In this issue we conclude the main theme of Learning Difficulties with specific reference to ADD/ADHD and Autism.   This leading article describes these conditions and also carries links to websites of interest.  We have tried to be impartial, bringing critical comment to bear on various prescriptions for treatment, particularly in the light of recent findings, and full attribution and links to sources of information are provided.

The quotation above is taken from Kevin Phillips' contribution to the section on Asperger's Syndrome in this leading article.

Our book review section once again carries reviews of books on allied themes.  There is also a bibliography appendix to this leading article with specific reference to the forthcoming Corwin Press book Autism and Early Years Practice by Kate Wall.

Articles in this issue and elsewhere are noted and linked hereunder.

The Autistic Family - by Sylvia Farley

Most of the writing on Autism has been about children because of the resources needed to educate them.  There is much less on adults with autism, but such children do not outgrow their disability.

Autism is a condition that limits not only the life-options of the  autistic child himself but of his parents and his siblings too.  It is also a challenge that they can meet together and in this article Sylvia tells her readers exactly that.

"At the time," Sylvia writes, " I did not care what label they put on my son.  We had to cope with him and he with us from day to day.  For all of us it has been an exercise of 30 years of trial and error with many frustrations, challenges and triumphs.

"I want to share our experience of socialising an autistic child, alienated, isolated and aggressive, to become a mildly eccentric adult, morally sound, self-directed and reasonably independent, with his family relationships intact."  

I am one of them - by Kevin Phillips

We are pleased and honoured to have received this article from Kevin Phillips whose website is devoted to helping others like himself, people with the Asperger's Syndrome form of autism. 

"Without wanting any sympathy," writes Kevin,  "I believe I have missed out on much in life. I don't want to see other people with the condition go through what I and others with it did.  In future, the standard diagnosis should be diagnosed between the ages of four and six. If we can catch them early, then a full assessment of their strengths, weaknesses and needs can be made."

In this original article, specially written for Nurturing Potential, Kevin describes - with considerable humour and (perhaps unintended) irony - how he, his parents, his teachers, and his peers came to recognise the nature of his "difference", and he offers some commonsense proposals for the way this condition is tackled in future - from the best vantage point of all: he is one of them.