Hello Everyone,
This month’s BLOG will begin with a chance 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. March's BLOGs give snippets of my Extended Book Reviews; find full reviews on 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 – AMAZING ADVENTURES. Read the full reviews, plus LINKs to eBooks, on www.sarasautismsite.com.
Paula’s Journal: Surviving Autism by Stephanie R. Marks, eBook 2012 Edition; an Extended 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% My name is Stephanie Marks and I have autism. I am 38 years old, dark curly hair, bright green eyes. I have tiny, slender feet and I am very short. I am non-verbal. I look like other people you meet. I love to laugh and I often pray.
Autism controls my life and I can never change that. The monster called autism might jump into my thought pattern at any time and disrupt the flow of my thoughts.
When I was a child I could not find a way to stay in control. I will let you see a few of my days through my eyes. They are not in an order you can predict.
4% People hug and kiss and carry on. People show affection outwardly. I have had to teach myself how to fit into the world of normal people. It is the only way that I can fit.
Touching is not that comfortable. I can love people without touching them. They think I pull away because I don’t care but it is not that. Sometimes touching adds too much stimulation.
We are so different and yet we are so alike. We both want and need love to be happy. Why don’t we feel the same when we are touched? Someone else’s brain says “Great.” Mine says “Whoa.” Click clack. Click clack. Click clack.
< My Thoughts > “Why don’t we feel the same when we are touched?”
In much of the literature, we find that persons with autism are under-responsive to 'touching'. And don’t often seek hugs, or other physical closeness. Probably, as Paula says, it feels too uncomfortable. Or, maybe as with 'eye contact', 'touching' is too intimate for very sensitive persons.
4% A Day – Here I am sixteen and not even been kissed. I am beginning to know that my dreams are just that – dreams. No one sees me as sixteen – cannot see me as sixteen. In my heart and soul I am as sixteen as anyone else is at sixteen. …Happy sixteen, Self. Click clack. Click clack. Click clack.
Sicile-Kira, C. (2014) says that “Social relationships are important to all people, yet are difficult for many on the autism spectrum to develop naturally.” “…having social skills, knowing about expected yet often unstated rules of behavior, and social boundaries.” “…there are different ways of teaching what is needed to be learned about relationships.” Some of the things she suggests are – Social Skills Training, Social Stories, Social Thinking, and hidden rules such as ‘assumed knowledge’, social hierarchies, and expected/unexpected situations.
10% A Day – I am autistic and also nonverbal. When I try to talk, funny sounds come out. They are not the sounds in my head. In my head, I am thinking clearly. In my mouth, I speak a foreign language. Mom would try and try to help me make sounds. I just could not and cannot. I wish she would stop trying. Speech therapy was helpful, but it did not teach me to speak. When I cannot communicate, stress and frustration overtake my actions. Click clack. Click clack. Click clack.
17% A Day – Well, there are times when I will scratch and scratch until I break the skin. It feels good at first and then it starts to hurt.
< My Thoughts > "...starts to hurt."
Scratching and scratching until one breaks the skin can be a form of 'self-stimulation'. Also known as Self-Injurious Behaviors (SIBs).
Note: More about Self-Injurious Behaviors (SIBs). Go to MENU for – Know Autism, Know Your Child with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker. Read under UNIT 4 – When Is It Sensory? Chapter 2 Sensory Categories, a. Sensory Interests, a1. Self-Injurious Behaviors (SIBs).
According to Rattaz, C., Michelon, C., et al. (2015), studies show that (Self-Injurious Behavior) “SIB were frequently associated with other challenging behaviors… irritability, stereotypy, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.”
They go on to say that “…abnormal sensory processing was also found to be a strong predictor of self-injury, as well as impaired social functioning.”
This group wants to find out if there was a difference between the kinds and the frequency of SIB and risk factors. Their study found that “there was no difference between risk factors in regards to gender of associated medical conditions, such as epilepsy, and association with SIBs.
Also, there is no correlation between risk factors and parents’ socio-economic status.” There was however, a higher correlation between a higher Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) score and higher risk of SIB during adolescence.
Recent studies like Rattaz, C., Michelon, C., et al. (2015) include the Oliver, C., & Richards, C. (2015) study which encourages determining risk factors for SIB, in order to start early intervention. When targeted early, even before self-injurious behavior begins, the severity of the behavior can be controlled. Early SIB markers, along with physical health assessments and a vigilance for discovering emerging behaviors.
17% When I was small, I would bang my head and bang my head. I know there are lots of theories about self stimulation. Why choose to use self stimulation with an action that hurts? Someone out there help me to understand. At first it feels good and then it starts to hurt. Self-stimulation – why would someone choose to do an action which hurts? Someone out there help me to understand. Someone who feels the same way I do, not someone with a theory. Click clack. Click clack. Click clack.
< My Thoughts > “Someone out there help me to understand.”
My thinking is that self-stimulation is in response to something else that is going on, either in the environment or within the person. Along with the strong impulse to ‘do something’, the self-stimulation may happen to offset an internal pain or ‘perceived pain’ that the person is experiencing.
Reference:
Rattaz, C., Michelon, C., et al. (2015). Symptom Severity as a Risk Factor for Self-Injurious Behavior in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Retrieved Online from – Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, Aug;59(8):730-40.
Sicile-Kira, C. (2014). Autism Spectrum Disorder (revised): The Complete Guide to Understanding Autism; New York, New York: Penguin Random House Company.
