Reading

The following is a list of books that are both interesting and informative, that I have read.

Autism and Asperger Syndrome
Uta Frith
ISBN 0-521-38608-X (Paperback), 0-521-38448-6 (Hardback)

This book is one of the first to be written on Asperger's Syndrome, in the English language. In it, it gives translations of some of Hans Asperger's papers, and gives some comparisons between Autism, as defined by Kanner, and Asperger's Syndrome.

 

Asperger's Syndrome
Tony Attwood
ISBN 1-85302-577-1 (Paperback)

This book, written by an Australian psychologist, gives an accurate insight into the minds of people with Asperger's Syndrome, and is therefore the book that both parents and professionals should get, to understand the condition, and its implications.  Tony Attwood also has a website, which you will get in the Websites page.

 

Diet Intervention and Autism
Marilyn Le Breton
ISBN 1-85302-935-1 (Paperback)

This book outlines the author's experiences in applying the gluten- and casein-free diet on her autistic son. It answers many of the commonly asked questions that people would have in relation to implementing this diet. For example: What is the theory behind gluten and casein and autism? Is the diet expensive? What alternatives are there to foods with gluten and casein? How strict do you have to be with this diet? How soon after starting the diet, can one expect to start seeing results?

Then there is a list of ingredients that you should avoid, and what foods are acceptable, and this is followed by many recipes.

 

Chocolate Busters
Jason Vale
ISBN 0-00-716400-9

The author of this book, who is a self-confessed ex-chocoholic, does a very good job at exposing the chocolate industry. It is the very book that the likes of Mars, Nestle and Cadbury are afraid of, because as you read through it, you will see all of the things that make chocolate addictive, being exposed, one by one.

The fact that milk chocolate contains casein is a very good reason for people with autism-related conditions to shun the stuff.

You do not have to be autistic to decide that you are not going to touch chocolate again - I remember reading an article in a magazine on chocolate, which mentions that many second-level students have behavioural and academic problems, which the teachers say are attributable to a high intake of chocolate.

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
Mark Haddon
ISBN 0-099-45025-9

This book, for which Mark Haddon was accredited as the author, is a "diary" by Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old with AS, who, one morning, finds his neighbour's dog dead on the roadway outside his house.  The dog was killed with a garden fork.  The story starts with Christopher going all out to find out who killed the dog, and then ends up with Christopher making a dramatic train journey on his own, from Swindon to London, where his mother lives.

Christopher loves prime numbers (numbers that are not divisible by any number other than itself and one), which is why instead of numbering the chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on, he numbers them with prime numbers, e.g., 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 and so on.