Michele Brooke sent me a complimentary to-review copy of The Autism Sisterhood: A (brief) Manual ($9.95). The little paperback (48 pages) is less the "welcome to the club" book that I thought it would be and more of a manual of hints and tips for all autism moms (and dads and family members).The chapters are short; the you'll probably read it on one sitting. Brooke, a big fan of the outdoors, covers a variety of topics, from science and reading to cooking and playing, plus a few more (including electronics, taking care of yourself, music, shopping, holidays). Brooke manages to pack quite a few topics into this little book.
There was a point in our journey, the first four years (maybe more), where Brooke's advice would have depressed me. Michele Brooke's two boys are diagnosed with high functioning autism. By contrast, I had a child diagnosed with plain ol' autism, who could not join me, could not share attention with me in a way to make some of Boooke's ideas happen at my house. Keeping my daughter with me required a lot of work on my part, and I spent a lot of my time and attention on that. In The Autism Sisterhood, Brooke assumes a higher level of development than my daughter had without explaining how to get to that higher level of development (for us, that meant abandoning aba and switching to a relationship based intervention, which made ALL the difference).
Brooke thinks outside the box in her strategies and she passes along her ideas to the reader. I suspect you'll find an idea or two that you hadn't thought of before. Her ideas require items you already have at home and are easy to implement (provided you have a child who can join you). Brooke's little manual is upbeat and encouraging, to a mom (or dad) new to a diagnosis of HFA.
Michele Brooke sent me a complimentary to-review copy of The Autism Sisterhood: A (brief) Manual ($9.95). I am not paid for reviews and am not obligated to provide a positive review.
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