Best book to give ds(7) to explain Aspergers ?

[Oblomov]

Hoping to get diagnosis in next few weeks. Probably ASD rather than AS. But thats fine with me.
Talked to ds about it. And mentioned that I had seen a book on Mn, written by a boy who had it, explaining what it felt like. Ds liked this idea very much.
Can I now find it ? >

so, any suggestions ?

Thought :
Martian in playground ?
Luke Jackson: Freaks, geeks, & AS ?
AS , the universe & everything: Kenneth Hall

Worried that they may be a bit too hard for a 7 yr old.

Then read book
and it suggested Kenneth Hall and also the
Blue Bottle Mystery, an AS adventure by Kathy Hoopman.

Sounded good.
which one might be best ?

Cats have got Aspergers?

Bluebottle mystery is a nice book if your DS is quite an advanced reader for 7. Better for a 9 yo.

How "old" a 7 year old is he?

I oculd have read Freaks, Geeks etc at 7 ish, probably (goingon remembering what I was reading, iyswim!) and taken most of it in, and then reread and revisited over the next few years. It is an account of Luke's thoughts and feelings, and his family life, from what I recall (not read it for a few years).

I haven't read any of the others oyu mention, sorry.

Is there a section on the NAS website that has suggesitons (or look in their shop?)

also, check out Jessica Kingsley publishers website and see what they have

All cats have Asperger's Syndrome.
www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_32?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=all+cats+have+aspergers+syndrome&sprefix=all+cats+have+aspergers+syndrome
Simple text, lots of good discussion opportunities.

Sorry, that should be 'All cats have Asperger's syndrome' by Kathy Hoopmann, who also wrote the Blue Bottle book.

Crossed with Goblinchild!

I've just given a selection of those books to my son's school, the library was asking for donations and he's outgrown them. The London Eye Mystery is one he enjoyed too when he was around 9.
F, G and AS is one I'd save until he's a bit older, along with 'The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime'

He is very advanced 'reader'.
can be immature in many ways.
I guess thus very Aspergerist, socially. majorly.

will look at Cats, Ellen, thank you. And Goblin.
Thank you Silverfrog too.
I shall check these out. Many thanks.

From your link Goblin, I have now remebered which book it was I saw on MN.
Of mice and aliens by Kathy Hoopman. I loved of mice and men. and I thought ds would like the alien / spaceship bit.
now I 've got so many good ones I don't know which to go for !!!

If he's an good reader, then the Blue Bottle Mystery is the first in the series, includes Ben getting his DX. Of Mice and Aliens is a sequel to the Blue Bottle one.

Sorry to hyjack.

My son got diagnosed a short while ago but we havent told him. He tends to get very upset and stressed out whenever you even disapline him for something, honestly you can "tell him off" for not putting his clothes in the laundary (as much as i deserves ie a sternish word asking him to do it in the future) and he is upset by it for days.

I just haven't quite worked out "how" to tell him without him beating himself up and stressing about it.

He just can't stand crisisim of any form and even though this isn't the same I know he will concider it us thinking he's broken or not good enough but at the same time i realise at some point he is going to need to know.

I just can't see "how" to tell him without him being really upset by it, over thinking it and spending the next 10 years of his life worrying about it.

Hijack away Leiela. I too have considered such things. Not telling him. And then at the weekend I mentioned it , told him about going to see yet 'another' doctor, which he hates, and hates 'having to talk about it'. And he cried and cried and cried. And I was so upset and cross with myself.
When he eventually stopped crying, he said that he didn't want to move tables. He "didn't want to move down to the yellow table, where you have to sit , with your assistant". I assured him he was doing just fine, brilliantly and wasn't going to be moving anywhere.

It is things like this, thta make me sure thta 'less is more'. Thus I even did wonder aboiut the books. But he seems very very keen. Our freinds gave him 'Captain Underpants' last weekend and he read it in a weekend and then wrote a book report on it , saying that Captain Underpants had a suspicious smile, and wore a toupee. which I thought was pretty good for a 7 yr old. His teacher said the book report was very good and liked his choice of words.

