Nobody ever said it was going to be easy, nobody ever said it wouldn't be hard but how do you learn to cope when your world has been turned upside down? How do you adpat when you realise that everything that you thought you were...isn't? How do you live in a world not designed for you?This is the situation that our plucky hero finds himself in after having been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. With a failed marriage behind him and several disasterous relationships ahead of him, prepare to enter a world of self-harming, depression, suicide, domestic abuse and a seemingly never ending stream of kicks to the head.This follow up to the smash hit Wired-Up Wrong details the next four years in author Neil Shepherd's life. Told in his unique style of dark humour mixed with drama-queen histrionics (and an over use of brackets), this brutally honest book shows the very depths that man can sink to...and the strength of the human spirit.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “As sweet and funny and sad and true and heartfelt a memoir as one could find.” —from the foreword by Augusten Burroughs Ever since he was young, John Robison longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits—an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes (and stick his younger brother, Augusten Burroughs, in them)—had earned him the label “social deviant.” It was not until he was forty that he was diagnosed with a form of autism called Asperger’s syndrome. That understanding transformed the way he saw himself—and the world. A born storyteller, Robison has written a moving, darkly funny memoir about a life that has taken him from developing exploding guitars for KISS to building a family of his own. It’s a strange, sly, indelible account—sometimes alien yet always deeply human.

Growing up is never easy but what's it like if you're 'different'? Actually, what's it like if you're 'different' but you don't know that you're 'different'? Having led what he thought was a 'normal' life for 31 years, our plucky hero's world was thrown into confusion when he was diagnosed with something called 'Asperger Syndrome'. But people don't catch Asperger Syndrome so where did it come from? Was it there all along and not noticed? Set against the backdrop of the North East of England in the 70's and 80's, and having to cope with life with a disabled father as well as facing the everyday challenges that most people take for granted, this is the insiders view of one boy's life with AS - from the safety of make-believe worlds to the terrifying depths of suicide, self-harming, and isolation. Sometimes harrowing, sometimes surreal, but never dull, this is the story of a little boy's struggle to not only grow up and survive in the world, but to find out what he truly was.

If you’re in a relationship with someone who has Asperger’s syndrome, it’s likely that your partner sometimes seems cold and insensitive. Other times, he or she may have emotional outbursts for no apparent reason. And in those moments when you can’t understand each other at all, you both feel fed up, frustrated, and confused. The behavior of people with Asperger’s can be hard to understand and easy to misinterpret, which is why it’s so important to learn more about your partner’s condition. The tools presented in Loving Someone with Asperger’s Syndrome will help you build intimacy and improve the way you and your partner communicate. Filled with assessments and exercises for both you and your partner, this book will help you forge a deeper, more fulfilling relationship. This book will teach you how to: • Understand the effect of Asperger’s syndrome on your partner • Practice effective communication skills • Constructively work through frustrations and fights • Establish relationship ground rules to help you fulfill each others’ needs

@page { margin: 2cm } p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } a:link { color: #0000ff } Through 150 entries, Samantha Craft presents a life of humorous faux pas, profound insights, and the everyday adventures of an autistic female. In her vivid world, nothing is simple and everything appears pertinent. Even an average trip to the grocery store is a feat and cause for reflection. From being a dyslexic cheerleader with dyspraxia going the wrong direction, to bathroom stalking, to figuring out if she can wear that panty-free dress, Craft explores the profoundness of daily living through hilarious anecdotes and heart-warming childhood memories. Ten years in the making, Craft’s revealing memoir brings Asperger’s Syndrome into a spectrum of brilliant light—exposing the day-to-day interactions and complex inner workings of an autistic female from childhood to midlife.

