Making Peace with Autism: One Family's Story of Struggle, Discovery, and Unexpected Gifts » (Bargain)

Susan Senator is a mother of three, a writer, a speaker, and advocate for children and the disabled. Her writing on autism has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Education Week, Teacher Magazine, and Exceptional Parent Magazine. She has been invited to the White House in connection with her writings about the Special Olympics. 

Receiving a diagnosis of autism is a major crisis for parents and families, who often feel as if their world has come to an end. In this insightful narrative, a courageous and inspiring mother explains why a diagnosis of autism doesn't have to shatter a family's dreams of happiness. Senator offers the hard-won, in-the-trenches wisdom of someone who's been there and is still there today—and she demonstrates how families can find courage, contentment, and connection in the shadow of autism.

In Making Peace with Autism, Susan Senator describes her own journey raising a child with a severe autism spectrum disorder, along with two other typically developing boys. Without offering a miracle treatment or cure, Senator offers valuable strategies for coping successfully with the daily struggles of life with an autistic child.

Along the way she models the combination of stamina and courage, openness, and humor that has helped her family to survive—and even to thrive. Topics include: the agony of diagnosis, grieving and acceptance, finding the right school program, helping siblings with their struggles and concerns, having fun together, and keeping the marriage strong.

Library Journal

Senator, whose writing on autism has appeared in the New York Times and the Boston Globe, shares her firsthand experiences with the disorder by telling the story of her son Nat, who was diagnosed in 1993 at age three. She describes the early indicators of Nat's autism, his social interaction problems with his classmates and two siblings (who are not autistic), his responses to various medications, and the stress placed on the family as a whole. Easy-to-spot text boxes appear throughout providing Senator's helpful hints and tips for working with and relating to an autistic child. Subjects for these boxes include social stories (which she calls "Nat Books"), going on vacations, leaving autistic children with others, and educational planning meetings. A strong entry in the personal narrative subgenre, this compares well with Robert Hughes's Running with Walker and is recommended for all public and academic libraries with autism or education collections. [Trumpeter Books is a new frontlist imprint of Shambhala.-Ed.]-Corey Seeman, Univ. of Toledo Libs. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Preface     ix
Prologue     1
Wondering     7
Now We Know     31
The First School Programs     51
Life with Our Two Small Boys     77
Hitting Bottom     99
A New Baby in the Family     123
Building a Strong Marriage within Autism's Turmoil     139
Handling the Worst of Times     167
Our Most Important Discovery     189
Just a Family     219
Epilogue     241
Acknowledgments     245
A Brief Overview of Treatments and Interventions     247
Glossary: Key Terms Used in the Special Ed System     231
Resources     255
About the Author     259