Turn Autism Around: An Action Guide for Parents of Young Children with Early Signs of Autism

This is a great book. It covers all aspects of how to handle and enjoy the great minds of brain diversity.

Very informative

This was the first book I found after coming to the conclusion that my son (2yrs 2mo) was likely autistic. The older he got the worse his delays became and the more "autistic behaviors" began to present themselves. He is very easily overwhelmed and has tantrums frequently that can become violent. He has some "stimming" behaviors, and does not like to engage with his 3 month old sister.I was so pleased to find this book as the author helped me to confirm my suspicions, identify some of the causes of his actions, document with extreme detail where he is now, and create a plan to help him make up where he has fallen behind. Having the ability to move forward instantly had a motivating effect on changes I already knew in my heart I needed to make, like giving my son more room to run in the house and engaging with him in a more involved way.HOWEVER, the author does not believe in autism-affirming therapies, and this is where many of the things she teaches do not work for me or my child.While I appreciate that she does not specifically state to discourage "stimming," she really avoids talking about them after labeling them a "problem behavior". Autistic children and adults use stimming to help cope with situations where they have lagging skills in social settings or just generally feel understimulated. She states that with her method, she says that these behaviors will decrease. And that's fantastic if her method helps the child feel more comfortable or more stimulated and that reduces these behaviors. But for someone who has worked in the field for as long as she has, I expected her to mention that many therapists discourage and even punish these behaviors such as telling the child to sit on their hands if they won't stop flitting their fingers in front of their eyes (a common autistic behavior). Punishing or discouraging these behaviors without addressing the "why" of the behavior can be harmful and reduce trust.Also, when my son has violent tantrums, he needs love. He needs to be held. Why? Because he's scared. He's scared of his own emotions and what they can do. The author of this book discourages holding your child after a tantrum and while I understand her reasoning, it does not apply to our family.That said, her strategies are child-friendly, child-first, and use only positive reinforcement, never forcing the child to engage in an activity. Because she offers proactive and positive strategies to help with an age group that is rarely covered in other autistic parenting books, this book is a rare gem that can be useful to those who choose ABA therapies for their child as well as for those who do not. While we do not agree on everything, I will still be incorporating much of what I read into my son's routine and I am grateful I found this book.

This book has been so helpful for my husband and I when we found out our little guy might be autistic. Once we learned he may have ASD we felt helpless in knowing how to help and were months away from getting an official diagnosis/professional services. We understood how crucial it was to start working with our son to start closing his learning gaps ASAP, and this book offered great suggestions and insights on where to start. For any parents wanting to know what you can do while waiting for diagnosis/services, I can't recommend this book enough. Know that in order to implement many of the interventions you may need to purchase cause and effect toys and some other simple supplies, which were absolutely worth it in my opinion. My son has already made progress with this program in many areas. During the self evaluations we determined our son's skills to be at the level of around a 36 month old (he was 46 months when I did the self assessments). We just got his official diagnosis of ASD this week and the evaluators determined that his cognitive abilities/skills were that of a 35 month old. I was fascinated that the book self assessments was so similar to that of the professional evaluation, which reinforced in my mind that we were on the right track. We are still on waiting lists for professional services, but feel good knowing we can continue to implement the program outlined in this book until we can integrate it with those professional services when available.

I feel this book is helpful but wish it spent more time on food adversions however very good book whether your child has autism or just delays

Great book. Very informative and relatable. Turning autism around has been my theme since my son was diagnosed in 2021.

I learned about Dr. Barbera after her YouTube videos showed up on my home page after I had searched for videos to help guide me after my toddler’s Autism diagnosis. Despite early intervention, I still felt like I was lost. I learned a lot of information from those videos and I was excited to learn there was a guided online course, which I took and found incredibly helpful. I feel this book works as a syllabus for that course and I feel that both are invaluable.If your child has speech delay or any developmental delay, it is imperative you get this book. Even if you already have a diagnosis and are getting services, this will help you better understand what is going on and how you can supplement those services at home. As mentioned in the book, this is not a one-time read. This will become a reference for you as your child ages. I just finished the book and I already know I will be reading it again as I continue to implement the strategies taught.After my child’s diagnosis, I felt so lost and discouraged about my next steps because there are so many resources that you can be overwhelmed with the information. This book is exactly what I needed as it charts out a course for you. Please make sure you check out her website as well, MaryBarbera.com.