Autism Heroes : Portraits of Families Meeting the Challenge

Intimate, bold and inspiring, Autism Heroes provides a compelling and sensitive account of the experiences of 38 families from different walks of life confronting the challenges of autism with courage, tenacity and love. With empathy and expertise gained from her three decades of leadership of The Help Group and her commitment to children with special needs, Dr. Barbara Firestone engages the families in candid, powerful and deeply affecting conversations about their lives. Each family narrative is set against the backdrop of her insightful essays about dignity, hope, opportunity and love, which are fundamentally important to all families living with autism.The families offer their experiences openly and honestly, sharing their challenges, triumphs and hopes. Their candor helps demystify and destigmatize autism and embraces other parents just beginning or already on the journey. Their reflections chart the course through the many stages of coping with autism and seeking solutions for their children, and they offer a lifeline of support, insight, encouragement and hope.Fully illustrated with stunning photographs by Joe Buissink, Autism Heroes is an invaluable resource for families as well as educators, clinicians, researchers and policy makers. Intimate, bold, and inspiring, Autism Heroes provides a compelling and sensitive account of the experiences of 38 families from different walks of life confronting the challenges of autism with courage, tenacity and love. With empathy and expertise gained from her three decades of leadership of The Help Group and commitment to children with special needs, Dr. Barbara Firestone engages the families in candid, powerful and deeply affecting conversations about their lives. Each family narrative is set against the backdrop of her insightful essays about dignity, hope, opportunity and love, which are fundamentally important to all families living with autism. The families offer their experiences openly and honestly, sharing their challenges, triumphs, and hopes. Their candor helps demystify and destigmatize autism and embraces other parents just beginning or already on the journey. Their reflections chart the course through the many stages of coping with autism and seeking solutions for their children, and they offer a lifeline of support, insight and encouragement and hope. Fully illustrated with stunning photographs by Joe Buissink, Autism Heroes is an invaluable resource for families as well as educators, clinicians, researchers and policy makers. Firestone Is The President, Ceo And Founder Of The Help Group, A Non-profit Organization That Assists Families With Autistic Children. With The Assistance Of Photographer Buissink, The Author Documents The Lives And Needs Of 38 Families Who Deal With The Daily Challenges Of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Stressing The Need To Deliver More Knowledge And Information About The Disorder To These Families (who Come From All Walks Of Life), Firestone Balances These Profiles With Plenty Of Research Facts And Treatment Options. Barbara Firestone ; Forewords By Teddi And Gary Cole And Catherine Lord ; Photography By Joe Buissink. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 215). Bronze Medal Winner in the 2008 IPPY awards. Few have the combination of compassion, rigorous knowledge, passion for the field, and accomplishments in helping literally thousands of children with autism spectrum disorders as does Barbara Firestone. She is also an extraordinary listener, and a great observer of people, making her perspectives and collection of family stories coupled with Joe Buissink's photography extremely rich, inspiring, and instructive.". Michael O'Hanlon. Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution. Parent of a Child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. "Autism and Asperge 'Autism Heroes' collects the stories of families who are affected by autism spectrum disorders. Through her work at the Help Group, Dr. Barbara Firestone has followed many families through the years and the portraits collected here are a distillation of her candid conversations and interviews with 40 of these families Preliminaries......Page 1 contents......Page 11 Dignity......Page 26 Hope......Page 72 Opportunity......Page 122 Love......Page 180 Afterword......Page 234 Selected Reading for Families......Page 235 About The Help Group......Page 236