new highfunctioning ASD diagnosis of 6 yo...best book to read?

[flowmom]

Hi,

Today the pediatrician said that he thinks that 6 yo ds has autism and/or psychiatric disorder. I shouldn't be surprised because I sought out a diagnosis to help with funding, but I guess that I thought that an autism-expert pediatrician would simply dismiss the idea that ds has autism. So I'm a bit in shock.

I know little about autism and ds hasn't been through a full diagnosis process to define whether he has Aspergers, PDD-NOS or even if he meets the full ADS criteria in the opinion of other doctors.

If you could pick one book for me to read, what would it be? I know that there are many, many books out there, but I'd like to start with one. I have to be careful to not get sucked into going crazy researching this (as I would tend to do) because my husband suddenly separated from me and moved out of our home on Jan 3, and I have to focus on keeping myself sane and keeping things normal for the kids right now.

[christinelin]

I figured out that my kiddo had Asperger's when I read "The Oasis Guide to Asperger Syndrome." Even if your kiddo has PDD-NOS or autism, many of the pieces will fit and it is very comprehensive. I haven't seen anything that is autism-specific that I like as well.

[CarrieK]

The Oasis Guide is good and I would suggest The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome by Tony Attwood. You can probably get all of these books at the library (I did!)

http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/

[Linda on the move]

I really like "Quirky Kids" by Klass. It is about these closely related disorders -- how they are similar and different, and the common threads to raising a child who is "quirky."

I find it an encouraging and understanding book.

[RiverTam]

"The Mislabeled Child" by Fernette Eide and Brock Eide is very useful.

They run down criteria for many different childhood disorders, with examples and some tips on how to tell them apart. They explain each one and offer suggestions for helping kids for each one.