Uniquely Human

August 1, 2015

The trend toward positive psychology is not a bad thing, and it is particularly not a bad thing in treatment planning for adults and children with autism. Prizant (coauthor, The SCERTS Model) chooses to use positive psychology principles with current best practices in behavioral psychology to mesh a program that focuses on acceptance of the individual, while not lowering expectation of the person. It's an effective outlook, not too Pollyanna for the parents, caregivers, and individuals themselves but rather a generous acknowledgement of humanity over diagnosis. This is neither a program-specific text like Naomi Chedd and Karen Levine's Treatment Planning for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, nor is it program propaganda, as found in Raun K. Kaufman's Autism Breakthrough. It is simply a very accessible offering of mostly anecdotal cases that demonstrate how a more positive approach to treatment can bring greater understanding to practitioners, parents, and subjects alike. VERDICT Prizant is a respected voice in the autism community, and the methods demonstrated here are backed by case study and experience. Parents, especially parents of the newly diagnosed, may find a ray of hope in the often bleak landscape of early diagnosis and the endless search for answers and information that inevitably results.--Victoria Frerichs, Prescot, UK

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2015
Autism expert Prizant shares his decades of on-the-ground experience and wisdom in this uplifting inquiry, written with coauthor Fields-Meyer, author of Following Ezra (2011), a memoir about his autistic son. The book begins with semantics as Prizant explains why he uses the phrase person with autism instead of an autistic person. The condition is not a disease and it does not require fixing. Instead, typical people, without autism, need to change their attitudes and behavior. They can start by listening to their loved ones explain what it's like to have autism and acknowledge that many acts, such as jumping up and down and repeating the same phrase, are human behaviors not unique to people with autism. People who fixate on garden sprinklers or a ceiling fan do so because they find them calming and predictable. What's so bad about that? Prizant's interest in autism began in college when he spent a summer as a counselor at a camp for kids and adults with disabilities. Forty years later, he is still helping families and answering their questions and offering useful resources, including websites, books, and national organizations. This positive volume should reassure parents and caregivers of kids with autism and any other disability that their kids are not broken, but, indeed, special.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)