Uniquely Human

I just finished listening to Barry Prizant's book, Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism. Although I have read multiple articles and receive his newsletter from his SCERTS program, it is my first book by him that I have read. Again I am awed by how challenging it is to deeply read an audiobook. I feel that it is important to engage in this exercise periodically because it creates an understanding with students who use audiobooks as a compensatory tool. If they multitask, as I frequently do when listening, it is not high quality information learning.

Dr. Prizant weaves his years of experience through his book as anecdotes to support his ideas rather than listing research article after article. This makes the book very readable. 

His primary assertion is that there are no "autistic" behaviors, merely human behaviors that are engaged in with an intensity or beyond an expected time. When my son bounced at the arrival of his birthday guests, he was engaging in behavior typical of a toddler, not a middle schooler. When a child rocks to calm himself, he is doing what many do, but perhaps more vigorously or more publically than we might. When a child engages in self-injurious behavior (SIB) because he is overwhelmed, he is aggressively combating the overstimulation by blocking it out the only way he knows how- SIB. We need to modify the environment to reduce the stress rather than try to target the SIB for extinction.

He reminds us that people on the spectrum may experience past events almost the ways a person with PTSD might- full of emotion and experience. A bad experience once, can lead to extreme anxiety about that situation again. That anxiety can lead to outbursts that are seemingly "out of no where" until some careful and thorough detective work reveals the underlying cause. Then, just like a person with PTSD, we cannot eliminate the brain's instinctive response, but we can slowly buffer the traumatic experience with more positive experiences and self-talk. 

He reminds us that each person is developing throughout their life. There is no age beyond which a skill cannot develop. We should not be looking at an average development curve, but an individual one and celebrate the gains each individual makes.

His target audience is caregivers. He is offering a comforting viewpoint that their children are "normal" but on a different trajectory that some others. He recommends finding support howsoever it helps- books, therapy groups, parents of people with autism groups, whatever works for each individual. His book is also for professionals. It urges them to find compassion and look at the strengths of each individual rather than the deficits. He reminds them to understand the monumental task a caregiver has and to remember that they are doing the best they can in that moment. My son had a 1:1 aide with him throughout his schooling. He came home and there I was without that support. There were times when he was young when he had to come to the bathroom with me because I could not trust him with his little sister while I took two minutes out. Teachers recognize that the children in their care go home to their parents at night, during vacations, and the summer. They relish their time away from their jobs. Parents do not have the luxury. Even when their child is at school, they are on edge about how their child is doing and will they get a phone call about some issue. They are in for the long haul. Sometimes their stress says they cannot be the best they would like to be.

The last chapter in the book is a FAQ section. It provides sensible, down to earth answers to some of the most common questions that Dr. Barry is asked.  A nice way to wrap up the text. I would highly recommend this text.