Thus I am thinking that he might read Blue Bottle ( thanks Ellen, I will start with that one) in only a few days.
We'll see.

hmmm. Ds1 was given a book called "all dogs have ADHD" - and it's lovely. It's got a great formal - simple but effective - and there is one called "All cats have aspergers" which I am trying to get for him (he has ASD too)

Ellen recommended that one too Colditz.
Both my boys love dogs. Do you think the cats book is better than the dogs book then ?

Just realised that the dog one is ADHD. whereas the cat one is AS. Shame.

I've got the cats book and I really do not like it.

For one thing, though the pictures are cute, getting the point of them means you have to realise that the cat is standing in for a human and that the point is this particular kind of humans do things that only cats normally do. I think that's quite difficult for a person with AS to get, don't you? And though I say the pictures are cute, some of them are bordering on those cutesy calendars you get in WH Smiths.

The other thing about it is that the text throughout talks about 'the aspergers child', ie a child who is totally defined by having AS (rather than a child who has lots of qualities one of which is AS), and that it deals in massive generalisations and the third person, eg 'the aspergers child does this'.

I prefer Jude Welton's book 'Can I tell you about Asperger Syndrome', which is told by a boy called Adam who explains for himself. It's got very, very clear captioned pictures on one side of the page showing Adam, and the other side is a longer explanation of the topic. So depending on age and understanding of the child, you could read the whole book or just the picture pages and use them as the basis for discussion. And a literal-minded person with AS doesn't have to imagine that he or she is a cat to get the point of the book.

Also this book is cheaper than the cats book. It's published by Jessica Kingsley.

We borrowed Can I tell you about Asperger Syndrome from the school - DS really found it useful. His class were read it the year before he was dx-ed as someone in the year above him has AS. His teacher says you could see a lightbulb coming on as she read it as he just identified every symptom with himself.

In relation to telling DS about AS (he is 8) one time when he came home from school and he he was saying that he was getting really cross with his friend as by last break he doesn't want to talk to anyone anymore. It gave me a perfect opportunity to explain AS to him and why he finds it hard by last break to communicate!

We used Can I tell you about Asperger Syndrome? too and it was helpful. Also I am a great fan of the Arthur episode 'George and the Missing Jigsaw Piece' where George meets a boy who has AS. My DS used this to diagnose himself! You can find it in 2 parts on YouTube.

Even bigger fan of Arthur now as it also got DS out on his bicycle for first time in months - something about an episode with an old neglected bike, sort of 'ghosts of Christmas future' thing, anyway it did the trick!!

perseand, I have searched for that Arthur episode, but everywhere says it is no longer available. Thats a shame.

A great thread, have not thought of getting dd1 any books about Aspergers, she is also 7 but was diagnosed at the age of 5, she does know a fair bit about Aspergers but does not quite understand. I have read 'The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime', i'm not sure if dd1 would read it, its a great book but very hard to follow for a 7 year old. I might try dd1 with a few mentioned.

Try this - it seems to be the whole episode

I bought the Cats one for DS2 but he found it a bit hard to understand - I don't think he got the point that it was about humans!! It has helped other family members though.

I'm also looking for books for DS2 who's just been diagnosed - I've just ordered the Can I tell yoiu about Aspergers Syndrome from Amazon, it has good reviews.

Also if anyone is looking for books for siblings, this one is good www.amazon.co.uk/Brotherly-Feelings-Emotions-Aspergers-Syndrome/dp/184310850X

www.amazon.co.uk/Brotherly-Feelings-Emotions-Aspergers-Syndrome/dp/184310850X

Thanks LITSL, I've been trying to explain to DS2's younger brother. It's a shame most of the good books are about AS as my DS is HF ASD, which is very similar, but the books seem to be more about hypersensitivity and anxiety, rather than the hypo-sensitivity and short-lived tantrums of my DS.