An extraordinary memoir about the cutting-edge brain therapy that dramatically changed the life and mind of John Elder Robison, the New York Times bestselling author of Look Me in the Eye NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST Imagine spending the first forty years of your life in darkness, blind to the emotions and social signals of other people. Then imagine that someone suddenly switches the lights on. It has long been assumed that people living with autism are born with the diminished ability to read the emotions of others, even as they feel emotion deeply. But what if we’ve been wrong all this time? What if that “missing” emotional insight was there all along, locked away and inaccessible in the mind? In 2007 John Elder Robison wrote the international bestseller Look Me in the Eye, a memoir about growing up with Asperger’s syndrome. Amid the blaze of publicity that followed, he received a unique invitation: Would John like to take part in a study led by one of the world’s foremost neuroscientists, who would use an experimental new brain therapy known as TMS, or transcranial magnetic stimulation, in an effort to understand and then address the issues at the heart of autism? Switched On is the extraordinary story of what happened next. Having spent forty years as a social outcast, misreading others’ emotions or missing them completely, John is suddenly able to sense a powerful range of feelings in other people. However, this newfound insight brings unforeseen problems and serious questions. As the emotional ground shifts beneath his feet, John struggles with the very real possibility that choosing to diminish his disability might also mean sacrificing his unique gifts and even some of his closest relationships. Switched On is a real-life Flowers for Algernon, a fascinating and intimate window into what it means to be neurologically different, and what happens when the world as you know it is upended overnight. Praise for Switched On “An eye-opening book with a radical message . . . The transformations [Robison] undergoes throughout the book are astonishing—as foreign and overwhelming as if he woke up one morning with the visual range of a bee or the auditory prowess of a bat.”—The New York Times “Astonishing, brave . . . reads like a medical thriller and keeps you wondering what will happen next . . . [Robison] takes readers for a ride through the thorny thickets of neuroscience and leaves us wanting more.”—The Washington Post “Fascinating for its insights into Asperger’s and research, this engrossing record will make readers reexamine their preconceptions about this syndrome and the future of brain manipulation.”—Booklist “Like books by Andrew Solomon and Oliver Sacks, Switched On offers an opportunity to consider mental processes through a combination of powerful narrative and informative medical context.”—BookPage “A mind-blowing book that will force you to ask deep questions about what is important in life. Would normalizing the brains of those who think differently reduce their motivation for great achievement?”—Temple Grandin, author of The Autistic Brain “At the heart of Switched On are fundamental questions of who we are, of where our identity resides, of difference and disability and free will, which are brought into sharp focus by Robison’s lived experience.”—Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Effect

The slyly funny, sweetly moving memoir of an uncoventional dad's relationship with his equally offbeat son. Misfit, truant, delinquent: Robison was never a model child, and he wasn't a model dad either. Diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at the age of forty, he approached fatherhood as a series of logic puzzles and practical jokes. When his son, Cubby, asked, 'Where did I come from?' John said he'd bought him at the Kid Store, and that the salesman had cheated him by promising Cubby would 'do all chores'. He read electrical engineering manuals to Cubby at bedtime. He told Cubby that wizards turned children to stone when they misbehaved. Still, John got the basics right. He gave Cubby a life of adventure: by the time Cubby was ten, he'd driven a freight locomotive and run an antique Rolls-Royce into a fence. The one thing John couldn't figure out was what to do when school authorities decided that Cubby was dumb and stubborn - the very same thing he had been told as a child. Did Cubby have Asperger's too? The answer was uncertain.One thing was clear, though: by the time he turned seventeen, Cubby had become a brilliant chemist - smart enough to make military-grade explosives and bring State and Federal agents calling. With Cubby facing an expensive trial, and up to sixty years in prison, both father and son were forced to take stock of their lives, finally accepting that being 'on the spectrum' is both a challenge and a gift. By turns tender, suspenseful and hilarious, this is more than just the story of raising Cubby. It's the story of a father and son who grow up together. EARLY PRAISE FOR RAISING CUBBY John Elder Robison is one of my autism super heroes because he bravely brings humor and humility to the heart and soul of the taboo and unexpected corners of life lived with autism. His new book, Raising Cubby, is more than a memoir about a father and son bound by their Asperger syndrome. It's a story that reminds us how precious and precarious the parent child relationship is and how beautiful our lives can be when we are share that ride together. Raising Cubby is Robison's best work yet.-Liane Holliday-Willey, coauthor of Pretending To Be Normal: Living with Asperger Syndrome John Robison's skill as a master storyteller is nowhere more evident than in his third book, Raising Cubby. This heartwarming memoir takes us on the colorful journey of John and his son, Jack (aka Cubby), as they learn about the world together. At turns funny and poignant, it is, above all, the story of the powerful love of a father for his son. Told in the immensely entertaining and engaging style of John Elder Robison, it should be on everyone's must-read list. -Lori S. Shery, President and Founder, ASPEN(R)