Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism (Human Horizons) By Barry M. Prizant, Tom Fields-Meyer

Barry M. Prizant, Tom Fields-Meyer í 1 CHARACTERS

Winner of the Autism Society of Americas Dr. Temple Grandin Award

Autism is a different way of being human: it offers possibilities and opportunities, not disabilities. By understanding autistic behaviours as responses based on an individuals experiences and as strategies to cope with a chaotic world, Barry Prizant seeks to enhance a childs abilities, to teach new skills, help individuals build on their strengths and develop coping strategies that could aid the fulfilment of every childs promise.

Uniquely Human debunks many of the false and outdated stereotypes that surround autism. It is a first step towards a greater understanding of people with autism and an essential part of their successful participation in and contribution to society.

With a wealth of inspiring stories and practical advice from thousands of children and older people with autism and their families, Uniquely Human conveys a deep respect for the qualities in people on the autism spectrum that make them special. It offers a compassionate and insightful perspective that could be life changing as well as uplifting. Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism (Human Horizons)

A must read. I was so lost before I found this book but it's changed my perspective and I'm so thankful. I'm appreciating my son now for who he is and not worried about fixing or saving him from autism. I love his enthusiasms! This book has helped me shift my perspective to see things differently. I'm happier and importantly, my son seems happier, since I've started reading this. Antisemitism I needed this book than I even knew. My son was diagnosed with autism on March 8th this year, and I was basically grabbing desperately for any support/information/resources I could. I was suddenly hit with the reality that all these autism support groups I joined on FB were full of people making other people feel horrible, or endlessly talking about how horrible this was going to be for us, or how the therapies we wanted to explore were a waste of our time. It was truly devastating to a mom who just had this diagnosis confirmed. I didn't believe any of what I was reading, and I refused to believe that my husband and I were the only ones who wanted to find the positive, beautiful, unique parts of autism.
I am so grateful I came across this book. It literally was exactly what I needed at just the right time. I have told everyone in my family how important it is to me that they get themselves a copy and read it. I have told my son's OT, ST and ABA therapists how much this has impacted me positively and how it really helped me see things from a much needed perspective. I loved every single sentence in this and I cannot recommend this book enough to ANYONE who wants some refreshing insight into ASD. Thank you so much for writing this. This book came into my life at exactly the right moment and I will use everything I've learned in this writing as much as humanly possible. Antisemitism My son was diagnosed with ASD in January 2012 and it took us 3 years to put all the pieces together to get where we are today. Many of that 3 years of exploration, failure and discovery could have been reduced in duration if we had access to Dr. Pizant's book.

So many therapists (both in school and private operations) don't get it. They focus on the deficits and extinguishing behaviors when they should be asking why is that behavior present? My wife and I finally figured much of it out after trying therapy after therapy and enduring years of meltdowns and stress.

The answers for our son were
1) Our son has sensory over responsivity. Parties, amusement parks, recess are all massively over stimulating and stressful. We don't avoid these things but know he can handle only a few hours.
2) He has some challenges reading and absolutely hated to do it UNTIL we discovered how to use his enthusiasms e.g. Star Wars, Minecraft, World War 2, to get his engagement
3) He can relate better to folks if they meet him in his world from there he comes to trust you and is willing to enter your world.

We just finished a two week trip to Europe where we employed lots of sensory supports (e.g. ear muffs), using a rental car rather than public transportation (which is loud, somewhat 'unpredictable' and out of our control), we alternated big sensory days (e.g. amusement parks) with low sensory days watching TV and going to the pool. And he had NOT ONE meltdown.

We had to discover all of these strategies by ourselves largely.
Having folks like Dr. Prizant we could have discovered these strategies MUCH earlier.

My one suggestion is that the book seems to under estimate the effort that comes with convincing (often intransigent and overworked) schools to try new approaches. That than anything was the most stressful part of the journey because that's where our son receives the most therapy time. And if you can't get those changes done you have to either move schools, move district or home school. In the end, the school system we attended could not put him in a smaller classroom with peers so we had to involve a professional advocate and lawyers to get an outplacement.

Sometimes you can be positive minded as much as you want but the school administration needs to know you will do all you can to get what your child needs.

That said, I plan to buy three or four copies for many of the autism therapists in our world. If everyone could adopt Dr. Prizant's viewpoint I think special needs educators would achieve massive improvements in results and parent's lives could become much less stressed and uncertain. Antisemitism This is a brilliant book. We have muddled along doing our best for 8 years now but this book described behaviours that we have experienced and explained a lot of the reasons behind them, also reinforced what we had been doing using gut instinct by seeing it written down. If you are trying to defeat autism or feel you need a cure this is NOT the book for you, if you have accepted your child/yourself for who they /you are and are looking for help them through the challenges ( and let's be honest sometimes it's bl**dy hard) and to look forward with optimism buy this book immediately. Wish it had been around 8 yrs ago ! With thx to Steve Silverman fir recommendation Antisemitism Reading Barry Prizant's Uniquely Human was like stepping onto a sunlit balcony overlooking the ocean and breathing in an abundance of fresh, invigorating air. He gets it! Barry is one of the few neurotypicals who truly understands the autistic mind. Many, many times, as I read the book, I found myself saying Yes!, Yes! to his insight and his approach. Barry does not see autistic behaviours as aberrant, something to correct. Instead, he sees all behaviour as human behaviour. Instead of trying to fix us and our behaviours, Barry asks a very simple question: Why? Why do some of us flap our hands when excited? Why does a change in routine throw some of us for a loop?

Knowing that we have many ways of coping, of communicating, of managing to survive if not thrive in this neurotypical world is essential to understanding who we are. Too many people — professionals and parents — think that autistics need to be forced into becoming as normal as possible.Uniquely Human breaks that mould. Barry understands that neurotypicals and neurotypical social constructs should instead move toward inclusion of autistics just as they are. Of course, if an individual's behaviours are in some way harmful, then we would want to reduce the possibility of harm, just as we would want to do for anyone, autistic or not.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is either autistic themselves or for whom autism is a part of their lives, personally or professionally.

— Robert Watkins, autistic self advocate, Neurodiversity Ambassador, autistic.ly Antisemitism

Uniquely

Brilliant involving book with lots of examples of autistic kids and how different they are. Filled with engaging experiences the author had in his career. Helped me to understand as a parent going with your gut is often right, there is no easy answer in this book but alot of useful insights. Antisemitism I rarely leave reviews but felt compelled to write one after only being half way through this book in the hope that it might help reach someone in understanding their child or maybe a child they care for. I wish this book was given to me when my son was diagnosed. 7 years in and I understand my child quite well now but reading this book was a feeling of at last someone understands my child. It’s eye opening, re affirming, and helps see things from their world which can be so hard for us to understand and comprehend. It’s helped me to re think a few problems we are facing and confirmed my thought on others. Everyone should read this book especially those caring for or working with children with autism, especially if trying to understand behaviours. Highly recommend this is the best autism book I have read to date, thank you to the author! Antisemitism Must read for every parents of a child with ASD, for every school teacher and for every specialist who works with children. There are so many myths and misunderstanding about autism, especially HFA you need a book like that to get your head together. Read it before you read anything else on the subject. Antisemitism Whether you are a parent of a child with autism or an aunt, nan, teacher of one, you would definitely benefit from reading this book, which is one of the best books I've read on the subject (and I have read MANY books in the last 4 years). Antisemitism