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.
Industry Reviews
“A brilliant book.” —Tim Shriver, CEO of the Special Olympics, for The Autism Mom’s Survival Guide
“Mothers, fathers, and siblings should read this honest account of family life with autism.” —Temple Grandin, PhD, author of Thinking in Pictures and Emergence: Labeled Autistic for Making Peace with Autism
"There is a huge need for books to help individuals with autism make the transition to adulthood. Autism is a wide spectrum, ranging from a brilliant Aspergers at a technology company to an adult who cannot dress himself. These individuals need very different services. Susan Senator describes successful journeys, as well as her own with her son Nat. I highly recommend Autism Adulthood for parents and teachers who are guiding individuals in the middle range within the broad autism spectrum."
--Temple Grandin, author of The Autistic Brain, and Thinking in Pictures
"Autism Adulthood is a book I will be recommending to every autism parent I know. Senator is as warm as she is wise, as thoughtful as she is knowledgeable, as compassionate as she is informative. Her rallying cry of “All we can do is love each other” will resound in any parent’s heart. Senator loves fiercely--which means she does everything she can to ensure the best life and future for her adult child with autism. This book will inspire the rest of us to do the same for ours."--Claire LaZebnik, co-author of Overcoming Autism, with Dr. Lynn Kern Koegel
