Books About Life with Asperger's

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I am looking for a good book to read, and i'd like to read something inwhich the main character is an Aspie. It could be fictional, or based on a true story, or whatever. When i was younger, i read the book Rules, about a teenage girl and her younger brother with autism, and that's the kind of thing i'm looking for. It could be written by an aspie or not. So does anyone know of a good book about a teenage Aspie?

thanks a lot!

I am a very avid reader and have read numerous books on Aspergers as well as the autobiographies and biographies of people like myself who've grown up undiagnosed. Here are my top picks:

Pretending to be Normal by Liane Holliday Willey- While her young daughter is being diagnosed with Aspergers, a mother sees a lot of the traits in herself and recounts her undiagnosed childhood and how she learned to "fake it" in order to fit in.

Finding Ben: A Mother's Journey Through The Maze of Asperger's; By Barbara LaSelle- This is a sad, sad, sad book that makes me cry EVERY TIME I read it. A mother writes about raising her son Ben is a rather severe case before anyone knew what Asperger's was; as a result he was severely bullied, stuck with a bunch of misdiagnosis such as schizoprhenia, brain damaged, in and out of institutions with a brief stint in jail before a doctor finally arrives at the correct diagnosis when Ben is 23.

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's: by John Elder Robison- another case of growing up undiagnosed and being labelled as lazy and weird while being bullied by peers. He does find a niche for himself in adulthood repairing electronic equipment and is successful as an adult today.

Let me know if any of those are along the lines of what you're looking for.

Along these lines, Robison's new book Be Different would also be something I would recommend. I found it incredibly useful, actually. I love his thinking about adolescents with AS; they should build on their interests and pursue them, as they have the potential to become careers.
Also, his thoughts on the current education system in the US are similar to mine. Too much time is spent trying to make kids mediocre at everything; instead, we need to be "specializing" kids from a young age and preparing them for college and jobs in their fields of interests instead of watering them down with stuff that they will never use in their real work lives as adults.

I also really enjoyed both of John Robison's books.

I also liked the book "Atypical: Life with Apserger's in 20 1/3 chapters" by Jesse Saperstein

At the same time, it's quite upsetting to read this as it is difficult to make it through life nowadays without having the necessary qualifications. It really irks me how I am constantly being praised for being a good student while I realize that, while doing this, I am slowly killing a part of myself that finds pleasure in things. What can we do to get around these obstacles? Is it somehow possible for me to pursue my passion (working with children/young teens on the spectrum) without having to toil at this mundane cramming?

As for book suggestions, I have several.

Haze by Kathy Hoopmann - Personal favourite, although different for everyone. One of my friends didn't like it that much, but another friend told me he also loved it.

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine - Have just bought it, only read several chapters, but so far so good. Many people have said that it's an outstanding book.

Mozart and the Whale by Mary & Jerry Newport - The movie is more well known and the book is often overlooked. I've really enjoyed reading it, though. Judging from the feedback about the movie, the book is much better as it is a genuine autobiography, while the movie is only an attempt by the actors and the producer to portray people with AS.

Last edited by MathGirl on 27 Apr 2011, 1:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

Don't really understand what you're saying...?

I'm saying that while building a career solely on the special interest is ideal and desirable, the way the educational system and the hiring system works today in our modern society can make it very difficult to do so, especially if you are aiming for more sophisticated professions. The piece of information about having people with ASD learn through their special interest is necessary to know for an educator. However, it can be upsetting for someone with AS to read this, knowing that in today's reality, it can be very difficult to do so. There is no such educational flexibility in a large university where you are just a number.

That's basically what I was saying.

Right. I'm just commenting on how truths such as this can be upsetting to read without knowing any possible solutions to this problem. In my first post, I was asking whether there is a possible way out of this in today's society. It just feels like a dead end, especially when one is forced to live at home due to the expenses of university with parents who are not exactly supportive of one's special interests.

It's not quite a book but more like a short story in progress.

please check it out at http://www.myaspergerslifestory.com/