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Something Different About Dad: How to Live with Your Amazing Asperger Parent
There's something different about Dad. He gets upset when we're even a minute late for dinner, he is angry at noisy family gatherings, and he really likes talking about buses. He is also always on time to pick us up from school, helps with our homework for hours on end, and has a detailed knowledge of car engines that has saved day trips from breakdown disaster. It's ok that there's something different about Dad!
Following the story of Sophie and Daniel whose Dad, Mark, is on the autism spectrum, this heart-warming comic reveals the family's journey from initial diagnosis to gradual appreciation of Dad's differences. The family learn the reasons behind Dad's difficulties with communication, the senses, flexibility, and relationships, and find ways to make family life easier for everyone. It is an informative, light-hearted and reassuring look at growing up with a parent on the autism spectrum.
Following the story of Sophie and Daniel whose Dad, Mark, is on the autism spectrum, this heart-warming comic reveals the family's journey from initial diagnosis to gradual appreciation of Dad's differences. The family learn the reasons behind Dad's difficulties with communication, the senses, flexibility, and relationships, and find ways to make family life easier for everyone. It is an informative, light-hearted and reassuring look at growing up with a parent on the autism spectrum.
152 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2010
9 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 22, 2018
This was so helpful! There aren't a lot of book about PARENTS with Asperger's (plenty about kids and a few about partners). I loved how the information was presented and it really helped me make sense of my relationship with my dad, especially when I look back on my childhood. Very grateful to the authors.
August 1, 2020
This has been on my to-be read shelf for 8 years! I should have just passed it on. It is suppose to be to explain this to children. People with Asperger's act very differently from each other and in my experience this was very one dimensional. It never even broached how there are many differences in what they might experience.
November 30, 2021
Different than I was expecting. The story is frequently interrupted by facts presented by the author and illustrator, and the dialogue is very British in places. The Aspergers depicted is fairly stereotypical. However, it is very informative and works as a whole. I like the graphic novel format for the visual contribution to understanding (showing 0verflowing water glasses, for instance, was a helpful way to show stress). And I really like that it is an adult...a parent with a job, a wife, and two children...getting the diagnosis. We need more depictions of the great variety of people with AS and ASD.
March 26, 2020
i would have preferred a pure story about having a dad with Asperger's Syndrome. Text is mixed with story and didactic instruction.
June 20, 2021
I thought it was a nice, neutral overview.
December 25, 2020
Something Different About Dad is a both a nonfiction and fiction illustrated resource with an intended audience of children aged 7 to 15 that have an adult in their life with Asperger Syndrome. It is designed in a style similar to the graphic novel, with friendly monochrome illustrations and a handwritten type of font.
The preface introduces the author and illustrator as guides to the story, and gives a brief explanation of what the book will be about:
Whether or not you know for sure that the person you are thinking of has Asperger Syndrome, we hope this book will help. We hope it will help you answer some of the questions you might have and give you some ideas about how to deal with parents or other adults with Asperger Syndrome.
Something Different About Dad certainly lives up to this expectation.
It is essentially a story told by a preteen named Sophie, whose father (Mark) has Asperger Syndrome ("AS"). Each chapter begins with Sophie describing an incident in their family life that has led to difficulties for Mark, and as a result, to embarrassment, emotional pain and misunderstanding for the family. After the incident is recounted by Sophie, with illustrations that do a fantastic job of showing the emotions that each person is experiencing, Kirsti and John appear in the chapter to explain what caused Mark to act as he did.
Ms. Evans, whose experience with Autism and AS is obviously not in name only, does a wonderful job of explaining just what AS is, the four main areas that difficulties occur for persons with AS, and what can trigger the socially unacceptable behavior. It is explained with clarity and in detail, and yet is not overwhelming with all the factual information.
After picking apart the situation to find the antecedent to Mark's behavior, Kirsti and John then speak to the various family members, giving advice on how to lessen the frustration of a situation for Mark. The family then talks about what changes they have made and how these changes have reduced that type of behavior from Mark.
