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Extended Project on Autism

Hello,
For my EPQ I am going to write a book from the perspective of a child (around 7 or 8 years old) that has a younger sibling with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. As part of my research, I was wondering if anybody would be able to give me their experience on living with somebody with autism (or having autism themselves and the effects it may have had on the family). More specifically, it would be useful to know the difficulties that arise in everyday life that someone who hasn't had this experience may not consider, as well as the benefits it has had on family life, and maybe how it has made you think differently. Thank you very much for your time.
(edited 8 years ago)

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Original post by FebruaryFlowers
Hello,
For my EPQ I am going to write a book from the perspective of a child that has a sibling with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. As part of my research, I was wondering if anybody would be able to give me their experience on living with somebody with autism (or having autism themselves and the effects it may have had on the family). Thank you very much for your time.


You might get some more useful responses if you ask a more specific question or questions. Simply asking for people's "experience on living with somebody with autism" is an incredibly broad question!
Original post by Plagioclase
You might get some more useful responses if you ask a more specific question or questions. Simply asking for people's "experience on living with somebody with autism" is an incredibly broad question!


Good idea :blushing: Sorry, I'm quite new with forums!
I both have a sibling and the condition myself. As above, can you please be a bit more specific. Thanks.
Original post by Tiger Rag
I both have a sibling and the condition myself. As above, can you please be a bit more specific. Thanks.


I am looking into how siblings react to a diagnosis- did he/she treat you any differently afterwards? Was he/she very understanding? Is there anything he/she has learnt? I didn't want to be too specific in case I caused offence (I don't want anybody to give information they are not comfortable with) or in case I asked the wrong types of questions. Is there anything you think I should know while writing a book to teach children about the condition? Thank you for your reply, I'm sorry for the confusion! :smile:


Thank you, this looks really good!
Don't have any experience but may I suggest the following things with people who have autism:

Books
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Films
Rain Man
The Story of Luke

TV Shows
Educating the East End - Episode 8
House - Lines in the Sand

Based on the sort of info you're looking for I'd say that Curious Incident and East End would be the most helpful, but if you get the chance they're all worth checking out :smile:
Reply 9
Hiya, if you like, you can read my article here :
http://www.socialstudent.co.uk/living-spectrum-life-aspergers-autism/

any other questions? pm me! :smile:
Original post by FebruaryFlowers
I am looking into how siblings react to a diagnosis- did he/she treat you any differently afterwards? Was he/she very understanding? Is there anything he/she has learnt? I didn't want to be too specific in case I caused offence (I don't want anybody to give information they are not comfortable with) or in case I asked the wrong types of questions. Is there anything you think I should know while writing a book to teach children about the condition? Thank you for your reply, I'm sorry for the confusion! :smile:


In my case, they all knew anyway.

What age is the book going to be aimed at? Because if it's younger children, you don't want to go into too much detail.
Original post by Tiger Rag
In my case, they all knew anyway.

What age is the book going to be aimed at? Because if it's younger children, you don't want to go into too much detail.


It's going to be aimed at primary school age children, I haven't decided the exact age yet but it will be for kids aged around 7 or 8.
Original post by lameteenager
Don't have any experience but may I suggest the following things with people who have autism:

Books
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Films
Rain Man
The Story of Luke

TV Shows
Educating the East End - Episode 8
House - Lines in the Sand

Based on the sort of info you're looking for I'd say that Curious Incident and East End would be the most helpful, but if you get the chance they're all worth checking out :smile:


Thanks so much, I'll look into them! :smile:
Original post by Samwin
Hiya, if you like, you can read my article here :
http://www.socialstudent.co.uk/living-spectrum-life-aspergers-autism/

any other questions? pm me! :smile:


Thank you so much, this was really good!
Reply 14
Original post by FebruaryFlowers
Thank you so much, this was really good!


Why thank you :smile: I have experience of both ends of the spectrum :smile: and telling young children about it :smile: (am a childcare assistant) :smile: so seriously, you are more than welcome to ask me anything you like :biggrin:
Original post by FebruaryFlowers
It's going to be aimed at primary school age children, I haven't decided the exact age yet but it will be for kids aged around 7 or 8.


I think there's something called Social Stories which may explain to younger children what Autism is.
Thank you for all of your help everyone!
Hallo, I'm autistic myself and like obviously idk exactly what ur doing but you might be able to express autism better if you do the book from the autistic kids point of view? Bc I feel like allistics don't often understand autism so like I know my allistic siblings don't really get me and wouldn't be able to explain autism properly despite living w me. Obviously if you were to do this you'd need input from actual autistic ppl (idm helping if u want) to make sure you were representing it properly but yea idk the idea of an allistic person explaining my condition kinda rubs me up the wrong way :/
Original post by Squidsticks
Hallo, I'm autistic myself and like obviously idk exactly what ur doing but you might be able to express autism better if you do the book from the autistic kids point of view? Bc I feel like allistics don't often understand autism so like I know my allistic siblings don't really get me and wouldn't be able to explain autism properly despite living w me. Obviously if you were to do this you'd need input from actual autistic ppl (idm helping if u want) to make sure you were representing it properly but yea idk the idea of an allistic person explaining my condition kinda rubs me up the wrong way :/


Hi, the reason that I decided to do a book for siblings from a sibling's perspective was for two reasons: firstly because apparently it is easier for young children to understand a concept if they can identify with the perspective and secondly because there are more books on the market written from the point of view of a person with autism than a sibling. However, your suggestion has made me think that it might be a good idea to write parts of the story from the autistic sibling's point of view so the child reading it will get a better idea of what it's like? Thank you very much, it will really improve the story! If I run into any troubles, would it be okay for me to maybe PM you an extract to see if I am portraying the condition properly? (Don't worry if not :smile:)
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by FebruaryFlowers
Hi, the reason that I decided to do a book for siblings from a sibling's perspective was for two reasons: firstly because apparently it is easier for young children to understand a concept if they can identify with the perspective and secondly because there are more books on the market written from the point of view of a person with autism than a sibling. However, your suggestion has made me think that it might be a good idea to write parts of the story from the autistic sibling's point of view so the child reading it will get a better idea of what it's like? Thank you very much, it will really improve the story! If I run into any troubles, would it be okay for me to maybe PM you an extract to see if I am portraying the condition properly? (Don't worry if not :smile:)


Yeah sure!

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