Books about autism

[PinkSyCo]

Can anyone recommend any good ones? It has more or less been acknowledged that my 21 month old grandson definitely has ASD and as his carer, when his mum goes back to work, I want to learn as much as possible so that I can help keep him happy, safe and understood. TIA.

I was also going to recommend More than Words.

@PinkSyCo

In my experience, the most valuable thing to understand for a child with autism is about sensory needs. They are everything in understanding what regulates a child and what can trigger a meltdown. For me it was a serious game changer to understand and helped me.understand why I was doing what I was and gave me other strategies to try.

Interesting. My grandson has never had a meltdown…..yet haha, but I’d like to understand things like why he flaps his hands and paces back and forward. Is he just excited or does it mean he’s too overwhelmed and needs calming? I want to know what’s going on in his head to avoid any upset but he can’t tell us.

It could be either! Flapping or stimming can happen when the person is happy or stressed. Add the primary care giver you will figure out which.

'Autism inclusivity' on Facebook is interesting, it really made me think about the way I view things/my preconceived ideas. I'd recommend hanging out on it for a bit. If you search the group there are lots of book recommendations written by autistics.

But having said that it's best to hear it from autistics themselves, rather than from parents.

@zurala

Another Facebook group I'd recommend is Gentle parenting for autistic children UK, there are lots of autistic adults in there as well.

Agree, this is also a great group.

Op when my daughter stims (rocks herself, flaps hands) it tends to be because she’s stressed and it’s her way of regulating herself. Please just watch him, don’t try to stop this behaviour.

I am reading ‘Ten Things Every Child With Autism wishes you know’ by Ellen Notbohm and finding it useful.

Autism Discussion Page on fb. Absolutely brilliant, led by Bill Nason whose books are really good.
He’s an expert and he’s very insightful.

Stunning can be quite common for any big emotion as a way of regulating, such as excitement or overwhelmed. If your Grandson doesn't speak there are lots of PECs cards that you can find online to support communication, eg offering a basic choice of juice or water that he can point to, or use basic signs.

This is quite a good website for explaining the basic sensory systems. Whilst it says sensory processing disorder it is very prevalent in autistic children. www.theottoolbox.com/sensory-processing-disorder-checklist/ For me it isn't that there is something wrong with my child, it is more that the way we tend to so things in this country can be like putting a round peg into a square hole. I have found when I adapt to his needs and the school adapts he can thrive. He is incredibly kind, generous, bright and imaginative, but can get easily overwhelmed and doesn't always know how to deal with that or remove himself in time from a situation and that's when the meltdowns happen.

And yes, agree with the above poster, don't try and stop the stimming as it is the child's way of regulating himself and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it x

@Mamma37463

But having said that it's best to hear it from autistics themselves, rather than from parents.

but then that just ignores the needs of the most impacted and vulnerable people with autism ie those who don't have a voice ,my son can only communicate on a very basic level he can't speak I speak for him .

It's really great you're reading up on autism, but I'd also agree that not all traits you'll read about apply to all autistics. My own DS hates routines, and it seems to be taken as a given - even by professionals - that routines are essential for people with autism to thrive. For most maybe, not all.
I also find it quite annoying when, say, DS runs from the room if something loud comes on TV and a relative says placidly 'Oh 'they' hate loud noise,' and so doesn't even attempt to query what's wrong as they would for my NT children. In DS's case the problem is very, very rarely to do with noise.
In addition, things can vary a lot for a person day-to-day. DS is fine regarding sensory irritations unless he's stressed, but if he's stressed they become very problematic. So a situation that's fine one day causes huge problems another.
Another thing is that certain other conditions are commonly found with autism - dyspraxia, dyslexia, anxiety, MH problems, intellectual disability sometimes. The incidence varies hugely from person to person.

Wishing you both very well, learning about autism in general, but, very importantly, about DGS in particular, is the way to go.

It could be either! Flapping or stimming can happen when the person is happy or stressed. Add the primary care giver you will figure out which.

Ah that’s ok then. Going by the rest of his body language I’ve always took it to mean that he’s happy and excited, but suddenly I’ve started to doubt myself and worry that maybe it means things may just a wee bit too overwhelming for him.

Lots more helpful advice and research recommendations for me I see. Thanks all, I really do appreciate it.

My son was diagnosed early like your grandson might be. I did find lots of books deal with far older children and experiences. At the age he is now (3) best things I have done is The Early Birds Autism Course, working with Portage and other professionals and going to groups for children with additional needs and meeting other parents.

I would highly recommend doing the cache level 2 understanding autism course, which is free. It will give a good introduction to autism. Also the early bird course, which presumably his parents will go on, it would be useful for you also to attend. National autistic society website is good and has lots of video clips that will be helpful and they also have an online forum where you may find other grandparents to talk to.

@Soggydog
Not all autistic children have sensory sensitivity though

Hence me saying prevalent, as opposed to every child. Certainly with my kids it is vital to understand their sensory needs to regulate them and help them deal with situations and places they might find difficult. And I have found it helpful to work out how best to support a significant number of the children who are autistic or have other additional needs that I have worked with. One size doesn't fit all and my kids are certainly very different to each other. In some areas one needs a lot of sensory input, eg a lot of heavy pressure touch to calm him whereas if the other is upset they can't be touched as it upsets them more.

Where I live people are offered a course on sensory processing after their child is diagnosed with autism and it was part of a parenting course.

Where I live people are offered a course on sensory processing after their child is diagnosed with autism and it was part of a parenting course.

Really? That sounds amazing. GS’s parents haven’t been offered anything like that as yet.

So anyway I have ordered a couple of the books you have recommended and am waiting for someone to call today to explain more about The Early Birds Autism Course ( bit worried about that as I haven’t done any form of studying for 35 years and my brain has turn to shit). Isend is going to visit my GS for the first time this morning, so we are now on the journey (and looking forward) to learning as much as we can about how my gorgeous GS’s beautiful mind works.

It’s fiction but ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ is also a good read. The main character is Autistic and gives a good insight into his thoughts and feelings.

I don’t know why it’s capitalised the word autistic that wasn’t intentional

Thanks @Mollysocks, I’ll Google that now.