What Is It Like to be Me?: A Book About a Boy with Asperger's Syndrome

Join Greg, a young boy with Asperger's syndrome (AS), as he tells us all about the world as he sees and experiences it. We learn about all the things he loves, including his routine and numbers, as well as his special interest in batteries (he even has a rectangular one!). Greg also tells us about the things that he finds challenging, from a change in his beloved routine to reading facial expressions, and how these things can sometimes leave him upset and overwhelmed. By explaining the way he feels and how best to calm him down when it all gets too much, Greg helps us to understand AS and how it affects the way he views the people and objects around him.

With comprehensive sections for parents and professionals on AS and the impact it can have on the family unit and life in the wider community, this charmingly illustrated book helps to increase awareness and understanding of Asperger's syndrome. It will be of interest to families of children with autism spectrum disorders, as well as teachers and other professionals working with children on the autism spectrum.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Tony Attwood.

1. Father's Story: My son has Asperger's syndrome.
2. Hi! My name is Greg.
3. My senses are very sensitive.
4. When it gets to be too much.
5. How you can calm me down.
6. There are some things I am very good at.
7. There are things I'm not at all good at.
8. When something interests me very much.
9. My beloved routine, rituals and order.
10. Magical world of hidden meanings.
11. Ummm, what about emotions?
12. More on reading faces and understanding what's going on.
13. Where are you looking, little boy?
14. Me, my school and other children.
15. I have Asperger's syndrome.
16. Asperger's syndrome. Dr. Branka D. Juriic.
17. Family and Asperger's syndrome. Dr. Katarina Kompan Erzar.

References.

Presentation of the authors.

"The book is accessible to a wide audience, including children with and without Asperger's syndrome, parents, other family members and carers, and professionals. The section from Greg's perspective is illustrated with engaging pictures that help the reader see through Greg's eyes and into his world. This, along with the father's narrative, makes the book a worthwhile, highly recommended read... The first section, "A father's story", provides a heart-felt, honest account of the challenges that can be faced by parents of a child with Asperger's syndrome. It is written in a way that will be meaningful and accessible to other parents and details experiences to which other parents will relate... The written narrative provides a clear, uncomplicated account of Greg's perspective on the world and offers simple explanations of the reasons why the behaviour of children with Asperger's syndrome can be different and, at times, difficult... Klemenc emphasises the complexities of our social and emotional worlds and successfully explains that, for a child with Asperger's syndrome, social and emotional understanding is not automatic or intuitive but like learning a foreign language.' "
- International Journal of Developmental Disabilities

"I strongly recommend this enchanting book for parents, family members (especially grandparents and siblings) and professionals such as teachers, who can quickly learn and appreciate the characteristics of Asperger's syndrome and how they affect the child in the class and the playground, and therapists and clinicians, who can use the text and illustrations when explaining Asperger's syndrome to a parent or child."
- Tony Attwood