Despite addressing such serious issues as anger toward the parent with AS, having one's feelings hurt deeply by the parent with AS and frustration at having to arrange schedules around that parent instead of oneself, the book ends on a very positive and hopeful note.
My only complaint about the book was that Mark was not generally held accountable for his behavior or asked to work on reducing his reactions. After I pondered on this, however, I realized that the book is geared for children who would not have the right to ask for such changes from an adult, who would only be able to make changes in their own life to help, and therefore showing such a situation would not be appropriate.
Swooger's illustrations fit the story and the information very well. I not only work with young children that have Autism and AS, but have AS myself, and I thought his he caught the expressions of situations very well. I was particularly impressed with the way he showed conversations going on around Mark, and how overwhelming it was to have some much going on. I found it interesting that he drew Mark with blank eyes, different from everyone else; I'm not sure if it was meant to simply show a difference in how Mark looked at the world, but I rather uncomfortably interpreted it to be a blank stare and didn't find that to be as appropriate as the rest of the illustrations.
I think this book would be an excellent resource for children with adults, or even other children, in their life with AS. Regardless of the book's language being geared toward a younger age group, it is also an excellent resource for adults who are experiencing the effects of AS in their life.
The preface introduces the author and illustrator as guides to the story, and gives a brief explanation of what the book will be about:
Whether or not you know for sure that the person you are thinking of has Asperger Syndrome, we hope this book will help. We hope it will help you answer some of the questions you might have and give you some ideas about how to deal with parents or other adults with Asperger Syndrome.
Something Different About Dad certainly lives up to this expectation.
It is essentially a story told by a preteen named Sophie, whose father (Mark) has Asperger Syndrome ("AS"). Each chapter begins with Sophie describing an incident in their family life that has led to difficulties for Mark, and as a result, to embarrassment, emotional pain and misunderstanding for the family. After the incident is recounted by Sophie, with illustrations that do a fantastic job of showing the emotions that each person is experiencing, Kirsti and John appear in the chapter to explain what caused Mark to act as he did.
Ms. Evans, whose experience with Autism and AS is obviously not in name only, does a wonderful job of explaining just what AS is, the four main areas that difficulties occur for persons with AS, and what can trigger the socially unacceptable behavior. It is explained with clarity and in detail, and yet is not overwhelming with all the factual information.
After picking apart the situation to find the antecedent to Mark's behavior, Kirsti and John then speak to the various family members, giving advice on how to lessen the frustration of a situation for Mark. The family then talks about what changes they have made and how these changes have reduced that type of behavior from Mark.
Despite addressing such serious issues as anger toward the parent with AS, having one's feelings hurt deeply by the parent with AS and frustration at having to arrange schedules around that parent instead of oneself, the book ends on a very positive and hopeful note.
My only complaint about the book was that Mark was not generally held accountable for his behavior or asked to work on reducing his reactions. After I pondered on this, however, I realized that the book is geared for children who would not have the right to ask for such changes from an adult, who would only be able to make changes in their own life to help, and therefore showing such a situation would not be appropriate.
Swooger's illustrations fit the story and the information very well. I not only work with young children that have Autism and AS, but have AS myself, and I thought his he caught the expressions of situations very well. I was particularly impressed with the way he showed conversations going on around Mark, and how overwhelming it was to have some much going on. I found it interesting that he drew Mark with blank eyes, different from everyone else; I'm not sure if it was meant to simply show a difference in how Mark looked at the world, but I rather uncomfortably interpreted it to be a blank stare and didn't find that to be as appropriate as the rest of the illustrations.
I think this book would be an excellent resource for children with adults, or even other children, in their life with AS. Regardless of the book's language being geared toward a younger age group, it is also an excellent resource for adults who are experiencing the effects of AS in their life.
May 16, 2016
Quite a good introduction for kids wanting to know more about AS, though some parts might be a bit text heavy for younger kids.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews