The Best Kind Of Different: Our Family's Journey With Asperger's Syndrome (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Change a few names and circumstances, maybe drop the household income just a bit ( ;-) ), move the family to the midwest instead of the northeast, and this is my story. It meant a lot to me to read a book about Asperger's (or HFA or ASD or whatever you prefer to call it) written from a mother's point of view. I've read clinical text after text, and first person memoir after memoir, but this book was the first time I saw MY feelings on the pages. Shonda Schilling isn't the greatest writer ever; that's why I knocked off a star on my review. And I concede that she makes it seem oh so easy to just get testing done and diagnosis made. I realize this isn't the case for most families, as testing is a long, and often very expensive process. But I won't fault the Schillings for their wealth or access to medical care. At the end of the day, they are still parenting a child with an autism spectrum disorder, and no matter what resources they have at their disposal, it is damn hard to do. Schilling writes with guarded honesty and gives a decent account of what it's like to be the primary caregiver to a kid on the spectrum. This book is a great read for any parent just starting to dip their toes into the spectrum pool. If nothing else, it's a comfort and a validation to read even on either anecdote that proves other parents have said/thought/felt *exactly* the same as you. Every ones story has merit so I wont give less than three stars on a biography. The author is very candid about her journey through accepting her sons Asperger diagnosis. I dont come away liking her but I dont think I was supposed to. It did make me envy a life so easy and paved with gold that even with three other children and a traveling husband that her sons Aspergers could be such a show stopping event in her life. Suck it up.
What do You think about The Best Kind Of Different: Our Family's Journey With Asperger's Syndrome (2010)?
Good book to see how a well to do family still has to face issues in life.
—natuallycc
Great for educating yourself and others about Aspergers Syndrome.
—firecrkr9
Great book about one family's struggle with Asperger's.
—melina14
Written with pure honesty and humor. A good read.
—Danger2all
