Hello Everyone,
This month’s BLOG will continue the opportunity to view my slideshow GALLERY of Books and focus on the offered Extended Book Reviews. The slideshow shows the book covers, divided into the following categories ~
AMAZING ADVENTURES
DIAGNOSIS, DOCTORS, DENIAL
SAVVY SOLUTIONS
SCHOOL ON THE SHORT BUS
Hopefully, these stories will help parents, clinicians, academics, and all people #Autism, in connecting with those who have gone before us on their Autism Journey. This April's 2025 BLOG will continue to give snippets of my Extended Book Reviews; find full Extended Book Reviews on the website MENU; along with a LINK to purchase the eBook. You will find each Autism story to be engaging, compelling, and as different as each family's Autism journey.
From the Category – DIAGNOSIS, DOCTORS, DENIAL. Read my full Extended Book Review, with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker; plus, LINKs to eBooks, on this website, www.sarasautismsite.com.
This month’s BLOG will continue the opportunity to view my slideshow GALLERY of Books and focus on the offered Extended Book Reviews. The slideshow shows the book covers, divided into the following categories ~
AMAZING ADVENTURES
DIAGNOSIS, DOCTORS, DENIAL
SAVVY SOLUTIONS
SCHOOL ON THE SHORT BUS
Hopefully, these stories will help parents, clinicians, academics, and all people #Autism, in connecting with those who have gone before us on their Autism Journey. This April's 2025 BLOG will continue to give snippets of my Extended Book Reviews; find full Extended Book Reviews on the website MENU; along with a LINK to purchase the eBook. You will find each Autism story to be engaging, compelling, and as different as each family's Autism journey.
From the Category – DIAGNOSIS, DOCTORS, DENIAL. Read my full Extended Book Review, with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker; plus, LINKs to eBooks, on this website, www.sarasautismsite.com.
Autism by Hand by Lorca Damon (2011). Extended Book Review with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker.
Excerpts from the book – (1% indicates location in the Kindle version of the book, instead of page numbers).
1% Over the next several months we saw professional after specialist after expert until finally we were given a final diagnosis: Carrie was somewhere on the autism spectrum and none of the specialists we saw seemed to think she was anywhere close to the high-functioning end of the arc.
Like most parents in my situation, I dove in head first in trying to find out everything I could about autism and how it was going to affect my child.
I didn’t need to know the scientific history of autism, I needed to know how to potty train my daughter. I needed to know how to teach her to talk or what to do when the day finally came that she had to go to school or had a crush on a boy or got her period. Was she every going to have a job, a checking account, and a car payment? All the research that was being done to make discoveries down the road didn’t help me with my daughter’s struggles today.
I am, however, a teacher and a mother who has been there, so this book is simply the strategies that I learned from working with my autistic child.
2% I’m basically telling you like it is the way your best friend would if she wasn’t worried about hurting you and if she didn’t feel like she doesn’t have the right, just because she doesn’t have an autistic child.
It’s time for tough love: your child is autistic. Stop saying he’s “a little bit autistic,” or my favorite, “he’s somewhere on the spectrum.” We’re all somewhere on the spectrum! We’re at the “not autistic” end! And please stop referring to you other children or your autistic child’s classmates as “neuro-typical.” They’re normal. Your autistic child is not. There I said it. Now we can move on.
4% Toolbox. Here are the things that I kept on hand for working with Carrie. Some of these might be godsends for you, some of them might be the stupidest thing you’ll ever try. Nothing here costs more than $20 so try it if you think your child will respond.
Mirrored wrap-around sunglasses, the bigger and the cheaper the better. You might want to get a few pairs of these glasses because some of them are bound to get broken in all the play. The point of the glasses is actually very simple. When you put them on they look kind of weird, which attracts you child’s attention, but when he looks at your glasses he will see himself, which is kind of intriguing. More importantly, the glasses are blocking out a large portion of the overwhelming information that is provided by the human face.
When my glasses were not handy, I have even just planted myself in front of my daughter and talked to her with my eyes closed, just so she wouldn’t be so overpowered by the intensity that is the human eye.
