Product Description

Liane Holliday Willey and one of her daughters both have Asperger Syndrome. In Asperger Syndrome in the Family she looks, with honesty, wisdom and humor, at the implications this has for her family, both the Aspie and the non-Aspie members. Through personal vignettes, frank discussions and practical suggestions for dealing with everything from major to minor Aspie challenges, Liane, her husband and their three daughters bravely open their home to their readers, inviting them to look behind the curtains at their version of Aspie life. Not only does the book underscore the importance of mutual support and respect in an Aspie family - in fact in any family - it offers practical help for families in similar situations. This is a rich and positive book that will speak to all those whose lives have been affected by Asperger Syndrome.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #470455 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 172 pages

About the Author
Liane Holliday Willey is a doctor of education, a writer and a researcher who specializes in the fields of psycholinguistics and learning style differences. Dr Willey has a wonderful husband, three happy children, dedicated parents and an active social life. She also has Asperger Syndrome, just like her youngest daughter. Dr Willey's previous book, Pretending to Be Normal, described her life with Asperger Syndrome and became an international success, attracting enthusiastic reviews. A frequent guest lecturer on 'aspic' topics, Dr Willey is an energetic educator and advocate of Asperger issues.

Customer Reviews

This book explains family dynamics with AS in the picture
This book was a happy surprise. I've spent the last few years concerning myself with practical research to learn how AS affects my son, and this book was a much needed expansion to that theme. It filled a gap in many ways.

The book deals with the family as a whole, an amalgam of AS plus others in the family, and that's an aspect that hasn't had proper attention in the past. Through Willey's book, I see AS more clearly within the family context. It is the difference between seeing a red rose on its own, versus seeing it in a vase of pink roses - the same rose, but a new vision.

Secondly, this book touch on issues important to *me* as a mom and individual (how *I* might feel rather than only how the child with AS feels) and as such it was a comfort and treat. I enjoyed the whole book and most especially the chapter entitled Teeter Totter, on raising two types of children (those with AS and those without) within the same family. It is an acrobatic feat that tests many parents, and the chapter certainly struck a nerve with me. Willey puts that push-me-pull-me feeling into words extremely well and also gives good advice.

The chapter "Circling" is another favorite, but really I enjoyed it all. Besides the family aspect of the book, I felt that in reading it I had a chance to acknowledge and even honor myself and my own tinges of AS. I do not have AS but am close enough to see myself in many of Willey's experiences. In that regard, the book gave me the luxury of self-nurturing, like a dessert I've been craving but hadn't known existed. As I read, I felt my guard come down, I felt understood, and there were many times that I wanted to say, "Yes, that's what I think, too" or "Oh yes, that's it exactly."

This book is not one to hurry through. Although it's not lengthy, it's one to savor. We all know that you can go to a foreign country and visit landmarks, but the way to *really* know a place is to break bread with the locals, to see how they live, to hear their squabbles and get mud on your shoes from their garden. Liane's book is such an invitation. Savor. Listen. Get mud on your shoes. Enjoy.

READ "PRETENDING TO BE NORMAL" and then read this too!
Brave is the woman who bares her soul and family life. Asperger Syndrome is not easy to live with, and because Aspies don't look any different, people find it difficult to understand or sympathise with the way it affects every aspect of life.

People do not grow out of Asperger Syndrome, they find ways of coping with real problems every day, problems that most people find impossible to grasp.

For parents whose child has Asperger Syndrome, the confusion, embarrassment, pain and impossibility of normal life is reinforced every time they face a public that does not understand how hard an Aspie must try every day.

I read "Pretending to be Normal" first, and found it absolutely fascinating as well as useful as a parent of a child with Asperger Syndrome.
Reading "Asperger Syndrome in the Family" should be read as a sequel, it gives a deeper insight, together with practical solutions for everyday life. It is very trendy to "colour me beautiful" to create your best appearance through clothes and make-up. "Changing Rooms" extends this to our environment and the way colour can affect mood. Anything, absolutely anything, that will work with an Aspie in the family will simply help everyone to cope with life as it is - impossible, exhausting, demanding, exhilarating and utterly fascinating!

As a parent, read this book. As a human being, read this book for the difference that is normal for people who must live in a painfully misunderstood world. As a parent of an autistic spectrum child - you will find ideas, many ideas which may just work, and this author writes with enormous understanding, as a mother with an autistic daughter and as a brave and intelligent human being who knows just how hard the battle is!
Wendy Webb, author "Norfolk's Beautiful Child".

Best family book on Asperger's syndrome
This book taught me so much about my son's world. With the author's help, I can help my son meet the challenges he will face in this world. We've already begun to make small changes in our family's structure (and environment) based on Dr. Wiley's advice and so far, so good! My son read the book with us and it made for a wonderful way to learn from one another. He even decided to write his own list of how he deals with many of his own issues. If it's possible, I like this book even better than the author's other book: Pretending to be Normal.