Finding Ben: A Mother's Journey Through the Maze of Asperger's (NTC SELF-HELP)

Finding Ben: A Mother's Journey Through the Maze of Asperger's (NTC SELF-HELP)

by Barbara Lasalle (Author)

Synopsis

An introspective, honest account that may offer solace...to other families coping with challenging children. - Kirkus Reviews . [LaSalle's] story is one of human triumph over adversity and ignorance...It has a happy ending, but there will be moments when readers are likely to cry before they share her happiness. - Tony Attwood, Ph.D., Director, The Asperger's Syndrome Clinic.Barbara LaSalle's first son, Ben, seemed to be an extraordinarily gifted child. For the first few years of his life, he amazed his mother with his brilliance and creativity, speaking in full sentences before age one and reading competently by age two. Yet, lurking beneath this boy genius' amazing abilities were a crippling social aloofness and fear of change. For years, she searched for a diagnosis for her son, who, unbeknownst to her, suffered from Asperger's Syndrome - the little grownup disorder - a neurological condition considered a high-functioning form of autism.In this frank, emotionally written account, Barbara LaSalle reveals what it's really like to parent a child with a neurological disorder. She paints a powerfully honest portrait of how a mother's love can turn into bitterness at having to raise a special-needs child and how, by opening herself to the wisdom of others, she can at last learn to love her child - and herself - once again. Barbara LaSalle, M.A., is a marriage and family therapist who runs a psychotherapy practice in Los Angeles. A tireless advocate for people with mental illness, she is a frequent lecturer, workshop leader, and documentary filmmaker.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Edition: New edition
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Contemporary
Published: 01 Mar 2004

ISBN 10: 0071431942
ISBN 13: 9780071431941

Media Reviews
A wise and sad and ultimately uplifting book which speaks eloquently to the often unexpected experiences of being a parent an dlovin a child. - Perri Klass, M.D., author of Love and Modern Medicine; To love a child is to give them the gift of life. Learn how to find that love for yourself and your child from the experience of others and not your own pain. Finding Ben shows this beautifully. -Bernie Siegel, M.D., author of Love, Medicine & Miracles and Prescriptions for Living; Barbara LaSalle's new book about Asperger's, Finding Ben, beautifully chronicles her own journey to understand her son with the encyclopedic mind and distressingly separate world. - The Washington Post
Author Bio
Barbara LaSalle, Ph.D. (Los Angeles, CA) is a marriage and family therapist and documentary filmmaker whose films include It's Not All in Their Mind, and Living with A.D.D.