Autism Adulthood: Strategies and Insights for a Fulfilling Life

by Susan Senator, John Elder Robison (Foreword)

One of the biggest fears of parents with children with autism is looming adulthood and all that it entails. In her new book Susan Senator takes the mystery out of adult life on the autism spectrum and conveys the positive message that even though autism adulthood is complicated and challenging, there are many ways to make it manageable and enjoyable. From her own son with autism, now twenty-five, she has learned “never say never.”Autism Adulthood features thirty interviews with autistic adults, their parents, caregivers, researchers, and professionals. Each vignette reveals firsthand a family’s challenge, their circumstances, their thought processes, and their unique solutions and plans of action. Sharing the wisdom that emerges from parents’ and self-advocates’ experiences, Senator adds her own observations and conclusions based on her long-term experience with autism. Told in Senator’s trademark warm, honest, and approachable style, Autism Adulthood paints a vivid and thought-provoking picture of many people grappling with grown-up, real-life autism. Senator’s is the only book of its kind, as real families share their stories and their creative solutions.

Genres: Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Nonfiction, Psychology, Mental Health, Self Help

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 5, 2016

Reviews

[Meghan Smith]

Rather than a book for Autistic adults, it's more a book for the families of severely autistic adults. Still, some helpful insights on resources available.

[Liane]

Helping your autistic child transition to adulthood is complicated and challenging, and far too few books have been written about it. Susan tackles the big, scary issues with her trademark warmth and wisdom. Whether she’s writing about employment, healthcare, housing, care-givers, siblings, or the intricacies of navigating governmental agencies, Susan offers realistic, practical, and reassuring advice. Her chapter on health and safety issues alone is worth the price of the book. Indispensable and engagingly written, “Autism Adulthood” is essential reading on how to give young autistic adults their best chance at living happy, safe, and fulfilling lives.

[Jennifer Hughes]

While I thought Susan Senator's personal story was touching, it was just that--personal, so in many ways it didn't really relate to my situation. To me, the biggest value of this book is all of the helpful resources Susan Senator shares, from books to websites to organizations. If you have a child in the Asperger's arena, this book may have value for the lists of resources, but I think the ideal audience is parents who are looking ahead for ideas how to make a successful transition to adulthood for their lower-functioning child who will need a lot of support to be able to live out of the home.

[Tonya Jakubowski]

Only 50%, but so far I’ve found it very helpful. There are many resources I was unaware of, creative job opportunity ideas, and the author iterates many of the fears, cares, and concerns I’ve had and have. Having an autistic child has a different set of issues than when your autistic child becomes an adult. A whole new set of inevitable issues arise and I am thankful the author wrote this book.
I’d highly recommend this book to parents, grandparents, friends, etc touched by autism, as well as business owners, private employers...

[Cathy Johnson]

This is a must-read for any parent of a child with a disability. Susan combines her personal experiences and perspectives with a wealth of resources, offering true, practical advice.

[Julie]

Well written and very relatable to our family. It broke my heart at times but got me thinking about some important issues. Susan is a great writer and mother.

[Nichola]

Argh I sat down to write this review and I now see there was a newer edition available. Mostly this book contains some stories of parents and how they moved forward with their adult children with different levels of autism, in various settings. Seeing the diversity of stories was helpful, the feelings of envy from specific state policies was not. It didn't so much as give me a path forward, but allowed me to understand that there is not only more than one option, but also each person is an individual, and things will change often, and some things you just accept and others you challenge.

[Jill]

It might not be fair to give this a one star review because I misunderstood the point of the book. I think the title is misleading and when you are writing about a community that operates best with clear language, this feels like a big error. I checked out the book from the library excited to have something that might help me figure out some strategies to navigate the world better. But, this is mostly a guide to helping parents figure out how to transition their Autistic child into an adult world. Fair enough, I am sure this is useful for some people out there. I was disappointed.

[Lilly Guirguis]

Very awesome!

The author, Susan, has children who happen to struggle with conditions such as autism sodvtruk disorder, and her other children have struggles and successes with Tourette syndrome

And I think if you enjoy reading nonfiction books with a perspective of a parent and children who struggle with these things, and how she did a bunch of stuff to help! them advocate for them.

[James Townsend]

Good information for parents and those working with students with autism in their later teens and early adulthood

[Kristina Wise]

Great information and understanding of autism for families with a child about to enter adulthood.

[Aurora Lane]

Very interesting book I love the personal story

[garfunkelgrass]

I mistakenly thought this was a book about navigating autism in adulthood, so I wasnt the right audience. That being said, this is a great book for caregivers with many resources.

[Kate]

Recommend 5 books.com

http://fivebooks.com/interview/steve-...