Several pairs of white gloves (winter kind, hardware store kind, jazz hands kind, doesn’t matter, so long as they’re white so you can write on them and light-weight enough that you won’t feel stupid wearing them everywhere you go for the rest of your life. I’m kidding. No, I’m not.) the title of the book came from the use of my hand as a visual teaching aid to my daughter.
< My Thoughts > “…use of my hand..."
Talk to the hand. When non-verbal Sonny was younger, he would hold his hand up in front of his face and babble away at it. So talking to the gloved hand would be perfect for him.
6% El cheapo plastic cups in rainbow colors, but all alike, and maybe five cups of each color. I don’t mean the disposable kind.
We stacked them, we kicked them with our right foot and then our left foot, we placed small objects carefully in each one, we lay on our backs on the floor and balanced them on our noses, we walked with them on our heads. They are absolutely limitless.
Wooden puzzles of everything under the sun. Enough said. Wooden puzzles hold up better than cardboard, and the pieces make a really satisfying clacking sound when you play with them. Plus we had ones with large, chunky knobs for handles on each piece.
Stacking blocks, preferably the old fashioned wooden kind. Same as above. They make a great noise; they’re very durable, and generally inexpensive. They can be stacked, counted, have numbers and colors on the sides. They can be named and counted. The possibilities are endless.
< My Thoughts > “They can be stacked…”
Whether it’s for a test to see if the child has met certain fine motor skill milestones, or for Psychological and Cognitive assessment tests, someone may ask your child to stack blocks.
The expectations are: 12-16 months = stack 2 blocks
Retrieved online from: https://www.pinterest.com/adammila/pins/
62% Carrie has been on the GFCF diet since she was two. She is just as autistic as the day we first fund out. However, there are certain behaviors that were greatly improved, mostly things like her verbal skills and her ability to interact with us. Carrie cried for a day or two, when we began the diet. Her routine was interrupted and she probably felt a little weird. On the fifth day Carrie put all of the alphabet magnets in order.
< My Thoughts > “…GFCF diet...”
This gluten-free, casein-free diet (GFCF) was recommended by a clinician, specifically for Carrie. Anytime children or adults try a new diet, it is important to have the approval of a physician. Also, a dietician and /or nutritionist can evaluate dietary changes and how they support any medications the person is taking.
According to Pennesi, C., Klein, L., et al. (2012), parents reported that they implemented the GFCF diet when their child has several physical symptoms. These were Gastro Intestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and constipation; food allergy symptoms, including red cheeks, red ears, rash or red ring around the mouth; hives, dark circles under eyes, sneezing, stuffed nose or itchy and watery red eyes.
Researchers found that these children had a ‘challenge’ with food proteins from gluten, casein, and soy, compared to non-symptomatic, non-autistic children. They found that after several months on a gluten-free and/or casein-free diet, parents often reported a decrease in hyperactive behavior. They also reported improvements in their child’s ability to focus, and decreases in sleep problems.
Note: For further information on ‘Gluten-Free-Casein-Free (GFCF) diet ’ go to MENU for Know Autism, Know Your Child with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker. Read online here, under – UNIT 7 - 0 Who May Help? Chapter 3 OTHER THERAPIES; Section 3: Introduction, Medication & Dietary Approaches.
99% I don’t let myself think about tomorrow, or next year, or when I’m eighty-five. If I do, I’ll miss out on the amazing things that are happening today. Today my daughter told me she loves me. Today she tried to pick out her own clothes. Today she came home and told me something she did at school without me having to play Twenty Questions. It’s not huge, but for today, it’s enough.
REFERENCE:
Pennesi, C., Klein, L., et al. (2012). Effectiveness of the gluten-free, casein-free diet for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder: Based on parental report; Nutritional Neuroscience; V15:2, p85-91.
End of excerpts from this book by Lorca Damon.
Note: Lorca Damon has several books available. Enjoy!
