The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome

I wanted to learn more about asperger's and autism and so I picked up The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome by Tony Attwood. I had previously read a book by Temple Grandin which gave a unique perspective of a person with autism. Tony Attwood is a clinical psychologist who has treated many people with asperger's.

I learned a lot of interesting facts about asperger's. This particular diagnosis did not really appear until the 1980's, so it is a newly understood condition (prior to this it would have been just autism). There is some debate on whether asperger's is the same as high functioning autism, though Attwood doesn't like to debate it. He considers asperger's a part of the autism spectrum. And finally I learned that girls are harder to diagnose than boys.

I must admit I only managed to read the first four chapters and that may be ok. I read the chapters that interested me the most. The first few pages claim this book is easy to read. It is not. The author assumes you have some experience in psychology because he uses acronym's and mentions clinical assessments with almost no explanation. The first few chapters discusses the characteristics and diagnosis of asperger's. The remaining chapters discuss various therapies.

Book Rating: 2 stars. This book is really for psychology professionals.