Synopses & Reviews
No matter how high-functioning children with autism or Asperger's may be, they are going to have trouble with their sensory issues. Enter Jennifer McIlwee Myers, Aspie at Large! Co-author of the groundbreaking book Asperger's and Girls, Jennifer's personal experience with Asperger's Syndrome and SPD makes her perspective doubly insightful. Jennifer's straightforward and humorous delivery will keep caregivers turning the page for the next creative solution
About the Author
Coauthor of the award-winning book Aspergers and Girls, Jennifer McIlwee Myers is a terrific writer and speaker with Aspergers Syndrome—she is funny, eloquent, and to the point. Her brother had autism, but she wasn't diagnosed with Aspergers until 2002. She has taught herself to overcome her sensory challenges and has found many unique, innovative ways to navigate the world of “normal” people. Jennifer earned a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and currently lives in California with her husband Gary.
Table of Contents
- Whats Up?
- Who are you?
- Who this book is written for
- What the book is about
- How SPD affects a childs functioning at home and at school
- Things that helped me deal with SPD in my childhood
- How understanding and working with SPD in my adulthood has helped me do more
- Why the examples are all about me and my family
But why listen to me? - Disclaimers and limitations
- The advantage of experience when paired with voracious reading and persistent pursuit of expert input
SPD facts and issues - SPD: a quick look
- Being skeptical
- SPD plus Aspergers
- How understanding SPD changed my life
- Dx: Aspergers Syndrome with SPD
- New light on THE MALL
- Dx led to understanding the difference between how most people experience the mall and how I do so
- Stopped regular mall trips
- Profound effect on parts of my life that seemed unrelated
Understanding the link between SPD and unhealthy negative emotions - Healthy negative emotions are not stopped by SPD intervention
Because of the above, understanding SPD changed the way I saw myself - Self-images of children with undiagnosed SPD
- My self-image change: from angry person with deep underlying issues to odd person who reacted naturally to pain and stress
Not a cure for all problems, and not the only source of anger, frustration, and anxiety - But learning that no matter how real my emotions were, they were not always true, was a vital step to better cognitive functioning
- What does SPD look and feel like from the inside?
- Many variations , many like mine, many unlike mine
- There is no way for a child to guess that the way they sense the world is different or causing problems
- Some typical SPD issues in a school day
- Some typical SPD issues in an office
- What helped?
- Big helps from my mom
- My mom knew something was up
- Results? Get kids moving!
- Our sandbox
- Gardening
- Go outside!
- Batteries NOT included
The TV allowance - AKA how my mom improved my sensory diet
You want to go there? Walk~ Posture pals Day-to-day life skills for sensory issues - She who spills, cleans up
- Record store
- Ordering food
- No need to criss-cross
What hurt? - Getting gaslighted
- At the dentist
- At school: “you could do it, you just havent tried hard enough”
Random school freak outs - Fifth grade penmanship game
- Second grade attempt to get me to stop reading when it was time for recess
- Chaotic classrooms
- Overly sensitive sniffer leads to a trip to the nurses office
- Cafeteria duty taught me to stay the heck out of the cafeteria
What helped at school? - Second grade: reading corner
- Creating safety zones: choir, library, resource room
- High-school nurses office
- Timed writing in the 12th grade
Winter vs. Summer - Activity level
- Varied sensory input
- Ability to take a break
- What every parent and child affected by SPD need to know
- You can grow your brain!
- All learning involves failure
- We learn much more from failure than from success You as an individual can affect who you are and who you will be Incremental growth is the best kind there is The cognitive component
- Pain has (at least) two components
- The physical component
- The emotional aspect
Humans can learn to affect their own emotions and can even eventually limit their power Self-efficacy is a great tool against self-downing Introversion is not a pathology - Associating helpful tools with extroverts slowed me down
- Garys teacher called his mom about it
- All sensory diet items come in versions for extroverts, separate approaches for introverts, and combinations for the rest of us
- When to take the social out of the sensory diet
Our sluggish culture - Technology is AWESOME, but we havent yet learned to get off our butts and on a healthy sensory diet in the Information Age
- Because of the above, we have to work to engage our brains and nervous systems
- Never underestimate the power of boredom
- Constant entertainment leads to learned helplessness
- The stress of boredom is temporary, but the ability to entertain ones self or to simply find stuff to do pays off forever
“Heavy work” works! - My exercise programs unexpected results
- Tote that barge, lift that bale
Knowing your limits is empowering - “You can be anything” - NOT!
- Knowing that you have an overdeveloped fight-or-flight instinct can make a difference
- Distinguish between real danger and a false alarm
You cannot expand your limits without first recognizing them A realistic assessment of my limits and sensory needs would have helped me far more than any academic help - If you are overwhelmed my sensory stuff at school, you need to know it so you can work with it
- Learning about SPD made my adulthood even better!
- What did we learn from this book tonight, Jenn?
- SPD affects every aspect of a childs life - or an adults
- Kids affected by SPD need support to become fully awesome
- All parents and teachers reading this are awesome
- Appendix A: A Day in the Life -- A walk-through of a typical day in high-school for a person with SPD.