Puzzled: 100 Pieces of Autism

Finally, a book that captures the confusing, amusing, frustrating and tender experience of loving a person with Asperger’s syndrome—both before and after the diagnosis. Nilla and Steve Childs see their first-born child Daniel grow through a puzzling series of labels—from gifted toddler to defiant child, from superior IQ to college drop-out, from fun-loving boy to social misfit. At a loss to help her depressed 23-year-old son, Nilla persists in developing a “Circle of Friends” to surround Daniel with the supports he needs as a newly-diagnosed young adult on the autism spectrum. Through well-told, illuminating anecdotes, Puzzled gets it right—all the ways high-functioning autism disturbs, disrupts and enriches family life; full of rich context absent most autism literature; and the enduring truth that love prevails over disability. Anyone who has ever tried to understand a child, spouse, parent or friend who is puzzlingly different will rejoice in Nilla Childs’ charming, hopeful book.