Finding Ben: A Mother's Journey Through the Maze of Asperger's - Paperback

by Barbara LaSalle (Author)

"Barbara LaSalle's new book . . . beautifully chronicles her own journey to understand her son with the encyclopedic mind and distressingly separate world."

--Washington Post

Born with a superanalytical mind, Ben could store information like a minicomputer. Yet beneath his gift for facts lay a great fear of change and social aloofness. Ben had Asperger's Syndrome --a neurobiological disease similar to autism. Honest and beautifully written, Finding Ben is both a look at a mercurial disease and a powerful story of one mother's journey from frustration and resentment to love and acceptance.

Back Jacket

Author: LaSalle

ISBN: 0071431942

Category: Psychology/Memoir

Trim Size: 5 1/2 x 8 1/4

UPC: 639785384717

Price: $14.95

[category] Psychology/Memoir

"An introspective, honest account that may offer solace . . . to other families coping with challenging children."

--Kirkus Reviews

"[LaSalle's] story is one of human triumph over adversity and ignorance... It has a happy ending, but there wil be moments when reaers are likely to cry before they share her happiness."

--Tony Attwood, Ph.D., Director, The Asperger's Syndrome Clinic

Barbara LaSalle's first son, Ben, seemed to be an extraordinarily gifted child. For the first few years of his life, he amazed his mother with his brilliance and creativity, speaking in full sentences before age one and reading competently by age two. Yet lurking beneath this boy genius's amazing abilities were a crippling social aloofness and fear of change. For years she searched for a diagnosis for her son, who, unbeknownst to her, suffered from Asperger's Syndrome--the "little grownup" disorder--a neurological condition considered a high-functioning form of autism.

In this frank, emotionally written account, Barbara LaSalle reveals what it's really like to parent a child with a neurological disorder. She paints a powerfully honest portrait of how a mother's love can turn into bitterness at having to raise a special-needs child and how, by opening herself to the wisdom of others, she can at last learn to love her child--and herself--once again.

Barbara LaSalle, M.A., is a marriage and family therapist who runs a psychotherapy practice in Los Angeles. A tireless advocate for people with mental illness, she is a frequent lecturer, workshop leader, and documentary filmmaker.

Author Biography

Barbara LaSalle, Ph.D. (Los Angeles, CA) is a marriage and family therapist and documentary filmmaker whose films include It's Not All in Their Mind, and Living with A.D.D.