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 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 – 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 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 – 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: Why I Love Kids with Autism by Doris Duan-Young, eBook 2014; an Extended Review with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker
Excerpts from the book – (13% indicates location in the Kindle version of the book, instead of page numbers).
13% When my son Norden was four years old he began to exhibit some concerning behaviors. I was worried. Even with all my experience I went through all the stages of uncertainty, denial, and worry that I had seen other mothers go through.
Norden’s situation wasn’t extreme, but it was concerning.
My entire professional life has been immersed in learning how to help kids, and how to help their parents. That’s what “behavior analysts” do. At the simplest level we analyze behavior and create a plan to create new behaviors. At the deepest level we become part of the family.
6% There is always a reason for hope. No matter what your situation now, it’s not as bad as you think. No matter where you are now in life, I can assure you one thing. You’re going to have some of the best days of your life, and some of the worst. The trick is knowing which is which.
Parents of children who’ve been diagnosed being somewhere on the autism spectrum only have a sample size of ‘one child’ to learn from.
< My Thoughts > “…one child to learn from.”
In her book Doris explains that she opens group homes with a family setting model. The children are under the supervision of experienced practitioners who follow her program. Each child living in her home has an individual plan designed specifically for them. In order to know how to best address these severe behaviors, trained professionals develop systematic and descriptive behavioral assessments, functional analyses and intervention methods to help the child make positives changes in his or her behavior. This is a process which may take many months, even a year or more to accomplish. Autism is a lifelong diagnosis, but with successful intervention many children go on to become productive adults.
Note: More about 'Behavior', go to MENU for – Know Autism, Know Your Child with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker. Read on this website under – UNIT 4 – CHAPTER 2 – Sensory Categories PART 3. SIRS (Sensory Interests, Repetitions, & Seeking behaviors) a. Sensory Interests, a. 1. SIBs Self-Injurious Behaviors., b. Repetitious Behavior, c. Seeking Behavior
21% We all live under the illusion that once we achieve our goals we can then, and only then, be happy.
Instead of hoping their son or daughter gets into Harvard, they’re now hoping he or she will just learn how to get through the day without throwing a tantrum in public.
What’s the cure for this? Two words – unconditional love.
< My Thoughts > “…unconditional love.”
Not every parent can give 'unconditional love' to a child. This is just a fact of human nature. Not everyone has that 'fierce animal love' that Kerry Cohen talks about when she speaks of her son Ezra.
Parent and author Cohen, K. (2011) speaks of unconditional love… “If Ezra weren’t who he is, if I didn’t love him with that fierce animal love we feel for our children,” I might see a disabled child and think… how sad. “I want Ezra and Griffin to know that they don’t have to do anything to be loved. They don’t have to be anything other than who they are. That no matter what happens, no matter what they do or say or become, I will always love them…”
4% The most valuable thing I can share is my perspective. I’ve had a lifetime of experiences and witnessed the transformation of thousands of children.
I began my career working in the field as a behavior analyst. After the company I worked for filed for bankruptcy, I decided to start my own company, with my husband Samuel.
21% It’s impossible to love somebody and judge them at the same time. It’s impossible to love somebody and be impatient with them at the same time. It’s impossible to love somebody and be angry with them at the same time.
I learned this from ‘My Kids’. Kids who were dropped off at my group home like Janey, William, Leon and Debi.
Those four beautiful souls whose behaviors were so problematic that they couldn’t live in their own homes taught me, reminded me, that the solution to every problem isn’t solving the problem. It’s appreciating the journey, celebrating the progress, and experiencing being in a state of unconditional love every step of the way.
27% Our mission, our passion, is to identify those areas where a child’s skills and results may need some help, and then do everything we can to help them learn how to do things most people would consider simple.
More importantly, we’d help them do things that would allow them to become independent and “functional” in the outside world.
< My Thoughts > “…“functional” in the outside world.”
When Sonny was in an institutional setting, he was an eloper and inflicted injury to anyone who stood in his way. I have since figured out that he was running to try to stop his frequent and scary seizures. But, the only way his caregivers could deal with taking him into the outside world was to harness him in a wheelchair. True story. He spent his school days in, and was transported in a wheelchair for ‘containment’.
34% What happens with many disruptive children and teenagers is that the case workers from these government agencies have no choice but to detain these children in what amounts to a jail. There is no choice because some of the children are so aggressive they are a risk to themselves and their own family members.
The problem is that these children will only get worse, no better if they are put into a detention center. That’s why the Florida Office of Children and Families asked me to open a group home for some of these children. They knew that I could help the children better than a government agency.
< My Thoughts > “…group home…”
At 7-years-old Sonny was a ward of the state, living in an institutional setting. From there, he was placed in a group home. There are many types of group homes, some are successful, while others are not.
Note: More about 'Behavior', go to MENU for – Know Autism, Know Your Child with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker. Read on this website under – UNIT 6 – Where to Look for Resources?, CHAPTER 4 – b. Geriatrics (Resources & get on ‘waiting lists’, Finances. Individual’s Insurance, Health Care, Colleges, Adult Day Care, Adult Group Homes, Assisted Living, Nursing Facilities, Hospice/Palliative.)
56% I thought back to all the children over the last 20 years that I’ve had the privilege to meet. During all those years of spending time with so many children and helping them accomplish so many things, I forgot to focus on all the gifts they had given me.
< My Thoughts > "...over the last 20 years..."
Read about the last 20 years in her book, available in my Extended Book Review 'LINK'.
They’ve given me the gift of watching them be so happy and appreciate the ‘little’ things in life, to realize those ‘little’ things like marveling at the beauty of a butterfly were probably more important than the ‘big’ things I was focused on.
They’ve given me the gift of celebrating small victories and even small ‘defeats’ knowing that each moment is a new beginning no matter what’s led up to that moment.
Most of all they’ve given me the gift of unconditional love, and the desire to share all these gifts with you, and the hope that you will share these gifts with those who’ve been guided to cross your path. With the deepest love and respect, Doris Duan-Young.
Reference:
Cohen, K. (2011). Seeing Ezra: A Mother’s Story of Autism, Unconditional Love, and the Meaning of Normal; Seal Press Publishers, CA.
End of excerpt from the eBook by Doris Duan-Young. See the full Extended Book Review on this 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 – (13% indicates location in the Kindle version of the book, instead of page numbers).
13% When my son Norden was four years old he began to exhibit some concerning behaviors. I was worried. Even with all my experience I went through all the stages of uncertainty, denial, and worry that I had seen other mothers go through.
Norden’s situation wasn’t extreme, but it was concerning.
My entire professional life has been immersed in learning how to help kids, and how to help their parents. That’s what “behavior analysts” do. At the simplest level we analyze behavior and create a plan to create new behaviors. At the deepest level we become part of the family.
6% There is always a reason for hope. No matter what your situation now, it’s not as bad as you think. No matter where you are now in life, I can assure you one thing. You’re going to have some of the best days of your life, and some of the worst. The trick is knowing which is which.
Parents of children who’ve been diagnosed being somewhere on the autism spectrum only have a sample size of ‘one child’ to learn from.
< My Thoughts > “…one child to learn from.”
In her book Doris explains that she opens group homes with a family setting model. The children are under the supervision of experienced practitioners who follow her program. Each child living in her home has an individual plan designed specifically for them. In order to know how to best address these severe behaviors, trained professionals develop systematic and descriptive behavioral assessments, functional analyses and intervention methods to help the child make positives changes in his or her behavior. This is a process which may take many months, even a year or more to accomplish. Autism is a lifelong diagnosis, but with successful intervention many children go on to become productive adults.
Note: More about 'Behavior', go to MENU for – Know Autism, Know Your Child with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker. Read on this website under – UNIT 4 – CHAPTER 2 – Sensory Categories PART 3. SIRS (Sensory Interests, Repetitions, & Seeking behaviors) a. Sensory Interests, a. 1. SIBs Self-Injurious Behaviors., b. Repetitious Behavior, c. Seeking Behavior
21% We all live under the illusion that once we achieve our goals we can then, and only then, be happy.
Instead of hoping their son or daughter gets into Harvard, they’re now hoping he or she will just learn how to get through the day without throwing a tantrum in public.
