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Outside Looking In: High-functioning autism from one mother's perspective
That's what Vivian M. Lumbard does. She's a mom to teenage twins with high-functioning autism challenges. As a retired air traffic controller, she is familiar with long-term and short-term goals, changing plans on a moment's notice, as well as being able to laugh when stressed. All of which comes in handy when raising a child with autism.
Autism awareness is on the rise. But what about autism understanding? Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) manifests differently for each individual. Yet stereotypes hinder understanding and impact our choices as parents and educators. Using examples from her family's life, she reframes common ASD stereotypes and competencies to highlight commonalities with the neurotypical world.
Vivian advocates an approach of loving, parenting and supporting the whole, unique child and offers a chapter of helpful tips based on her experiences. See how she applies those tips while staying at home during COVID-19.
Frank. Compassionate. Intimate. Sometimes humorous. Join her as she shares her family's journey.
Autism awareness is on the rise. But what about autism understanding? Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) manifests differently for each individual. Yet stereotypes hinder understanding and impact our choices as parents and educators. Using examples from her family's life, she reframes common ASD stereotypes and competencies to highlight commonalities with the neurotypical world.
Vivian advocates an approach of loving, parenting and supporting the whole, unique child and offers a chapter of helpful tips based on her experiences. See how she applies those tips while staying at home during COVID-19.
Frank. Compassionate. Intimate. Sometimes humorous. Join her as she shares her family's journey.
190 pages, Paperback
Published August 31, 2020
3 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Vivian M. Lumbard
1 bookShort Bio:
As a retired air traffic controller, Vivian M. Lumbard is used to observing, compiling data and seeing patterns, as well as projecting what changes in those patterns–small or large–can mean to a desired outcome. So she views Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) just a bit differently than most, which helps with raising teenage twins with ASD challenges. She is happily married to John, and her family lives in a perpetually cluttered home in southwestern Pennsylvania. Her hobbies include genealogy, crochet and any other rabbit hole her interests beckon her to explore.
Long Bio:
Written or spoken, words have power. The power to evoke emotion, the power to invite action, but, most importantly, words have the power to inspire ideas and touch our souls.
Vivian M. Lumbard has loved words all her life. She wrote short stories and poems as a child and was one of those few people who enjoyed writing term papers. As an adult, most of her previous writing involved articles for the NATCA Voice and blog posts for the FAA Follies , as well as newsletters and updates for her children’s PTAs. Her personal blog, Martinlady’s View Through the Looking Glass , began as commentary on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before she retired from her career as an air traffic controller and has since evolved to encompass any issue that interests her.
Born in 1965, she grew up in northeastern Massachusetts and relocated to southwestern Pennsylvania in 2000. Vivian initially met her husband, John, online on a tongue-in-cheek aviation message board and words were how they connected. Now, they are the proud parents of teenage twins with autism challenges.
Writing books has always been a personal goal for Vivian. She even has several chapters of a romantic intrigue that she wrote so long ago, the pages were printed on a dot matrix printer! After she retired from the FAA, she took a few years to explore other interests before writing Outside Looking In, her first book. Outside Looking In unapologetically intermingles the publishing industry boundaries of memoir and self-help to create something new. She hopes to inspire discussion and understanding on the subject of raising and educating a child with autism.
Vivian has discovered that she most enjoys writing to communicate her thoughts on important subjects with words that resonate with her readers. Given that, she has no long-term intentions of becoming a niche author for a single audience, genre or issue. Fiction and non-fiction books on a variety of topics are planned for the future. In her words, “Life is too short to not enjoy what you do. It’s so much more fun to be the square peg.”
As a retired air traffic controller, Vivian M. Lumbard is used to observing, compiling data and seeing patterns, as well as projecting what changes in those patterns–small or large–can mean to a desired outcome. So she views Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) just a bit differently than most, which helps with raising teenage twins with ASD challenges. She is happily married to John, and her family lives in a perpetually cluttered home in southwestern Pennsylvania. Her hobbies include genealogy, crochet and any other rabbit hole her interests beckon her to explore.
Long Bio:
Written or spoken, words have power. The power to evoke emotion, the power to invite action, but, most importantly, words have the power to inspire ideas and touch our souls.
Vivian M. Lumbard has loved words all her life. She wrote short stories and poems as a child and was one of those few people who enjoyed writing term papers. As an adult, most of her previous writing involved articles for the NATCA Voice and blog posts for the FAA Follies , as well as newsletters and updates for her children’s PTAs. Her personal blog, Martinlady’s View Through the Looking Glass , began as commentary on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before she retired from her career as an air traffic controller and has since evolved to encompass any issue that interests her.
Born in 1965, she grew up in northeastern Massachusetts and relocated to southwestern Pennsylvania in 2000. Vivian initially met her husband, John, online on a tongue-in-cheek aviation message board and words were how they connected. Now, they are the proud parents of teenage twins with autism challenges.
Writing books has always been a personal goal for Vivian. She even has several chapters of a romantic intrigue that she wrote so long ago, the pages were printed on a dot matrix printer! After she retired from the FAA, she took a few years to explore other interests before writing Outside Looking In, her first book. Outside Looking In unapologetically intermingles the publishing industry boundaries of memoir and self-help to create something new. She hopes to inspire discussion and understanding on the subject of raising and educating a child with autism.
