Freaks, Geeks & Asperger Syndrome

Freaks, Geeks & Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence is a book by Luke Jackson, a 13-year-old boy with Asperger syndrome. The book is a serious but light-hearted look at the challenges and joys of living on the autism spectrum. The thirteen-year-old writer has three brothers and three sisters. One of his brothers also has AD/HD and one is autistic. He has also written two other books, A User Guide to Gf/CF Diet, and Asperger Syndrome and AD/HD.

As Jackson writes, "So many books are written about us, but none are written directly to adolescents with Asperger Syndrome. I thought I would write one in the hope that we could all learn together."

The book like a milestone of its own as it is one of the books among few written by a person with Asperger syndrome. Writing in the foreword, Tony Attwood has commented about the usefulness of this book in these words: "At last we have a book for adolescents with Asperger sybdrome, written by a thirteen-year-old who has a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome. Luke Jackson is an expert on the challenges encountered by his peers ... I will now benefit by incorporating of Luke's wisdom into my clinical works ... His style is entertaining and educational but i would add that it is also therapeutic. This book will enhance our understanding of Asperger Syndrome, change attitudes, and replace bleak despair with insight and laughter."

Structure
The book begins with a foreword by Tony Attwood and a section on acknowledgments, followed by 15 chapters:


 * Chapter 1 - An Introduction: Me and My Family


 * Chapter 2 - Asperger Syndrome and the Autistic Syndrome: a label or a signpost

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 * Chapter 3 - To Tell or Not to Tell: Giving the news - ''How and when to tell other people
 * Chapter 4 - Fascination and Fixations: Specialist subjects - Collections - Compulsions - Controlling a compulsion


 * Chapter 5 - Sense and Sense Abilities: All of the senses, our different sensory perceptions - All in a muddle


 * Chapter 6 - A Different Physiology: Dietary differences


 * Chapter 7 - A Word About Sleep: Medications - Sleeping solutions with people with AS - Sleeping solutions, tips for parents


 * Chapter 8 - Language and Learning: Teenage talk - Literalism and logic - Precise parents make cheerful parents

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 * Chapter 9 - The Problem with School... : Reading, writing and 'rithmetic - Not to mention homework - Not much fun and games - ''School or otherwise, if it still goes wrong
 * Chapter 10 - Bullying: My experiences - What is bullying? - Why me? - When is a bully not a bully? - Dealing with bullies


 * Chapter 11 - Takewondo: My takewondo class - The history of Takewondo - The benefits of Takewondo


 * Chapter 12 - Friendship and Socializing: How to win friends and influence people - A word of warning for pushy parents


 * Chapter 13 - The Dating Game: Fathom those feelings - Top tips to enhance your chance - The rules of the game, do's and don'ts of dating

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 * Chapter 14 - Morals and Principals - Representation and reality: Negative publicity, Rules are not made to be broken, ''Moral musings for adolescent Aspergers
 * Chapter 15 - One Final and Positive Note:

At the end of the around 200-page book, four useful sections are appended: Idioms - an Explanation, Further Reading, Useful Address and Websites, Index.