Book Review: This is Asperger Syndrome

Gagnon, Elisa. This is Asperger Syndrome. Kansas: Autism Asperger Publishing Co., 1999.

This is Asperger Syndrome is about a young boy with AS and the experiences he faces in school on a regular basis. Some common occurrences range from random outbursts, becoming easily frustrated, not adjusting to change and having bad social skills. After the author described each scenario, she ended the page with “This is Asperger Syndrome”. At the end of the book Gagnon gave a page of information about Asperger Syndrome.

This is Asperger Syndrome is not a very good representation of a diverse piece of literature. Gagnon was extremely stereotypical throughout the entire book. She made it seem to the reader that the experiences this young boy faces are the same experiences every person with AS faces. She does this by ending each page with “This is Asperger Syndrome”, making the reader assume that these scenarios apply to everyone with AS, which is not necessarily the case. For example, Gagnon describes this boy laughing too hard and then says “this is Asperger Syndrome”, and also says that people don’t get his jokes and then says “this is Asperger Syndrome”. These are very stereotypical examples because these aren’t necessarily things every person with AS will face. As the Tal article mentions “when the focus is on providing information, there is very little or no character development. Instead, stereotypes prevail because the disability is “the main personality trait emphasized to the reader”” (Tal, 31). This is exactly how This is Asperger Syndrome is because Gagnon didn’t really provide a plot and character development but instead stereotyped throughout the entire book. She was trying to inform her readers of the disability but ended up stereotyping instead.

Elisa Gagnon is considered an insider to disabilities because she is the coordinator of the Asperger Syndrome Project at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She has a ton of experience working with people with Asperger Syndrome as well as teaching others about the disability. It appears as though she has a lot of knowledge about AS and enjoys sharing this knowledge with others through her writing.