Eating an Artichoke

[Briarprincess]

Hi everyone!
I was wondering if anyone here has read the book Eating an Artichoke by Echo Fling. For a class I took this semester, Autism Spectrum Disorders, we read it as part of the final. It's a biography of sorts, about all the things this family went through in getting their son diagnosed with Asperger (eventually).
Just wondering if anyone's read it and if so, what you thought. I think it was a great book to read as future special ed. teacher. Really interesting.

 

[Figment1964]

This book was one of, if not the VERY, first books I read after finding out about our ds's ASD 6+ years ago. I felt so much like the mother in this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who has a child on the spectrum. It helped me not feel so alone!

 

[karynnix]

I really believe that ALL teachers, special ed or not, should be required to read that book. I gave it to my son's 2nd and 3rd grade teachers as well as his special ed teacher. The book has been passed all over the school and I am hoping to get a copy to the library. The special ed teacher made notes about what paralleld my son in the book and gave it to all of his other teachers (PE, music, art, librarian) so that they would be aware. It has really helped. Echo Fling is wonderful for doing this book!

 

[SueM in MN]

I have not read this book, but have heard very goof things about it/

 

[Napria]

I haven't heard about this book, but I'll certainly check it out.

I feel like I could have written a book about getting my son diagnosed with AS. It took two and a half years and we got passed off from one professional to another before I was finally able to pin someone down to evaluate and correctly diagnose him. (How many of our kids have lived with simply ADHD or OCD diagnoses?)

You'd think that would be the end of the story, but finally getting the diagnosis didn't take care of our educational problems. The school wouldn't treat him as having an ASD without the diagnosis, wouldn't evaluate him themselves without the diagnosis, but then wouldn't accept his neurologists diagnosis without further evaluations!

Fortunately, he has been diagnosed and is now in a program for kids on the spectrum and is doing MUCH better than he has since before kindergarten.

Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Briarprincess]

We read it for my Autism Spectrum Disorders class, and everyone learned more about the trials and tribulations (sp?) of getting a diagnosis and what families go through than any normal textbook. What made this book so great was that it wasn't just the typical "here's what we went through, feel sorry for us and how you perceive my child" type book that we've had to read for other classes. It was more of a how to fight to get the best for your child. I really loved this book and my mother and aunts are all waiting to borrow it. Another thing everyone from class found interesting was that the family lives in NJ, and it was a great example of what goes on in the state where many of us will be teaching soon.
And everytime I go into a grocery store, I think about his little speech!