All I Can Handle, I'm No Mother Teresa

I received my review copy of Kim Stagliano's new book, All I Can Handle, I'm No Mother Teresa a bit later than other blogger/reviewers. The book was worth the wait.

Kim Stagliano writes with candor and humor about her life. Kim and her husband, Mark, are parents to three girls, all three diagnosed with autism. She takes you through the never-a-dull-moment lives of the Staglianos, including the ups and downs of diagnosis and treatment of not only autism but also a seizure disorder, several job losses and moves, a home robbery, a daughter being abused on the school bus.

Stagliano somehow manages to take some weighty events and turn them into entertaining reading, while leaving the reader with a sense of the seriousness of autism without abandoning the fun and joy of parenting children on the spectrum.

If you are the parent of a child with autism, if you know nothing about autism, or if you're somewhere in between, I think you'll like this book.

If you're the parent of a child (or children) on the autism spectrum, you'll relate to Stagliano's story. I blinked back tears, I laughed, I nodded my head in silent understanding of so many details that she describes. (I, like Stagliano, have a daughter on the autism spectrum.)

If you're not the parent of a child with autism, I suspect that your eyes will be opened in a big way. I know that even close family members (who, in my case, live a day's drive away) have no idea some of what we've been through. You'll get a glimpse into a foreign land.

At times, Stagliano's story is that of EveryAutismMom. She gave us the word, "crapisode", the perfect term for what happens when our kids play with poop. She describes the emotion and the thought process that a lot of us went through as we watched a child's development go off track. She describes the challenges of finding services, the heartbreak of learning something late in the game that you should have been told sooner, the excitement that comes with successes.

I admire Kim Stagliano for never, ever losing her sense of humor. (I lost mine more than a few times along the way.)

I highly recommend All I Can Handle to everyone. If you're not familiar with autism, you'll learn a lot from a mom who entertains you while she's explaining the challenges our children face now and in the future.

In addition to her blog, you can find Kim Stagliano at Age of Autism and The Huffington Post.

Thanks, Kim, for being a voice not only for Mia, Gianna, and Bella, but for my daughter, too.

Skyhorse Publishing sent me a review copy of All I Can Handle so that I may read it and review it here on my blog. I am not paid for reviews and am not obligated to provide a positive review.