The “Out-of-Sync” Child Grows Up: An Autistic Perspective

Sara M. Acevedo [image: Book cover of The Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up: Title in teal text, on background photo of five older kids running across a field, from behind.] The Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up is the newest book from Carol Stock Kranowitz in her “Out-of-Sync” Child series. Subtitled “Coping With Sensory Processing Disorder in the Adolescent and Young Adult Years,” the book focuses on the everyday experiences of parents, caregivers, and medical professionals who support adolescents and young adults marked oppressively by diagnoses like Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Although a significant number of the concepts and practices included in this book are discredited and marked as abusive by autistic and other neurodivergent people ourselves, the book has received substantial praise from non-neurodivergent authorities in the therapeutic professions, as well as from clinicians, parents, and educators. The book has also been praised by The Children’s Hospital in Boston, and contributors of…

wildthings-8393710

Disobedience or Disability? An Essay on Sensory Processing

Tony and Mary Brandenburg theebrandenburgs.blogspot.com Taking a shower feels like needles stabbing my head! The sound of that fan is making my ears hurt. I feel like I’m suffocating when you hug me. Image source: TVTropes.com Maurice Sendak, who wrote and illustrated Where the Wild Things Are, was amazingly astute in his observation of children for a person who had none of his own. During his acceptance speech for the Caldecott Medal in 1964 Sendak stated that: “… from their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things.” When an outsider is simply observing a child’s public behavior — especially the challenging ones — it may be difficult…