Eating an Artichoke: A Mother’s Perspective on Asperger Syndrome
Product Description
During a routine parent-teacher conference in November 1991, Echo Fling was told by her son’s teacher that his behaviour in class was ‘not normal’. After two years at the pre-school, five-year-old Jimmy had failed to make any friends, had recently started to act aggressively towards his classmates, and was beginning to react violently to any changes in his routine. Echo was not taken completely by surprise: she had suspected for some time that her son was different … More >>
Eating an Artichoke: A Mother’s Perspective on Asperger Syndrome
THIS BOOK IS MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR, THAN THE CHILD, OR THE PROBLEMS. THIS IS DEFINITELY THE “CHICK FLICK” OF ASPERGER BOOKS. IF THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT, THEN GREAT, OTHERWISE LOOK ELSEWHERE.
Rating: 2 / 5
I did not care for this book and felt it was poorly edited and poorly written. For example, the following sentence appears in Chapter 14: “I told him the [sic] even a simple hug was even [sic] too much for our son” and “you’re” and “your” were used interchangeably, in a seemingly hit or miss fashion. An example of this appears early in the book with the sentence, “You’re [sic] mother’s a snowblower!” Several chapters later, the sentence “Either there was or their [sic] wasn’t” assails readers. That kind of sloppy writing and editing is just inexcusable. A number of things about this book really irked me.
1. Echo kept calling herself “Mommy” to her son Jimmy and referring to herself in the third person, long after he hit the school years. That sounded demeaning and condescending. (“Mommy” is an appellation more suitable for pre-schoolers). Statements such as “Mommy wants you to know,” “well, Mommy goes nuts when she has to tell you the same answers all the time,” were the literary equivalents of nails across a chalk board. It was also darned annoying. Since many people with autism have pronoun shift difficulties, hearing a person referring to herself in the third person could add to that confusion. This is not to say that problem applied to Jimmy, but it often appears among people with more severe forms of autism.
2. Echo was the one who started the puppet routine during her bedtime talks with Jimmy. It sounded as if the puppet became a crutch upon which Jimmy relied. Jimmy appeared to be unable to engage in lucid conversations during that period without talking through that puppet. Although this may have been a nice nocturnal routine they both enjoyed, it does raise the question of whether this helped him develop conversational independence.
3. Jimmy’s annoyance with his younger sister, Caroline was one that many people could readily relate to and understand. It can be quite painful to be surpassed in social and developmental skills by a younger child and a sibling at that. One anecdote that was especially adorable was when Jimmy told Caroline when she was crying, “a little less noise.” His response was logical and understandable.
One could feel Jimmy’s irritation with Caroline over her tendency to burst into song. Just TRY to talk to someone who sidetracks discussions by singing! That could wear out quickly and it sounded perfectly understandable that Jimmy would find that yet another thorn in his side as it a) could have been too loud and b) could have been yet another activity from which he felt excluded as singing was not his forte.
Although I didn’t like this book, it was interesting to read about life with a child who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Jimmy’s behavior sounded closer to autism than to Asperger’s. As someone who has Asperger’s Syndrome, I did not feel this book was helpful at all.
Rating: 1 / 5
Out of the many many AS and autism books I have read, this one really hit the spot. It gave me hope, made me laugh and cry. This book a mom of an AS child can really relate too. I highly recommend it to everyone.
Rating: 5 / 5
Eating an Artichoke is a book about a mother’s struggle to understand her son. From an early age, Echo knew that something was not quite right with her son. When her fears were confirmed by Jimmy’s preschool teacher, Echo began her long journey, through the confusing world of the special education system, into the land of Asperger Syndrome; a journey that Echo shared with the world, in hopes of helping mothers who were put on the same path in life.
Throughout the book, Echo takes great care in explaining Jimmy’s behaviors in detail. This is a vital part of the book as it provides a great insight into the mind of a child with Apergers.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is a great read. There is a huge amount in the book, I feel like I’m reading about my own son. The obsessions, clothing, new places and holiday problems are the same as I experience! The mum’s frustration and sadness I can associate with and had a bit of a cry in some places myself because I can empathise with her problems. However, I wouldn’t have my son any other way. He is so great and I have had the opportunity of play dates with “normal” boys and find they are hard to entertain and change their play every 5 minutes. My son can sit down for 2 hours or more with the same toys and not give anyone grief. I also can empathise with her daughter as my daughter also misses out on a lot of entertainment because of my son’s extreme behaviour. He will not allow her to interrupt or join in with his play which hurts her feelings. Thoroughly recommended to parents, the book helps as it makes you feel like you’re not the only one who has to pander to your childs obsessions in order for peace to reign in the house.
Rating: 5 / 5