The Fabric of Autism, Weaving The Threads Into A Cogent Theory

Customer Reviews

A must-read

2004-07-13
I commend Judith Bluestone's "The Fabric of Autism: Weaving the Threads into a Cogent Theory" with vigorous enthusiasm. It is a truly awesome book, leading the reader into the maze of internal disorganization experienced by someone with autism - and out of the maze too! That's what makes the book so remarkable. No one has ever done that, to my knowledge. Lots of authors look segmentally at autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and suggest correspondingly segmentalized treatment. This author views (and shares!) the whole.

Judith Bluestone combines profound logic and creative genius to EXPLAIN autism - not just ferreting out composite causes, not just describing the spectrum: from the "inside" of her own life experiences and from the "outside" of a gentle, wise, compassionate teacher and therapist, she explains autism for everyone. And she goes even one step further: she links the industrialized world's epidemic of disordered neurodevelopment - seen in ADHD, learning disabilities, Tourette's Syndrome, bipolar disorder, depression - to phenomena comparable to the extreme of autism. So this book affords insights applicable beyond the autism spectrum, too.

This is a must-read book for anyone who cares about enabling individuals to cope with life's challenges. Anyone who loves someone on the autism spectrum, anyone who teaches or treats someone with an ASD, anyone who has devoted time and energy to studying ASD, will turn a corner into vision: they will SEE autism. And will thereby see the human being struggling, whole.

Congratulations to Judith Bluestone for an awesome job!

more than just a book 2007-10-26
I read the book quite some time ago and don't remember much of the details. All I know is that it convinced me to give the Handle approach a chance - to give my son a chance in life. We are in the fifth month of a Handle program directly under the author Judith Bluestone.
My son has changed so drastically within the last five months. I am very faithful to the exercises because I see the results which include being able to hear and see at the same time, being able to smell, being able to process sequences of sounds, being able to follow more than two commands, being able to use fingers on one hand without the other hand moving, becoming more social etc etc etc (My son is six years old).
The book comes with exercises to try so you can get an idea of what a full Handle program would be like.
I would like to add that my husband has a PhD in physics and works for NASA. He is very research orientated but when it comes to the Handle program, he just says "whatever you are doing, just keep going!"

I'm a total convert to the HANDLE method 2006-12-27
I'm a parent with a teenage girl who has autism, so immeditately I was drawn to a woman who wrote about her own experiences with autism. Our family has been through almost everything imaginable, in trying to effectively treat it. I was absolutely at my wits end when a therapist went to a HANDLE training, and called me several times while she was there, to enthusiastically endorse this different approach to treating autism. Let me just say that my husband is highly educated and is a Harvard-trained physician, so he's not one to pay much attention to anecdotal or new-age claims. But he's every bit as convinced as I am, that this holistic method has greatly improved the brain functioning of our autistic daughter. It's helped her to such a degree that we don't even do any other interventions anymore! Reading this book was the eye-opener I needed, then actually meeting Judith in person, and working with her, and being guided by her, was the clincher. This method works, and I think it ought to be part of everyone's treatment program! I think my very favorite thing about HANDLE is that it's based on what is called "Gentle Enhancement." It's respectful of the changes that you're asking the body to do, and in doing so, it's easy, enjoyable, methodical, and best of all, it's improved my husband's and my brain functioning too! After years of frantic, forced interventions that frankly didn't work as well as we had hoped they would, we are now in such a beautiful place with our family. It's been over a year since we first began the exercises, and the change in our family is nothing short of amazing! We're so calm and unusually happy, because of the changes we only saw happen after trying the HANDLE method. I only wish we hadn't waited so long before we finally tried it!

Pseudoscience at its best! 2006-07-29
In my opinion, Judith Bluestones "HANDLE" is pseudoscience at its best. Her approach lacks systematic documentation of clinical outcomes in regards to children with autism. The heart-warming anecdotes and testimonials found in "The Fabric of Autism" may seem convincing but try not to be fooled by this "fad" treatment. "HANDLE" demonstrates the classic signs of pseudoscience including high success rates at a rapid pace for a wide range of disorders. Learners with developmental disabilities have the right to treatments with proven documentation on effectiveness. Most of the issues discussed in "The Fabric of Autism", are based on sensory integration therapy, another controversial treatment that lacks objective evidence. There is obviously missing rationales for how this approach works. How are the neural pathways strengthened, how are short-circuits un-shorted, and how does any of this makes a difference? Another aspect that is unclear is in regards to Judith Bluestones expertise in the area of autism. Claims of recovering herself from autism hardly seem plausible.

My "favorite" story in "The Fabric of Autism" is about an autistic and non-verbal girl named Christine. Judith claims that the girl began to speak after a few months of "working" on her feet. Bluestones rational for this miraculous event is that the girl "allowed herself to open to her sensory vulnerabilities in order to be opened to express her sensibilities." Now where is the science in that?

Common Thread 2005-10-18
This is an excellent book that helps to emphasize that people on the autism/Asperger's (a/A) continuum have many common threads with their neurotypical (NT) counterparts. I want more books like this. I find that message positive, affirming and very helpful indeed.

Bluestone does a brilliant job of combining a personal account with clinical research. When you get right down to it, all people have some common traits/aspects/behaviors with their a/A counterparts. The common thread is quite strong; it comes through in the beautiful, bright primary colors that make up the a/A enigma puzzle. Bluestone's research does a lot to unravel the enigma by providing logical explanations for sensory issues and behavioral responses to same.

I think this book deserves a place of honor among all professionals, parents and lay people. We all need this book!

For parents, caregivers, and teachers of autistic children 2004-07-14
The Fabric Of Autism: Weaving Threads Into A Cogent Theory combines informative clinical work with a moving personal memoir to illustrate and illuminate the humanity that is typically masked by autistic behavior. Advocate, teacher, therapist, lecturer, and author Judith Bluestone (who created the Holistic Approach to NeuroDevelopment and Learning Efficiency) personally triumphed over the challenges of autism. From an informative introduction to neuroscientific research, to explanations of developmental processes, to a survey of clinical outcomes to identify the probable causes of autism, The Fabric Of Autism is a perfect introduction for parents, caregivers, and teachers of autistic children.