Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome
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Girls with Asperger's Syndrome are less frequently diagnosed than boys, and even once symptoms have been recognised, help is often not readily available. The image of coping well presented by AS females of any age can often mask difficulties, deficits, challenges, and loneliness.
This is a must-have handbook written by an Aspergirl for Aspergirls, young and old. Rudy Simone guides you through every aspect of both personal and professional life, from early recollections of blame, guilt, and savant skills, to friendships, romance and marriage. Employment, career, rituals and routines are also covered, along with depression, meltdowns and being misunderstood. Including the reflections of over thirty-five women diagnosed as on the spectrum, as well as some partners and parents, Rudy identifies recurring struggles and areas where Aspergirls need validation, information and advice. As they recount their stories, anecdotes, and wisdom, she highlights how differences between males and females on the spectrum are mostly a matter of perception, rejecting negative views of Aspergirls and empowering them to lead happy and fulfilled lives.
This book will be essential reading for females of any age diagnosed with AS, and those who think they might be on the spectrum. It will also be of interest to partners and loved ones of Aspergirls, and anybody interested either professionally or academically in Asperger's Syndrome.
What the experts are saying:
"Aspergirls is an extraordinary read. It is an affirmation of the movement towards understanding AS in females and a celebration of the culture of AS womanhood. Simone writes with passion, honesty and truth – sharing both the challenges and the joys of a woman’s life on the spectrum through her own observations and the voices of other women. Importantly, Aspergirls is also for parents, partners, family, clinicians and educators. It is rich with stories and strategies to be read and re-read as reminders, mantras and as a map for embarking on the journey of being a woman with AS. Above all, this is a much-needed book about permission, empowerment, and as Simone so eloquently states, moving beyond the mutism. Bring all your color, girls, and paint the world!"-- Shana Nichols, PhD, Clinical Director ASPIRE Center for Learning and Development, Author of Girls Growing Up on the Autism Spectrum: What Parents and Professionals Should Know About the Pre-Teen and Teenage Years
"I can highly recommend this book to all Aspergirls and their parents, family, partners and professionals, as well as to all members of our community. With humour, love, liking and respect Rudy opens our eyes to the World of the Aspergirl, providing powerful insights on love, learning, sex, career, marriage, having children, friendships, puberty, diagnosis, emotions, health, aging and more. For each topic there are sections of advice for the Aspergirl and her parents. These sections will also be very helpful to clinicians. For too many years we have missed Aspergirls due to our current understanding of Asperger's syndrome being largely based on a male presentation. Rudy generously provides, through deep personal insight and her interviews with other Aspergirls, a broader definition and understanding, one that will help bridge the gap between Aspergirls and the non-spectrum population."--Dr Michelle Garnett MPsych(Clin) PhD MAPS MCCP Clinic Director and Clinical Psychologist, Minds & Hearts: A Specialist Clinic for Asperger's Syndrome and Autism
Excerpt from Liane's foreword:
"Simone coins a new word in her book - Aspergirls, Ms. Simone calls women with AS. I like it. My daughter said the term sounds like a superhero. Fine by me, and I suspect, fine by Ms. Simone. I don’t think anyone could read this book and not come to the conclusion that women, who manage to come through the gauntlet of AS with any measure of success, are indeed super and heroes. But like every hero, women with AS are bound to be susceptible to some sort of Kryptonite. Simone takes on those poisons one by one. Bullying, self-esteem, anxiety attacks, melt-downs, sex, guilt… the list goes on, but never without supportive insight aimed at assisting the downward falls with a myriad of suggestions and positive images that will refuel the desire to get up and carry-on with one’s head held high and one’s spirit moving in a comfortable direction.
New books are always exciting, but only a certain few have staying power. Aspergirls ~ Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome is here to stay.”—Liane Holiday Willey
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