Educational Media Reviews Online

The case of this well filmed and edited video aptly states it is "A family's journey into Asperger Syndrome". While a touching presentation, the producer and director is the mother of the child (Adam) featured, which does raise some concerns about bias.

Stresses and concerns that parents and families must face, along with the obvious difficulties of the child are admirably depicted; including showing the parents who seem to be on opposite ends of acceptance of Adam's condition at times. Clips include Adam talking about himself, classmates talking about their feelings toward him, his parents talking between themselves, his sister not wanting him to attend her school, and a meeting of teachers with Adam's mother, and Adam even having to spend a weekend in respite foster care.

Sympathy is lost in the onslaught against the other students who do not react to Adam as the mother feels they should; even though, while not appropriate, the student behaviors are fairly typical given age and circumstances. The students express that Adam can do anything he wishes due to his Asperger's and they just have to accept it, and I have heard this voiced in my own school setting. When one takes into account a typical child's egocentric viewpoint, this is not so troublesome. In addition, while it may be different in Canada, a parent hiring specialists to work with classmates to gain acceptance for a child like Adam would be highly unusual in the average American classroom and not necessarily welcomed.

In fact, some of the parent's actions, including stating "This is me sucking up to the teacher," as she created a visual aid for the classroom schedule so Adam would not interrupt so much with questions about the schedule, might drive teaching staff away. In addition, though I am sure that interventions were taking place with Adam, the only ones that were expressed in the video were his mother telling him to ignore those students who were considered to be bullying him. Recommended with reservation; if marketed solely to parents to show them that they are not alone, this video has a real place, but it holds little value for educators or classmates of a student like Adam as there are no details or plans to create behavior change for a child with Asperger's.

Recommended.