Customer Reviews
good supportive book for parents (and professionals) 
2008-05-08
The Asperger Parent by Jeffrey Cohen provides a much needed source of emotional support for parents of children with Asperger Syndrome. It would be especially helpful for a parent whose child has been recently diagnosed. Mr. Cohen is very readable, and obviously has worked through a lot of his feelings about raising a young child with Aspergers. He presents simple topics in humorous terms that every Asperger Parent can appreciate. I found myself alternatively laughing and crying, but consistently relieved to have my feelings validated in print. I would recommend this book to both parents and professionals who want to know what it really feels like to have a child with Asperger Syndrome. While, you may not get any hard and fast answers to your problems here, you will get a good, solid sense of what you and others have to deal with to get the best out of life for yourself and your child!
Funny book for a serious topic 
2008-01-20
This is a very funny book. I see a lot of my son in the stories told in this book so it is very easy to relate to. This book is great if you are feeling alone like you are the only one who has a child that doesnt "act normal" or if you have a new DX and feel over whelmed.
This is not a good book if you are looking for a "How to raise your child" book. Like the auther says this book is not about your child it is about YOU.
Many thanks to Jeffrey Cohen for sharing his story with us!
(((((HUGS))))
Lori
Very helpful 2008-01-07
I got the item in no time and I have found the info in the book to be very useful.
A Great Help and a Reality Check 2007-01-11
This book has proved invaluable to me! There are some very good books and articles available about how to "handle", how to "parent", how to "deal with" a kid on the autism spectrum. This book alone gave me far more valuable advice: how to find humor in the tough moments! More profoundly, it emphasizes that it's okay to enjoy life, to laugh, to even poke gentle fun at some of the unbelievable things our kids do. As the author emphasizes, this book isn't about the child...it's about the parent.
The asperger parent 2007-01-10
I couldn't put the book down, very funny and informative. At times I felt like it was me who wrote the book because I could relate so much to the authors experiences. I would recommend this book to any parent or even relative who has a member in the family with Asperger's.
This is a Good Survival Manual 2006-11-01
In this "carry-on support group", Jeffrey Cohen, father of eleven-year-old Josh who was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome at the age of five, examines what it's like to be the parent of a child with AS - where the pitfalls are and how to do your best to avoid them. With a great sense of humor and welcome, at times unflinching honesty, Cohen looks at all the emotions associated with being an AS parent - worry, sadness, anxiety, joy, pride, fear, triumph - and offers a pat on the back, a shoulder to cry on, a kick in the pants or a warm hug, when needed. With an easy-to-read , anecdotal tone, The Asperger Parent provides essential information and emotional support without being clinical and dry.
A Book About The Gift of A Child With Asperger's 2006-07-26
Jeffrey Cohen's book came at exactly the right moment for me--just as our oldest was getting ready to enter high school. I laughed when I needed to, and I saw our family (at its best and its worst) all over the pages of this book.
Your child with Asperger's isn't the child you expected? Think a minute--what child EVER is the child their parents expected? You're not always the parent you think you should be? Think about it--were YOUR parents perfect? And you're okay--your kid will be too.
Do yourself a favor and get this book. It's like a support group between covers.
Very well written and insightful. 2006-06-09
From the very first page, I could tell that this book spoke directly to me. I have read other books about Asperger's Syndrome in an attempt to better understand my son. I never considered the toll that it was taking on both my wife and I as parents, as well as people. This book, as he so aptly phrases it, is NOT about my son. It's about me and my wife. Mr. Cohen writes in a very matter of fact way, getting to the point with insight and humor that really puts things into a new perspective. We had looked for support groups, but hadn't found any within a reasonable distance. Reading this book made me feel like we weren't alone in the world, and that what I had looked at as "failed parenting" was actually a natural human reaction to what were at times overwhelming situations.
Simply Great Advice 2005-02-07
Having a "special needs" child is an incredibly stressful ongoing event and something author Jeff Cohen knows well as the father of a child with Asperger Syndrome. In its simplest terms, Asperger Syndrome (AS) is a form of higher functioning autism. Instead of another book on how to help the child, Jeff Cohen looked at the often forgotten group in such situations: the parents. Parents, regardless of the child's disability, are often blamed by society for their child's problems and may not have the local support needed to deal with the issues. This book, as he notes in the first chapter, is designed to be a sort of portable support group for those days and times it all gets to be too much.
It will get to be too much at times as he writes in the second chapter, "Other Parents Think I'm A Monster." What parent of a special needs child hasn't gotten the LOOK from another parent or adult when his or her child acted way out of bounds in public? That look that says you aren't doing something right and why won't you stop the child now? Jeff Cohen relates his own experiences along with the guilt and shame one instantly feels as others pass judgment on your parenting skills without ever having spent a minute in your shoes. Something all parents of special needs children will relate to.
If one isn't careful that internal battle can spill over into the schools. In "The Debate Over Inclusion" he lays out the arguments on both sides of the issue regarding placement of AS children in the public school system and recounts how well his local school district has handled the situation. He shares coping skills concerning the school's staff decisions and how to best get the help the child needs without becoming adversarial.
What follows is maybe the most important chapter in the book, "Remember That Person You're Married To?" The author gently and with more anecdotes reminds the reader to pay attention to his or her spouse. The guilt and stress over having an AS child or any disabled child is heavy, and it is easy to blame the partner for the situation. One has to constantly remember that it isn't anyone's fault and to take time to keep the romance alive. The author advocates quite strongly that time alone together for the parents is vitally important not only to strengthen the relationship, but to be a better parent and happier person that it is better able to cope with the situation. This chapter contains a lot of good advice not only for AS parents but for everyone.
Jeff Cohen then goes on to cover how to deal with sibling rivalry, moments one dreads like eating out and going on vacation, how to deal with medication issues, and other topics. Through it all, the author shares his personal experiences both happy times and sad times as she shares hard earned insight from being there before much was known about the syndrome. It is a roller coaster ride and Jeff Cohen recounts it all along with providing a lot of good information.
The bottom line theme through out the work is directly expressed towards the end of the book, "Lighten Up On Yourself." Jeff Cohen's overall point is that none of it is your fault and you are going to make mistakes as an AS parent. Hopefully, the good will outweigh the bad which is the best any of us as parents can hope for whether our children have AS or not.
Book Facts:
The Asperger Parent: How to Raise a Child With Asperger Syndrome and Maintain Your Sense of Humor
By Jeffrey Cohen
Autism Asperger Publishing Co.
www.asperger.net
Large Trade Paperback
ISBN # 1-931282-14-5
243 pages
$19.95
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
This is about YOU. No, really, not your child, you! 2004-03-30
If you're like me, you buy books on AS and consider the purchase a treat for yourself, even though the books concern your child. I was afraid this book might lose its focus on the parent at some point and start to focus on our kids--after all, how can one write about parenting a child with AS without writing about the children?--but the book remains solidly focused on the parents and discusses our children only in relation to our own lives.
Cohen is funny and insightful. I knew he knew what my life was like from the moment I read a line on the first page about when his son was expelled from his first preschool. My son was also asked to leave two preschools, so I had to chuckle in recognition.
This book is one I'll turn to whenever I need a real treat--just for me.
