Providing Practical Support for People with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Supported Living in the Community

by Denise Edwards

One element at the heart of effective service provision is an understanding of the service user's needs. This book unravels some of the common misunderstandings between people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and providers of support services, and offers practical advice on how to ensure that the needs of people with ASD are catered for effectively. Denise Edwards writes directly from her own experiences of finding appropriate support for her adopted son, John Paul, who has Asperger's syndrome, but also draws on the experiences of a broad range of service users. She emphasises the importance of understanding and conveying the nature of ASD so that support services can meet a person's needs effectively. She discusses common areas in which difficulties arise, including communication, social situations and the organisation of information, examines the implications of support in wider society - education, employment, the legal system - and makes practical suggestions for changes that can improve access to benefits and services for people with ASD. Informative and down-to-earth, this book is essential reading for the providers of services for people with ASD for service users themselves as well as formal or informal carers, friends, family, related professionals and policy makers.

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

Reviews

[Usfromdk · Rating 2 out of 5]

The last few chapters managed to almost push me all the way towards giving the book one star. You can't just claim in a book like this that very expensive and comprehensive support systems which you're dreaming about are cost-effective without citing a single study, especially not in a context where you've just claimed that activities which usually end up costing a lot of money will end up saving money. If you envision a much more comprehensive support system, you can't not address obvious cost drivers.

Some interesting stuff and important observations are included in the book, but the level of coverage is not high and you should not take my two star ('ok') rating to indicate that I am in agreement with the author. The main reason why I ended up finishing it was that it was easy to read, not that it was a good book.