What’s the cure for this? Two words – unconditional love.
< My Thoughts > “…unconditional love.”
Not every parent can give 'unconditional love' to a child. This is just a fact of human nature. Not everyone has that 'fierce animal love' that Kerry Cohen talks about when she speaks of her son Ezra.
Parent and author Cohen, K. (2011) speaks of unconditional love… “If Ezra weren’t who he is, if I didn’t love him with that fierce animal love we feel for our children,” I might see a disabled child and think… how sad. “I want Ezra and Griffin to know that they don’t have to do anything to be loved. They don’t have to be anything other than who they are. That no matter what happens, no matter what they do or say or become, I will always love them…”
4% The most valuable thing I can share is my perspective. I’ve had a lifetime of experiences and witnessed the transformation of thousands of children.
I began my career working in the field as a behavior analyst. After the company I worked for filed for bankruptcy, I decided to start my own company, with my husband Samuel.
21% It’s impossible to love somebody and judge them at the same time. It’s impossible to love somebody and be impatient with them at the same time. It’s impossible to love somebody and be angry with them at the same time.
I learned this from ‘My Kids’. Kids who were dropped off at my group home like Janey, William, Leon and Debi.
Those four beautiful souls whose behaviors were so problematic that they couldn’t live in their own homes taught me, reminded me, that the solution to every problem isn’t solving the problem. It’s appreciating the journey, celebrating the progress, and experiencing being in a state of unconditional love every step of the way.
27% Our mission, our passion, is to identify those areas where a child’s skills and results may need some help, and then do everything we can to help them learn how to do things most people would consider simple.
More importantly, we’d help them do things that would allow them to become independent and “functional” in the outside world.
< My Thoughts > “…“functional” in the outside world.”
When Sonny was in an institutional setting, he was an eloper and inflicted injury to anyone who stood in his way. I have since figured out that he was running to try to stop his frequent and scary seizures. But, the only way his caregivers could deal with taking him into the outside world was to harness him in a wheelchair. True story. He spent his school days in, and was transported in a wheelchair for ‘containment’.
34% What happens with many disruptive children and teenagers is that the case workers from these government agencies have no choice but to detain these children in what amounts to a jail. There is no choice because some of the children are so aggressive they are a risk to themselves and their own family members.
The problem is that these children will only get worse, no better if they are put into a detention center. That’s why the Florida Office of Children and Families asked me to open a group home for some of these children. They knew that I could help the children better than a government agency.
< My Thoughts > “…group home…”
At 7-years-old Sonny was a ward of the state, living in an institutional setting. From there, he was placed in a group home. There are many types of group homes, some are successful, while others are not.
Note: More about 'Behavior', go to MENU for – Know Autism, Know Your Child with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker. Read on this website under – UNIT 6 – Where to Look for Resources?, CHAPTER 4 – b. Geriatrics (Resources & get on ‘waiting lists’, Finances. Individual’s Insurance, Health Care, Colleges, Adult Day Care, Adult Group Homes, Assisted Living, Nursing Facilities, Hospice/Palliative.)
56% I thought back to all the children over the last 20 years that I’ve had the privilege to meet. During all those years of spending time with so many children and helping them accomplish so many things, I forgot to focus on all the gifts they had given me.
< My Thoughts > "...over the last 20 years..."
Read about the last 20 years in her book, available in my Extended Book Review 'LINK'.
They’ve given me the gift of watching them be so happy and appreciate the ‘little’ things in life, to realize those ‘little’ things like marveling at the beauty of a butterfly were probably more important than the ‘big’ things I was focused on.
They’ve given me the gift of celebrating small victories and even small ‘defeats’ knowing that each moment is a new beginning no matter what’s led up to that moment.
Most of all they’ve given me the gift of unconditional love, and the desire to share all these gifts with you, and the hope that you will share these gifts with those who’ve been guided to cross your path. With the deepest love and respect, Doris Duan-Young.
Reference:
Cohen, K. (2011). Seeing Ezra: A Mother’s Story of Autism, Unconditional Love, and the Meaning of Normal; Seal Press Publishers, CA.
End of excerpt from the eBook by Doris Duan-Young. See the full Extended Book Review on this 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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