Table Of ContentA U T I S M – T H E E I G H T H
C O L O U R O F T H E R A I N B O W
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of related interest
Asperger’s Syndrome
A Guide for Parents and Professionals
Tony Attwood
Foreword by Lorna Wing
ISBN 1 85302 577 1
Multicoloured Mayhem
Parenting the many shades of adolescents and children with autism,
Asperger Syndrome and AD/HD
Jacqui Jackson
ISBN 1 84310 171 8
Playing, Laughing and Learning with Children on the Autism Spectrum
A Practical Resource of Play Ideas for Parents and Carers
Julia Moor
ISBN 1 84310 060 6
Giggle Time – Establishing the Social Connection
A Program to Develop the Communication Skills of Children with Autism,
Asperger Syndrome and PDD
Susan Aud Sonders
Foreword by Andrew Gunsberg
ISBN 1 84310 716 3
Parent to Parent
Information and Inspiration for Parents Dealing with Autism
or Asperger’s Syndrome
Ann Boushéy
ISBN 1 84310 774 0
Snapshots of Autism
A Family Album
Jennifer Overton
ISBN 1 84310 723 6
Running with Walker
A Memoir
Robert Hughes
ISBN 1 84310 755 4
A U T I S M – T H E E I G H T H
C O L O U R O F T H E
R A I N B O W
Learn to Speak Autistic
Florica Stone
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia
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web: http://hope-tlc.autistics.org
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form
(including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not
transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission
of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd,
90 Tottenham Court Road, London, England W1T 4LP. Applications for the copyright owner’s
written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the
publisher.
Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a
civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.
The right of Florica Stone to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2004
by Jessica Kingsley Publishers
116 Pentonville Road
London N1 9JB, UK
and
400 Market Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
www.jkp.com
Copyright © Florica Stone 2004
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Stone, Florica.
Autism : the eighth colour of the rainbow : learn to speak autistic / Florica Stone.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-84310-182-3 (pbk.)
1. Autistic children--Language. 2. Autistic children--Family relationships. 3. Parents of
autistic children. 4. Autistic children--Care. I. Title.
RJ506.A9S765 2004
618.92'89--dc22
2004005450
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-13: 978 1 84310 182 6
ISBN-10: 1 84310 182 3
ISBN pdf eBook: 1 84642 070 9
Printed and Bound in Great Britain by
Athenaeum Press, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
With deepest love to my patient, caring and loving
children Sebastian, Alexander and Francesca and to
my loving husband Chris who completed our lives
with the other seven colours of the rainbow
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C O N T E N T S
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9
LETTER FROM A LOVING MOTHER 10
WHY THE EIGHTH COLOUR OF THE RAINBOW? 12
THE AIM OF THIS BOOK 14
1 An overview of the autism continuum 17
2 Grieving 28
3 Learning and adapting 30
4 Autism: A way of being 40
5 Is my child being aloof? 45
6 Creating a shared sanctuary 56
7 The autistic-friendly environment 69
8 Sensory ‘mis-wiring’ and behaviour 85
9 Other behaviours 93
10 Real friendship:
Why is it difficult to form relationships with age peers? 108
11 Life before verbal communication 117
12 Premises for social communication 123
13 Interaction: The gateway to shared meanings 133
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14 Emotions, language, behaviour and social communication 144
15 Why perceive the language of autism as a foreign language? 153
16 Receptive language disorder 158
17 Self-exploratory exercises 165
18 Reasons behind repetitive behaviour: Facilitating change 175
19 Exploring emotions 187
20 Autistic communication and pragmatic learning style 199
21 Teaching to quantify 216
22 Converging parallel realities 219
23 Are social interaction and communication
possible without a cure? 228
24 How to choose the right approach 235
25 Hope–TLC and the Year of Promise 248
POSTSCRIPT: AN OPEN INVITATION TO BETTER THE INTERACTION PROCESS 252
APPENDIX A: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 253
APPENDIX B: LINGUISTIC BEHAVIOUR ASSESSMENT TABLE 266
APPENDIX C: PIERCE’S VOCABULARY AFTER EIGHT MONTHS OF PLAY 276
APPENDIX D: THE AUTISTIC PERCEPTION 279
GLOSSARY 294
REFERENCES 298
Acknowledgements
Without the collective perceptions and the involvement of people from
all walks of life, this book would have once again described autism as a
behavioural syndrome or perhaps would have tried to promote yet
another curative therapy. All the concepts I use in this book – autism,
autistic literal learning, literal memory, photographic experience and
learning, as well as interaction with the autistic – evolved from
understanding that autism is a way of being and that the autistic person
deserves respect. He or she must not be subjected to behaviour
modification programmes.
A special thank you to David Howkins (the Giant Friend), founder
and trustee of Hope–TLC, for his friendship to Alexander, continuous
involvement and generosity towards the autistic cause, his words of
wisdom and for believing in my dream.
Heartfelt gratitude to our team of volunteer friends, David, Yvonne,
Simon 1 and Simon 2, Pat, Ruth, Sarah, Rosie, Illa, Harleene, Norma,
Joan, Maggie and Paul, for their patience, imagination and the hundreds
of hours they invested in Alexander and me, and to Nadia and Marie for
showering Francesca with their love.
My respect and wishes for a fulfilling life go to my autistic friends,
Feather, Muskie, Paradox, Seth, Ivo, Elise, Autie, Bexxy, Ian, Naomi, Vic,
Alexander, Wolffy, Omy, Waspie and Whilly, for their friendship,
patience and extended explanations as I was attempting to make sense of
their reality and they tried to make sense of mine.
Thank you to Amanda Baggs, Jim Sinclair, Donna Williams, Temple
Grandin and many other autistic people who, through their written
work, made it easier for me to visualise the autistic reality and thus
empathise through understanding.
I share my hope that this book can facilitate a better quality of life for
all the autistic children and their parents in the world, as well as a huge
hug for those who shared affection with me. Their affection motivated
me throughout my journey of understanding autism.
Unconditional love to my children for their patience during the
writing of this book and to my brother Ioan, sister-in-law Aurica and my
niece Gabriela for helping me care for Alexander during our year of
desperate need and for taking care of us during the writing of this book.
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