Finding Harmony by Sally Hyner

Finding Harmony:  The remarkable dog that helped a family through the darkest of times, Sally Hyner.  New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 2011.  e-book, 224 pps.

Sally was a nurse in her twenties when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  She was married and had been used to hiking about the mountains with her husband Peter.  There was enough money to be had.  They'd taken some exotic trips to Morocco and to China.  They were living in London but later moved to Scotland.  After diagnosis, Sally went on to have three children-- a boy and two girls-- and the youngest named Melissa was diagnosed with autism.

Sally's M.S. spiraled and she needed the use of a wheelchair.  She wanted to maintain her independence and so she was accepted to get a service dog.  Harmony was that dog.  Harmony was a retriever with freckles and a delightful personality.  Harmony took to Sally and also especially to Melissa.  Sally was able to acquire a chair scooter and later on she got a sort of off-road rugged terrain wheelchair.  She and Harmony were able to climb mountains together.

sapphoq reviews says:  This book is a nice book about a service dog and a woman who did not give in easily when confronted with the great crippler of young women.  It was a bit slow-moving but an easy to read book.  Finding Harmony was not the best dog story I've ever read but it was not the worse either.  Recommended to those teen and adult readers who like dog stories.

Aspergirls by Rudy Simone

Aspergirls, Rudy Simone.  London: Kingsley, Jessica Publishers, 2010.  e-book, 206 pps.


Rudy Simone's daughter has Asperger's.  Because Asperger's presents somewhat differently in girls [and women], the diagnosis is often missed.  Many of the studies done about folks on the autism spectrum in general and about folks who are aspies specifically are conducted on male subjects.  Of late, there has been some question about whether or not the common perception that "mostly males get this" is correct.  Just like the idea that the cute little boys with autism cease to attract attention as adult men with autism-- perhaps they grow out of it or perhaps they ingest invisibility crackers-- so is the idea that little girls and women just don't have autism often.  

The author alternates between narratives about the things that have happened to her daughter and what she has experienced as a mother of a female with Asperger's.  At the end of each chapter is a list of tips for aspergirls and separate tips for the parents.  Intermingled with the narrative are snapshots of girls and women who have Asperger's.

Now that the D.S.M. 5 has come out and further muddied the waters by declaring auties and aspies to all be part of something called Autism Spectrum Disorder, it will be interesting to  find out whether or not most folks-- men and women, boys and girls-- who fit in the aspie camp will be ignored.

sapphoq reviews says:  Although Rudy Simone briefly admits that a few folks with Asperger's have a bisexual orientation [without actually using the word "bisexual"] she does not address lesbianism in aspie teens and women.  This I think is an oversight that should have been addressed.  Lesbian and bisexual intimate relationships work a bit differently from heterosexual relationships.  It is not merely a matter of, "We do the same things you do in bed.  It's just that my partner is the same gender."  Aside from that, Aspergirls is certainly a valuable and readable book for aspies who are female, their parents, and others who are interested in the subject.  Recommended.