dreams. Then she felt the frustration and exhaustion that comes with having to fight for your child in a world that is stacked against them.

Iceland's history is told in the stories of its celebrated figures. From Viking explorers to Saga heroes, the voices that define Icelandic culture are well known. Yet one man in Iceland's past had difficulty finding the words to form his own voice and be known for who he really was: Thorlák Thórhallsson, declared by his people "The Patron Saint of Iceland" in 1198 and officially canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1984. Yet, despite these honors, few have ever heard Thorlák’s complete and true story: A child prodigy treated as an adult by those around him, a sorrowful boy from a broken ...

There are thousands of books on autism. Some books advocate new methods of teaching styles. Some talk about alternative medications that have worked miracles. This book does not make such claims. What this book conveys is that every family who has a child with autism has to figure out a coping system that works for their child with autism and for themselves. This is our journey to that place of facilitation and happiness.