The jackson family are a weird and wonderful bunch and Luke sounds as if he copes pretty well, considering he is an Aspie kid who is not used to social interaction.
This was one of the first books I read when we discovered our daughter was autistic - at that stage we thought Asperger's Syndrome - and it was eye-opening.
Luke writes in a way that you might expect from someone living with the flatness and rigidity of autism so the text is not that fluid and creative. I enjoyed this book more for the content than the style.

No review written, no rating given.

Wonderful book about living with Asperger’s written by a 13 yo.

I would recommend this book to parents, teachers and especially Autistic kids, no matter where they are on the spectrum. Luke not only provides invaluable insight into how AS affects his life, but how Autism affects the lives of his two younger brothers. He also provides helpful, bullet point, lists on how to manage everything from sleeping, homework and even dating.

The title is quite apt, because this is truly a guide to handling many of the challenges teens with Autism face on a daily basis.

Additionally, I would recommend this book to any authors attempting to write fictional stories featuring Autistic characters. Luke breaks down a lot of stereotypes prevalent in pop culture today.

He is witty, optimistic and has a great deal insightful in to human social behavior. His sense of humor is charming and very relatable. I personally found his unique perspective on the subtly of language and contradictions in social expectations to be enlightening.

This book a fun, informative read. I really cannot recommend it enough.

I liked reading from an AS child's perspective. My son is 11. It was bit hard to understand at times because it was UK English not US. But in spite of the differences I enjoyed it. Kudos to Luke for writing his story

I love this book! Everything that I never understood about my son started falling in place.

This is a really funny and is full of accurate information on Aspergers syndrome. What I really enjoyed about it is it is written from the perspective of a thirteen year old boy who has A.S. He is charming and witty throughout the book even describing the digestive problems encountered by a lot of people on the autism spectrum. I loved this guy!!!! This is the one I recommend to parents of newly diagnosed kids.

I have ASD myself and while this was an interesting read, it was tedious at times. Luke Jackson is by no means a brilliant writer and tends to repeat himself and add assurances and small things that made getting to the point hard and sometimes frustrating. I also did not enjoy the section on gluten-free food and felt it didn't fit with what I wanted out of the book (which was mainly a view of what AS was like as I was in the process of being diagnosed at the time and I was 17). Also, the large size of the book and the large print did not help with the unprofessional feel to the book.

What I did enjoy was that it was from Luke's point of view. It gave a better insight into the condition although I think that he could have had more help writing it. It was quite relatable and he touched on many points that can't be covered by a simple descriptive book like Simon Baron-Cohen's "Autism and Asperger Syndrome". The best feature about the book is that it touches on the problems and dealing with the condition in a teenage/highschool context which was especially helpful and relatable to me at the time. I would recommend it to Autistic people and their parents who are in the process of a diagnosis or think they may have ASD. I wouldn't recommend the book for anyone who doesn't care about Autism, mental health issues or dealing with communication difficulties in daily life. While it may not be the best example for older people with Autism, it is still a good idea to give it a read.

Before beginning, please understand that this book is written by a 13 year old with Asperger Syndrome. I read it to see if I could get any more insight into the mind of an adolescent with Aspergers and there were some passages that were very interesting. I definitely give props to Luke for writing the book and sincerely hope that he can stick to some of his own advice in order to have a less stressful life.

What an interesting look at Asperger Syndrome, or AS....The author, Luke Jackson, is 13, and has AS...he writes with humor, logic, and sensitivity about lots of issues that affect all teens and children, but have special challenges for AS youngsters.

He puts us in his shoes, explaining what the 'symptoms' feel like...he describes the sensory sensitivities and his strategies for living with these sensitivities.

I appreciated the way he would stop and give tips for other AS kids, as well as teachers and parents. He's a very wise young man, and is so open about his feelings, even tho he tells us he's more comfortable with the logical side of his brain.

While I sometimes tired of his breezy parenthetical asides, and while the side stories distracted me, I can see how a young person with AS, or a family member, will easily recognize and identify with the stories.

I'm intrigued by Luke's family...his Mum (did I say this is a British book?), three brothers and three sisters, all with various symptoms on the autism spectrum. Ben, the baby, seems to have the most symptoms. Luke often draws on stories from his siblings to make his points.

I love the discussion about similes and metaphors and idioms (there's even a list of idioms and their meanings in the book!). Luke advises adults to never use them unless they can explain their exact meaning.

Also loved the chapter on bullying. He gives down-to-earth advice to kids and teachers and parents...to the kids, he repeats, "Take no crap," and suggests AS kids take martial arts classes...more for the discipline than for self-defense.

Informative and accessible. I'm going to see if one of my AS students might be interested in reading and giving me an opinion.

Luke Jackson has written an important book.

This is really useful to help get a bit more insight into Autism/Asperger's from the perspective of a young person living with it. Luke is articulate and writes well. I would give a health warning though, Luke gives his own view of the role of diet in autism and this is quite a controversial area. I would advise anyone considering acting on his advice to read more widely than he suggests, his 'further reading' very much assumes a particular approach and he gives no indication that it isn't universally accepted. The British Dietetic Association have a short fact sheet which is well referenced and would provide some balance.

A recommended read for EVERYONE - especially parents. It gives a great insight into teens. Even though written from the perspective of a teen with Asperger Syndrome, he shares thoughts and situations that had me rethinking how I talked to, thought about and expected of my teen and pre-teen. How did I forget so much? It is also good for those working with the public and may give you a bit more patience with those that seem a bit "off" or down right crazy.