By Marsha Mailick Seltzer, Ph.D. and Marty Wyngaarden Krauss, Ph.D.

Many families have asked us for advice or resources they could reference in order to help them learn more about their son or daughter's autism spectrum disorder. With over 400 families participating in our research, we decided to ask parents if there were any books, movies, or other materials they have found to be particularly helpful and would recommend to other families. We have compiled that information in this article. The inclusion of any resource or Website link in this booklet does not imply endorsement.

Books For Autism

• Attwood, Tony Aspergers Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals
• Barron, Judy & Sean There's a Boy in Here
• Becker, Wesley Parents are Teachers- A Child Management Program
• Bombeck, Erma Motherhood, 2nd Oldest Profession
• Boss, Pauline Ambiguous Loss
• Chopin, Kate The Awakening
• Coleman, Daniel Emotional Intelligence
• Copeland, J. For the Love of Ann
• Cutler, Barbara
  • Unraveling the Special Education Maze
  • You, Your Child and Special Education
• Dilacato, Carl The Ultimate Stranger
• Dillion, Ruttler Living with Autism
• Donellen, Anne & Leary, Martha Movement Differences & Diversity in Autism
• Dornbush, M. & Pruitt, S. Teaching the Tiger
• Featherstone, Helen A Difference in the Family
• Frith, Uta Autism: Explaining the Enigma
• Garza, C. & Zubizarreta, R. Cuadros de familia/Family Pictures
• Gehret, Jeanne Eagle Eyes: A Child's Guide to Paying Attention
• Gill, Barbara Changed by a Child: Companion Notes for Parents of a child with a disability
• Gillingham, Gail Autism: Handle with Care
• Giplin, Wayne Laughing and Loving with Autism
• Grandin, Temple
  • 1. Children with Autism
  • 2. Emergence
  • 3. Labeled Autistic
  • 4. Thinking in Pictures
• Greenfield, Josh
  • 1. A Child Called Noah
  • 2. A Place for Noah
• Happe, Francesca Autism: An Introduction to Psychological Theory
• Harrington, Kathy How to be Paparo
• Harris, Sandra Siblings of Children with Autism
• Hart, Charles Without Reason
• Hart, C.J. & Zion, C. A Parents Guide to Autism
• Huff, Holly L. Jewel
• Jenson Public School A Parents Guide to Autism
• Kalmeyor, David Social Stories Book
• Kaufman, Barry Neil Son Rise
• Kranowitz, Carol S. The Out of Sync Child
• Leary, M. & Donellen, A. Movement Disorder
• Lehr, Sue & Lehr, Ben If You Look in Their Eyes, You Know
• Lovett, Herb
  • 1. Cognitive Counseling for Persons with Special Needs
  • 2. Learning to Listen
• MacDonnell, Jane Taylor News from the Border
• Maurice, Catherine Let Me Hear Your Voice
• Maurice, C. (Ed.) Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism
• McKean, Thomas et al Soon Will Come the Light: A View from Inside the Autism Puzzle
• Meyer, Donald J. (Ed.) Views from Our Shoes: Growing up with a Brother or Sister with Special Needs
• Myles, Bernard Asperger Syndrome and Difficult Moments
• Myles, Brenda S. An Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis
• Park, Clara The Siege
• Powers, Michael D. (Ed.) Children with Autism: A Parents Guide
• Quill, Kathleen A. Teaching Children with Autism
• Richard, Gail J. The Source for Autism
• Rimland, Bernard Infantile Autism
• Ross, Bette M. Our Special Child
• Russell, L. Mark Planning for the Future: Providing a Meaningful Life for the Handicap
• Sacks, Oliver An Anthropologist on Mars
• Schnurr, Rosina Asperger's Huh? A Child's Perspective
• Scholper, E., Mesibov, G. & Kunce, L. (Eds.)Aspergers Syndrome or High Functioning Autism
• Schulze, Craig When Snow Turns to Rain
• Shapiro, Joe No Pity
• Siegel, Bryna The World of the Autistic Child
• Sperry, VirginiaW. Fragile Success
• Stechli, Annabelle
  • 1. The Sound of a Miracle
  • 2. Sound of a Miracle
• Sullivan, Connor & Sullivan, Danielle (Eds.) I Love my Little Brother!: A Preschoolers View of Living with a brother who has Autism
• Thompson, Sue The Source for Nonverbal Learning Disorders
• Wheeler, Bonnie Challenged Parenting
• Willey, Laine H. Pretending to be Normal
• Williams, Donna
  • 1. After the Tears
  • 2. Autism- An Inside-Out Approach
  • 3. Nobody, Nowhere
  • 4. Somebody, Somewhere
  • 5. The Unlost Instinct

Websites for Autism

• Federation for Children with Special Needs
• Autism Society of America Foundation
• Autism Society of Wisconsin
• Center for the Study of Autism
• Increasing Awareness About Autism
• Patient Center Guides RE: Autism
• Guide RE: Asperger's syndrome
• Family Village - A global community of disability-related resources
• MA statewide support & resource network
• Wright's Law - Advocacy & legal information on special education
• Families for Early Autism Treatment
• FEAT Newsletter
• Handbook on Special Ed Laws, Policies & Practices in Wisconsin
• Disability Advocates: Wisconsin Network
• Autism Connect - Connects to sites providing news, events & information on autism
• John Wobus' -one-stop shopping for info.
• National Institute of Child Health & Human Development/Autism site
• LD OnLine
• Inclusion Resources

Videos

• A Family at Autism
• House of Cards
• House of Cards-Trilogy-Vol. 3
• Lorenzo's Oil
• Mercury Rising
• Philly- movie and sequel
• Rainman
• Sensory Integration Dysfunction
• Shine
• Son Rise
• The Boy Who Could Fly
• The Loretta Clayborne Story movie aired by Disney
• The Mighty
• The Other Sister
• What's Eating Gilbert Grape
• F.A.T. City

Thank You to all the families who participate in this research and contributed.

This project was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG08768) and the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Aging with Developmental Disabilities at the University of Illinois at Chicago (H133B30069), funded by National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. We gratefully acknowledge the support from the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Nancy Lurie Marks Foundation that helped to launch this research. Administrative support for the study is provided by the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Starr Center at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.

We are extremely grateful to the families of the 405 adolescents and adults who have given so generously of their time and shared their lives with us.

Visit us at our website: http://www.waisman.wisc.edu/family/index.htmlx