This book is about how the author and his family empowered their son to transform himself from an extremely autistic toddler, written off by the medical establishment as severely disabled, into a happy and successful 6-year-old living a full contented life and thriving in a mainstream school. It is about the unusually effective treatments they discovered, what they learnt from them and how they strive to continue applying these lessons as he grows and new challenges emerge. It also proposes a radical and inspiring new way to understand the autistic condition, based on the inner-richness of each autistic person rather than on their external behaviour. Its aim is to serve as an important and practical resource for other parents and carers, leading them to better appreciate the unsuspected richness that silently exists deep within their child, and helping them to understand and apply new attitudes and behaviours towards them that will nurture rather than alienate. Through the many episodes recounted from one family's journey, Transforming Autism provides living examples of such an approach. The Transforming Autism blog supplements this book with further insights and ideas. It can be found at http: //transformingautism.co.uk Guy Shahar has also authored a collection of stories called "Leaving Town," which is available from Amazon.

There have been huge advances in our ability to diagnose autism and in the development of effective interventions that can change children’s lives. In this extraordinary book, Lynn Kern Koegel, a leading clinician, researcher, and cofounder of the renowned Autism Research Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara, combines her cutting-edge expertise with the everyday perspectives of Claire LaZebnik, a writer whose experience with a son with autism provides a rare window into the disorder. Together, they draw on the highly effective “pivotal response” approach developed at the center to provide concrete ways of improving the symptoms of autism and the emotional struggles that surround it, while reminding readers never to lose sight of the humor that lurks in the disability’s quirkiness or the importance of enjoying your child. From the shock of diagnosis to the step-by-step work with verbal communication, social interaction, self-stimulation, meltdowns, fears, and more, the answers are here-in a book that is as warm and nurturing as it is authoritative.

“An in-depth, scientific—yet hopeful and positive—look at how the brain and body work together . . . [Dr. Martha Herbert] has developed a new way of seeing autism.”—Library Journal After years of treating patients and analyzing scientific data, Harvard Medical School researcher and clinician Dr. Martha Herbert offers a revolutionary new view of autism and a transformative strategy for dealing with it. Autism, she concludes, is not a hardwired impairment programmed into a child’s genes and destined to remain fixed forever. Instead, it is the result of a cascade of events, many seemingly minor. And while other doctors may dismiss your child’s physical symptoms—the anxiety, sensory overload, sleeplessness, frequent illnesses or seizures—as coincidental or irrelevant, Dr. Herbert sees them as vital clues to what the underlying problems are, and how to help. Drawing from the newest research, technologies, and insights, as well as inspiring case studies of both children and adults, Dr. Herbert guides you toward restoring health and resiliency in your loved one with autism. Her specific recommendations aim to provide optimal nutrition, reduce toxic exposures, limit stress, and open the door to learning and creativity. As thousands of families who have cobbled together these solutions themselves already know, this program can have dramatic benefits—for your child with autism, and for you, your whole family, and perhaps your next baby as well. “Invaluable . . . a must-read . . . Dr. Martha Herbert gets it. She not only gets it, but she puts it out there in an awesome book so the rest of us can get it, too.”—Autism Watch “[Herbert] goes further than most autism specialists. Her impressive science background merges with common sense and even intuitive sense [making] complex scientific and medical materials seamlessly blend with a holistic viewpoint.”—Relieve Autism “Hope and practical guidance . . . With this easy-to-read book, parents can gain wisdom on how to guide your child to achieve a healthy and thriving life.”—Mom Central

Thriving with Autism through Neurofeedback Therapy Are you looking for a tool that will get you faster and further results? In the beginning, an autism diagnosis can feel devastating. Some moments are brilliant, while others are a confusing tangle of meltdowns that may even include violence. In those moments, void of hope, you would do almost anything to make it stop. Sometimes it simply comes down to how you use-and diffuse-a situation. Louloua Smadi understands this desperation well. Her brother, Milo, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at two and a half years of age. Today, he is training to become a professional pastry chef. It's the years in between that she shares in her book, From Client to Clinician: The Transformative Power of Neurofeedback Therapy for Families Living with Autism and Other Special Needs. Everything began to change when the family met Dr. Lynette Louise. Her integrative approach using neurofeedback and play was the catalyst that helped Milo to thrive and grow. Louloua even used the therapy herself to overcome poor concentration and focus. Greatly impressed with her own improvements, she was inspired to become a practitioner herself. Her path from client to clinician illustrates the different approaches to healing using neurofeedback and highlights the gap between the research and clinical worlds. Whether you are a parent, caregiver, therapist, or potential client, this book will help you gain a clear understanding of neurofeedback therapy and how this personal and holistic therapy can help you or your loved ones overcome a challenging diagnosis.

This book is a collection of articles written between 1992 and 2005 which attempts to bring two universes together - Bion's referential and autistic phenomena. The field of clinical work which the author uses is that of "learning from the emotional experience" (Bion, 1962) and the theory of Transformations (Bion, 1965), a method of observing mental phenomena within this field, which also encompasses the areas of neurosis and psychosis. The author makes use of Tustin's concept (1965) which proposes that the personality has, apart from the neurotic and psychotic parts, an autistic part in which prevails sensations in place of emotions. The author suggests adding an autistic area to the theory of Transformations, proposing a new type of transformation beyond those suggested by Bion: the autistic transformations. The merit of this proposal is to expand Bion's referential to the autistic area, an area dominated by sensations without representation in the mind.

As a boy, Raun Kaufman was diagnosed by multiple experts as severely autistic, with an IQ below 30, and destined to spend his life in an institution. Years later, Raun graduated with a degree in Biomedical Ethics from Brown University and has become a passionate and articulate autism expert and educator with no trace of his former condition. So what happened? Thanks to The Son-Rise Program, a revolutionary method created by his parents, Raun experienced a full recovery from autism. (His story was recounted in the best-selling book Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues and in the award-winning NBC television movie Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love.) In Autism Breakthrough, Raun presents the ground-breaking principles behind the program that helped him and thousands of other families with special children. Autism, he explains, is frequently misunderstood as a behavioral disorder when, in fact, it is a social relational disorder. Raun explains what it feels like to be autistic and shows how and why The Son-Rise Program works. A step-by-step guide with clear, practical strategies that readers can apply immediately—in some cases, parents see changes in their children in as little as one day—Autism Breakthrough makes it possible for these special children to defy their original often-very-limited prognoses. Parents and educators learn how to enable their children to create meaningful, caring relationships, vastly expand their communications, and to participate successfully in the world. An important work of hope, science, and progress, Autism Breakthrough presents the powerful ideas and practical applications that have already changed the lives of families all over the world.