Vivian has discovered that she most enjoys writing to communicate her thoughts on important subjects with words that resonate with her readers. Given that, she has no long-term intentions of becoming a niche author for a single audience, genre or issue. Fiction and non-fiction books on a variety of topics are planned for the future. In her words, “Life is too short to not enjoy what you do. It’s so much more fun to be the square peg.”
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 24, 2023
Perhaps this is just a case of mismatched expectations. Despite the author making it very clear that if you've known one autistic person, you've known one autistic person ... and that her book is a look at just one family, I still found myself expecting to gain more from it. This reads much like a diary of their family over the years; I was hoping to be able to extrapolate more from it that would be useful in engaging with other autistics.
March 27, 2021
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: Outside Looking In: High-functioning autism from one mother's perspective
Author: Vivian M. Lumbard
Star Rating: 4 Stars
Number of Readers: 15
Stats
Editing: 7/10
Writing Style: 8/10
Content: 7/10
Cover: 7/10
Of the 15 readers:
12 would read another book by this author.
11 thought the cover was good or excellent.
15 felt it was easy to follow.
13 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 6 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘subject knowledge’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘putting across a central message’.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
14 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
13 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“I suspect this book will go down very well with teachers and parents of children with autism. I thought it was sensitively written, with a welcome underlying sense of humor.” male reader, age 42
“I think the author’s central message, that every child with autism is different and need different sorts of help, is excellent. There's a lot to take from this author’s story including tips on how to better work with your child. I applaud the author for writing this book and trying to help others.” Female reader aged 50
“I thought this was insightful and informative. And, as it's written in a ‘memoir’ style, it's far more accessible than many textbooks. I think parents and teachers working with autistic children need all the help they can get to do the best job they can, so a book of this nature would be most welcome.” Female reader (teacher), aged 41
“A lot of wisdom hidden in this short book. Any parents’ story that helps shine a light on autism and how best to help the people with it, is welcome on my bookshelf.” Female reader, aged 56
To Sum It Up:
‘A fascinating insight into life working with autistic children. A red ribbon winner and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Title: Outside Looking In: High-functioning autism from one mother's perspective
Author: Vivian M. Lumbard
Star Rating: 4 Stars
Number of Readers: 15
Stats
Editing: 7/10
Writing Style: 8/10
Content: 7/10
Cover: 7/10
Of the 15 readers:
12 would read another book by this author.
11 thought the cover was good or excellent.
15 felt it was easy to follow.
13 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 6 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘subject knowledge’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘putting across a central message’.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
14 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
13 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“I suspect this book will go down very well with teachers and parents of children with autism. I thought it was sensitively written, with a welcome underlying sense of humor.” male reader, age 42
“I think the author’s central message, that every child with autism is different and need different sorts of help, is excellent. There's a lot to take from this author’s story including tips on how to better work with your child. I applaud the author for writing this book and trying to help others.” Female reader aged 50
“I thought this was insightful and informative. And, as it's written in a ‘memoir’ style, it's far more accessible than many textbooks. I think parents and teachers working with autistic children need all the help they can get to do the best job they can, so a book of this nature would be most welcome.” Female reader (teacher), aged 41
“A lot of wisdom hidden in this short book. Any parents’ story that helps shine a light on autism and how best to help the people with it, is welcome on my bookshelf.” Female reader, aged 56
To Sum It Up:
‘A fascinating insight into life working with autistic children. A red ribbon winner and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
September 1, 2020
Outside Looking In is an entertaining and very enlightening look into raising a child with autism. This book belongs in the collection of anyone in the educational system, as it provides in exquisite detail the aspects of accommodating the needs of an autistic student. At the very least, a copy should find its way into every teachers’ lounge and school library in the country.
But while educators will find much meaningful information in this book, the target audience will gain even more. Outside Looking In contains myriad tales of life with an autistic child beginning from before the first correct diagnoses through adolescence and into preparation for college and beyond. If you know someone raising a child with this condition, you simply must consider steering them toward a copy. The style of writing is at times fun, occasionally humorous, frequently insightful, always informative, and never dull. The charming family anecdotes sprinkled throughout provide wonderful incentive to propel the reader forward into tackling this sometimes-difficult topic. I learned more about autism from this single source than I have reading countless articles over the course of my lifetime.
As a bonus, the back-of-book material cites many resources for additional information for anyone wanting to learn more on this subject, or for any family who finds themselves raising a child diagnosed anywhere within the autistic spectrum.
But while educators will find much meaningful information in this book, the target audience will gain even more. Outside Looking In contains myriad tales of life with an autistic child beginning from before the first correct diagnoses through adolescence and into preparation for college and beyond. If you know someone raising a child with this condition, you simply must consider steering them toward a copy. The style of writing is at times fun, occasionally humorous, frequently insightful, always informative, and never dull. The charming family anecdotes sprinkled throughout provide wonderful incentive to propel the reader forward into tackling this sometimes-difficult topic. I learned more about autism from this single source than I have reading countless articles over the course of my lifetime.
As a bonus, the back-of-book material cites many resources for additional information for anyone wanting to learn more on this subject, or for any family who finds themselves raising a child diagnosed anywhere within the autistic spectrum.
September 8, 2020
A practical look at the unique complexities of Autism sprinkled with childrearing humor. A must read for parents and teachers a like.
I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews