April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day and April is Autism Awareness Month. One of the best things we can do to help others is first to try to understand them. With that in mind we would like to highlight some of the resources here at the Lititz Public Library. Nonfiction books give you perspectives on the autism spectrum from experts, parents, and individuals who are autistic. We also have fiction books for adults, teens, and children and movies to see how individuals with autism may experience the world and what it is like for friends and family members who have loved ones on the autism spectrum.
Nonfiction Books
An outsider’s guide to humans : what science taught me about what we do and who we are / Camilla Pang, PHD Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of eight, Camilla Pang struggled to understand the world around her. Desperate for a solution, she asked her mother if there was an instruction manual for humans that she could consult. With no blueprint to life, Pang began to create her own, using the language she understands best: science.
Fall down 7 times get up 8 : a young man’s voice from the silence of autism / Naoki Higashida ; translated by K A Yoshida and David Mitchell ; introduction by David Mitchell. “Naoki Higashida wrote The Reason I Jump as a 13-year-old boy. Now, he shares his thoughts and experiences as a 24-year old young man with severe autism. In short, powerful chapters, he explores education, identity, family, society and personal growth. He also allows readers to experience profound moments we take for granted.
Neurotribes : the legacy of autism and the future of neurodiversity / Steve Silberman. What is autism? A devastating developmental disorder, a lifelong disability, or a naturally occurring form of cognitive difference akin to certain forms of genius? In truth, it is all of these things and more — and the future of our society depends on our understanding it. WIRED reporter Steve Silberman unearths the secret history of autism, long suppressed by the same clinicians who became famous for discovering it, and finds surprising answers to the crucial question of why the number of diagnoses has soared in recent years.
Love that boy : what two presidents, eight road trips, and my son taught me about a parent’s expectations / Ron Fournier. LOVE THAT BOY is a uniquely personal story about the causes and costs of outsized parental expectations. What we want for our children–popularity, normalcy, achievement, genius–and what they truly need–grit, empathy, character–are explored by National Journal’s Ron Fournier, who weaves his extraordinary journey to acceptance around the latest research on childhood development and stories of other loving-but-struggling parents”
10 things you can do right now to help your child with autism / Jonathan Levy. What You Can Do Right Now to Help Your Child with Autism gives you the best techniques you can do – right now – to work with your child and draw him or her back into our interactive world. The ten techniques in the book are not just explained in detail, they are also illustrated by true stories of Mr. Levy’s work with children with autism (and their parents).
Parenting bright kids with autism : helping twice-exceptional children with Asperger’s and high-functioning autism / Claire E. Hughes-Lynch. “Parenting Bright Kids With Autism discusses the frustrations, the diagnoses, the challenges, and the joys as parents help their gifted children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) thrive in school and at home. This book: Helps families navigate twice-exceptional life by translating best practice into helpful advice. Guides parents who are trying to reach out, find information, and develop their child’s talents. Helps parents acknowledge and get help for, but not focus on, areas of challenge. Is written by a professor of special education who is also a mother of a gifted child with high-functioning autism.
Ten things every child with autism wishes you knew / Ellen Notbohm. “Ellen’s personal experiences as a parent of children with autism and ADHD, a celebrated autism author, and a contributor to numerous publications, classrooms, conferences, and websites around the world coalesce to create a guide for all who come in contact with a child on the autism spectrum. This updated edition delves into expanded thought and deeper discussion of communication issues, social processing skills, and the critical roles adult perspectives play in guiding the child with autism to a meaningful, self-sufficient, productive life.”
Books for children and teens
It was supposed to be sunny / by Samantha Cotterill. “Laila’s birthday party, perfectly planned with her autism in mind, goes awry due to a change in weather and an accident with her cake, but with the help of her mom and her service dog, Laila knows she can handle this”– Provided by publisher.
Isaac and his amazing Asperger superpowers! / Melanie Walsh. A little boy with Asperger’s syndrome celebrates his differences while explaining how he often has more energy than other kids, has very acute senses, and says things that may be blunt but are never intended to be mean.
Rules / Cynthia Lord. Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She’s spent years trying to teach David the rules from “a peach is not a funny-looking apple” to “keep your pants on in public” — in order to head off David’s embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a surprising, new sort-of friend, and Kristi, the next-door friend she’s always wished for, it’s her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?
The space we’re in / Katya Balen. Frank loves soccer, codes, riding his bike, and playing with his friends. His brother Max is five. Max only eats foods that are beige or white, hates baths, and if he has to wear a t-shirt that isn’t gray with yellow stripes he melts down down down. Frank longs for the brother he was promised by his parents before Max was born But when tragedy strikes, Frank finds a way to try and repair their fractured family and in doing so learns to love Max for who he is.
A boy called Bat / written by Elana K. Arnold with pictures by Charles Santoso. When his veterinarian mom brings home a stray baby skunk that needs rehabilitation before it can be placed in a wild animal shelter, Bat, who has autism, resolves to prove that he’s up to the challenge of caring for the skunk permanently.
Things I should have known : a novel / Claire LaZebnik. An unforgettable story about autism, sisterhood, and first love that’s perfect for fans of Jenny Han, Sophie Kinsella, and Sarah Dessen. New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things Julie Buxbaum raved: “I couldn’t put it down.
The love letters of Abelard and Lily / by Laura Creedle. When Lily Michaels-Ryan ditches her ADHD meds and lands in detention with Abelard, she’s intrigued–he seems thirty seconds behind, while she feels thirty seconds ahead. It doesn’t hurt that he’s brilliant and beautiful. When Abelard posts a quote from The Letters of Abelard and Heloise online, their mutual affinity for ancient love letters connects them. The two fall for each other. Hard. But is it enough to bridge their differences in person?
Books and Movies for Adults
Harmony : a novel / Carolyn Parkhurst. How far will a mother go to save her family? The Hammond family is living in DC, where everything seems to be going just fine, until it becomes clear that the oldest daughter, Tilly, is developing abnormally-a mix of off-the-charts genius and social incompetence. Once Tilly-whose condition is deemed undiagnosable-is kicked out of the last school in the area, her mother Alexandra is out of ideas.
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time / Mark Haddon. Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic, fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor’s dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.
The bride test / Helen Hoang. Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions–like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better–that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.
The Rosie project / Graeme Simsion. Don Tillman, a professor of genetics, sets up a project designed to find him the perfect wife, starting with a questionnaire that has to be adjusted a little as he goes along. Then he meets Rosie, who is everything he’s not looking for in a wife, but she ends up his friend as he helps her try and find her biological father.
Mozart and the whale / Millennium Films presents ; a Robert Lawrence production. Donald and Isabelle have a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. Donald, a good-natured but hapless cab driver has a knack for numbers. He falls head over heals in love with the beautiful but complex Isabelle when she joins the autism support group he leads.–From container.
Salmon fishing in The Yemen / CBS Films presents in association with BBC Films. A London fisheries expert is approached by a consultant to help realize a sheik’s vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert and embarks on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible possible.
Adam / Fox Searchlight Pictures presents an Olympus Pictures production in association with Serenade Films, Deer Path Productions and Vox3 Films. Adam is a handsome but intriguing young man who has Asperger’s syndrome and has led a sheltered existence. Then he meets his new neighbor, Beth. She is a beautiful, cosmopolitan young woman who pulls him into the outside world,