Thank you for reading and sharing my BLOGs. Comments are welcomed, to be viewed and answered privately. My goal is to assist families, clinicians, educators, and all people ‘autism’, to continue their journey on the Autism Highway. At the end of each website Extended Book Review, please find a source to have the whole book to read.
Regards,
Sara Luker
Paid Link Disclosure -
These Extended Book Reviews have an Amazon Link for actual book purchases. Please read this Paid Link Disclosure AKA Affiliate Links Disclosure:
Sometimes there are paid links, also known as affiliate links, used on this site. My website, www.sarasautismsite.com, is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This is an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
I may earn or receive a small paid commission from referrals for book purchases made through posts, pages, and links on this site. But I try to remain unbiased and I do not accept paid reviews. All opinions expressed here are my own.
There is no extra cost to you when purchases are made using the provided links. By using the links I provide you agree that you’ve read this paid link disclosure statement.
Thank you!
Sara Luker
Excerpts from the book – (1% indicates location in the Kindle version of the book, instead of page numbers).
1% Over the next several months we saw professional after specialist after expert until finally we were given a final diagnosis: Carrie was somewhere on the autism spectrum and none of the specialists we saw seemed to think she was anywhere close to the high-functioning end of the arc.
Like most parents in my situation, I dove in head first in trying to find out everything I could about autism and how it was going to affect my child.
I didn’t need to know the scientific history of autism, I needed to know how to potty train my daughter. I needed to know how to teach her to talk or what to do when the day finally came that she had to go to school or had a crush on a boy or got her period. Was she every going to have a job, a checking account, and a car payment? All the research that was being done to make discoveries down the road didn’t help me with my daughter’s struggles today.
I am, however, a teacher and a mother who has been there, so this book is simply the strategies that I learned from working with my autistic child.
2% I’m basically telling you like it is the way your best friend would if she wasn’t worried about hurting you and if she didn’t feel like she doesn’t have the right, just because she doesn’t have an autistic child.
It’s time for tough love: your child is autistic. Stop saying he’s “a little bit autistic,” or my favorite, “he’s somewhere on the spectrum.” We’re all somewhere on the spectrum! We’re at the “not autistic” end! And please stop referring to you other children or your autistic child’s classmates as “neuro-typical.” They’re normal. Your autistic child is not. There I said it. Now we can move on.
4% Toolbox. Here are the things that I kept on hand for working with Carrie. Some of these might be godsends for you, some of them might be the stupidest thing you’ll ever try. Nothing here costs more than $20 so try it if you think your child will respond.
Mirrored wrap-around sunglasses, the bigger and the cheaper the better. You might want to get a few pairs of these glasses because some of them are bound to get broken in all the play. The point of the glasses is actually very simple. When you put them on they look kind of weird, which attracts you child’s attention, but when he looks at your glasses he will see himself, which is kind of intriguing. More importantly, the glasses are blocking out a large portion of the overwhelming information that is provided by the human face.
When my glasses were not handy, I have even just planted myself in front of my daughter and talked to her with my eyes closed, just so she wouldn’t be so overpowered by the intensity that is the human eye.
Several pairs of white gloves (winter kind, hardware store kind, jazz hands kind, doesn’t matter, so long as they’re white so you can write on them and light-weight enough that you won’t feel stupid wearing them everywhere you go for the rest of your life. I’m kidding. No, I’m not.) the title of the book came from the use of my hand as a visual teaching aid to my daughter.
< My Thoughts > “…use of my hand..."
Talk to the hand. When non-verbal Sonny was younger, he would hold his hand up in front of his face and babble away at it. So talking to the gloved hand would be perfect for him.
6% El cheapo plastic cups in rainbow colors, but all alike, and maybe five cups of each color. I don’t mean the disposable kind.
We stacked them, we kicked them with our right foot and then our left foot, we placed small objects carefully in each one, we lay on our backs on the floor and balanced them on our noses, we walked with them on our heads. They are absolutely limitless.
Wooden puzzles of everything under the sun. Enough said. Wooden puzzles hold up better than cardboard, and the pieces make a really satisfying clacking sound when you play with them. Plus we had ones with large, chunky knobs for handles on each piece.