End of excerpt from the eBook, Paula's Journal: Surviving Autism by Stephanie R. Marks. See the full Extended Book Review here, on my website.
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% My name is Stephanie Marks and I have autism. I am 38 years old, dark curly hair, bright green eyes. I have tiny, slender feet and I am very short. I am non-verbal. I look like other people you meet. I love to laugh and I often pray.
Autism controls my life and I can never change that. The monster called autism might jump into my thought pattern at any time and disrupt the flow of my thoughts.
When I was a child I could not find a way to stay in control. I will let you see a few of my days through my eyes. They are not in an order you can predict.
4% People hug and kiss and carry on. People show affection outwardly. I have had to teach myself how to fit into the world of normal people. It is the only way that I can fit.
Touching is not that comfortable. I can love people without touching them. They think I pull away because I don’t care but it is not that. Sometimes touching adds too much stimulation.
We are so different and yet we are so alike. We both want and need love to be happy. Why don’t we feel the same when we are touched? Someone else’s brain says “Great.” Mine says “Whoa.” Click clack. Click clack. Click clack.
< My Thoughts > “Why don’t we feel the same when we are touched?”
In much of the literature, we find that persons with autism are under-responsive to 'touching'. And don’t often seek hugs, or other physical closeness. Probably, as Paula says, it feels too uncomfortable. Or, maybe as with 'eye contact', 'touching' is too intimate for very sensitive persons.
4% A Day – Here I am sixteen and not even been kissed. I am beginning to know that my dreams are just that – dreams. No one sees me as sixteen – cannot see me as sixteen. In my heart and soul I am as sixteen as anyone else is at sixteen. …Happy sixteen, Self. Click clack. Click clack. Click clack.
Sicile-Kira, C. (2014) says that “Social relationships are important to all people, yet are difficult for many on the autism spectrum to develop naturally.” “…having social skills, knowing about expected yet often unstated rules of behavior, and social boundaries.” “…there are different ways of teaching what is needed to be learned about relationships.” Some of the things she suggests are – Social Skills Training, Social Stories, Social Thinking, and hidden rules such as ‘assumed knowledge’, social hierarchies, and expected/unexpected situations.
10% A Day – I am autistic and also nonverbal. When I try to talk, funny sounds come out. They are not the sounds in my head. In my head, I am thinking clearly. In my mouth, I speak a foreign language. Mom would try and try to help me make sounds. I just could not and cannot. I wish she would stop trying. Speech therapy was helpful, but it did not teach me to speak. When I cannot communicate, stress and frustration overtake my actions. Click clack. Click clack. Click clack.
17% A Day – Well, there are times when I will scratch and scratch until I break the skin. It feels good at first and then it starts to hurt.
< My Thoughts > "...starts to hurt."
Scratching and scratching until one breaks the skin can be a form of 'self-stimulation'. Also known as Self-Injurious Behaviors (SIBs).
Note: More about Self-Injurious Behaviors (SIBs). Go to MENU for – Know Autism, Know Your Child with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker. Read under UNIT 4 – When Is It Sensory? Chapter 2 Sensory Categories, a. Sensory Interests, a1. Self-Injurious Behaviors (SIBs).
According to Rattaz, C., Michelon, C., et al. (2015), studies show that (Self-Injurious Behavior) “SIB were frequently associated with other challenging behaviors… irritability, stereotypy, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.”
They go on to say that “…abnormal sensory processing was also found to be a strong predictor of self-injury, as well as impaired social functioning.”
This group wants to find out if there was a difference between the kinds and the frequency of SIB and risk factors. Their study found that “there was no difference between risk factors in regards to gender of associated medical conditions, such as epilepsy, and association with SIBs.
Also, there is no correlation between risk factors and parents’ socio-economic status.” There was however, a higher correlation between a higher Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) score and higher risk of SIB during adolescence.
Recent studies like Rattaz, C., Michelon, C., et al. (2015) include the Oliver, C., & Richards, C. (2015) study which encourages determining risk factors for SIB, in order to start early intervention. When targeted early, even before self-injurious behavior begins, the severity of the behavior can be controlled. Early SIB markers, along with physical health assessments and a vigilance for discovering emerging behaviors.
17% When I was small, I would bang my head and bang my head. I know there are lots of theories about self stimulation. Why choose to use self stimulation with an action that hurts? Someone out there help me to understand. At first it feels good and then it starts to hurt. Self-stimulation – why would someone choose to do an action which hurts? Someone out there help me to understand. Someone who feels the same way I do, not someone with a theory. Click clack. Click clack. Click clack.
< My Thoughts > “Someone out there help me to understand.”
My thinking is that self-stimulation is in response to something else that is going on, either in the environment or within the person. Along with the strong impulse to ‘do something’, the self-stimulation may happen to offset an internal pain or ‘perceived pain’ that the person is experiencing.
Reference:
Rattaz, C., Michelon, C., et al. (2015). Symptom Severity as a Risk Factor for Self-Injurious Behavior in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Retrieved Online from – Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, Aug;59(8):730-40.
Sicile-Kira, C. (2014). Autism Spectrum Disorder (revised): The Complete Guide to Understanding Autism; New York, New York: Penguin Random House Company.
End of excerpt from the eBook, Paula's Journal: Surviving Autism by Stephanie R. Marks. See the full Extended Book Review here, on my website.
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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