Stacking blocks, preferably the old fashioned wooden kind. Same as above. They make a great noise; they’re very durable, and generally inexpensive. They can be stacked, counted, have numbers and colors on the sides. They can be named and counted. The possibilities are endless.
< My Thoughts > “They can be stacked…”
Whether it’s for a test to see if the child has met certain fine motor skill milestones, or for Psychological and Cognitive assessment tests, someone may ask your child to stack blocks.
The expectations are: 12-16 months = stack 2 blocks
- 16 -18 months = stack 3 blocks
- 18-24 months = stack 4 blocks
- 22-24 months = stack 6 blocks
- 23-26 months= place 3 blocks in a row and push like a train
- 28-31 months = stack 3 blocks trying to make something
- 32-36 months = stack 9 blocks without them toppling over
Retrieved online from: https://www.pinterest.com/adammila/pins/
62% Carrie has been on the GFCF diet since she was two. She is just as autistic as the day we first fund out. However, there are certain behaviors that were greatly improved, mostly things like her verbal skills and her ability to interact with us. Carrie cried for a day or two, when we began the diet. Her routine was interrupted and she probably felt a little weird. On the fifth day Carrie put all of the alphabet magnets in order.
< My Thoughts > “…GFCF diet...”
This gluten-free, casein-free diet (GFCF) was recommended by a clinician, specifically for Carrie. Anytime children or adults try a new diet, it is important to have the approval of a physician. Also, a dietician and /or nutritionist can evaluate dietary changes and how they support any medications the person is taking.
According to Pennesi, C., Klein, L., et al. (2012), parents reported that they implemented the GFCF diet when their child has several physical symptoms. These were Gastro Intestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and constipation; food allergy symptoms, including red cheeks, red ears, rash or red ring around the mouth; hives, dark circles under eyes, sneezing, stuffed nose or itchy and watery red eyes.
Researchers found that these children had a ‘challenge’ with food proteins from gluten, casein, and soy, compared to non-symptomatic, non-autistic children. They found that after several months on a gluten-free and/or casein-free diet, parents often reported a decrease in hyperactive behavior. They also reported improvements in their child’s ability to focus, and decreases in sleep problems.
Note: For further information on ‘Gluten-Free-Casein-Free (GFCF) diet ’ go to MENU for Know Autism, Know Your Child with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker. Read online here, under – UNIT 7 - 0 Who May Help? Chapter 3 OTHER THERAPIES; Section 3: Introduction, Medication & Dietary Approaches.
99% I don’t let myself think about tomorrow, or next year, or when I’m eighty-five. If I do, I’ll miss out on the amazing things that are happening today. Today my daughter told me she loves me. Today she tried to pick out her own clothes. Today she came home and told me something she did at school without me having to play Twenty Questions. It’s not huge, but for today, it’s enough.
REFERENCE:
Pennesi, C., Klein, L., et al. (2012). Effectiveness of the gluten-free, casein-free diet for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder: Based on parental report; Nutritional Neuroscience; V15:2, p85-91.
End of excerpts from this book by Lorca Damon.
Note: Lorca Damon has several books available. Enjoy!
Thank you for reading and sharing my BLOGs. Comments are welcomed, to be viewed and answered privately. My goal is to assist families, clinicians, educators, and all people ‘autism’, to continue their journey on the Autism Highway. At the end of each website Extended Book Review, please find a source to have the whole book to read.
Regards,
Sara Luker
Paid Link Disclosure -
These Extended Book Reviews have an Amazon Link for actual book purchases. Please read this Paid Link Disclosure AKA Affiliate Links Disclosure:
Sometimes there are paid links, also known as affiliate links, used on this site. My website, www.sarasautismsite.com, is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This is an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
I may earn or receive a small paid commission from referrals for book purchases made through posts, pages, and links on this site. But I try to remain unbiased and I do not accept paid reviews. All opinions expressed here are my own.
There is no extra cost to you when purchases are made using the provided links. By using the links I provide you agree that you’ve read this paid link disclosure statement.
Thank you!
Sara Luker
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