Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Decoding Social Mysteries Through the Unique Perspectives of Autism: New Edition with Author Updates

by Temple Grandin, Veronica Zysk (Editor), Sean Barron

Overview

Born with autism, both Temple Grandin and Sean Barron now live famously successful social lives. However, their paths were quite different. Temple's logical mind controlled her social behavior. She interacted with many adults and other children, experiencing varied social situations. Logic informed her decision to obey social rules and avoid unpleasant consequences. Sean's emotions controlled his social behavior. Baffled by social rules, isolated and friendless, he made up his own and applied them to others. When they inevitably broke his rules, he felt worthless and unloved.
Both Temple and Sean ultimately came to terms with the social world and found their places in it. Whether you are a person with autism, a caregiver in the autism community, or just someone interested in an outsider view of society, their powerful stories will enthrall and enlighten you.
The first edition of Unwritten Rules of Social Engagement was the Silver Award Winner of the Book of the Year Awards and the original edition sold more than 40,000 copies in hard cover!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781941765388
Publisher:	Future Horizons, Inc.
Publication date:	04/01/2017
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	425
Sales rank:	284,946
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Temple Grandin earned her Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Illinois, and became an associate professor at Colorado State University. Dr. Grandin is one of the most respected individuals with high-functioning autism in the world. She presents at conferences nationwide, helping thousands of parents and professionals understand how to help individuals with autism, Asperger’s syndrome, and PDD. She is the author of Emergence: Labeled Autistic, Thinking in Pictures, Animals in Translation (which spent many weeks on The New York Times Best-Seller List), The Autistic Brain, and The Loving Push, co-written with Debra Moore, Ph.D. One of the most celebrated — and effective — animal advocates on the planet, Dr. Grandin revolutionized animal movement systems and spearheaded reform of the quality of life for the world's agricultural animals.

Veronica Zysk has been working in the field of autism since 1991. She served as Executive Director of the Autism Society of America from 1991-1996, and then joined Future Horizons. She was the visionary for the first national magazine on autism spectrum disorders, the Autism Asperger's Digest, winner of multiple Gold awards for excellence. In addition to her writing collaborations with Ellen Notbohm (1001 Great Ideas for Teaching and Raising Children with Autism or Asperger's; Ten Things Every Student with Autism Wishes You Knew), she has co-authored and/or edited 14 other books on autism and Asperger’s, working with noted authors such as Temple Grandin, James Ball, and Michelle Garcia Winner. Veronica makes her home in the beautiful western mountains of North Carolina.

Sean Barron is a very interesting and intelligent man who has faced the challenges of being on the autism spectrum. He's progressed to the point that it is difficult to even realize that he once was truly impacted by autism/Asperger's syndrome. Sean is a graduate of Youngstown State University, and works as a reporter for the Youngstown Vindicator. He has multiple degrees and his latest degree is in journalism. He's a freelance writer and lives independently. Sean co-authored There's A Boy in Here with his mother, Judy Barron.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

Part 1 Two Perspectives on Social Thinking 1

My World is What I Do by Temple Grandin 3

A Different Perspective on Social Awareness by Sean Barron 67

Part 2 Two Minds: Two Paths 95

How the Autistic Way of Thinking Affects Social Understanding 97

Interlude 129

Part 3 The Ten Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships 137

The Rules 139

Rule #1 Rules Are Not Absolute; They Are Situation-Based and People-Based 141

Rule #2 Not Everything That Happens Is Equally Important in the Grand Scheme of Things 169

Rule #3 Everyone in the World Makes Mistakes; It Doesn't Have to Ruin Your Day 191

Rule #4 Honesty Is Different Than Diplomacy 221

Rule #5 Being Polite Is Appropriate in Any Situation 245

Rule #6 Not Everyone Who Is Nice to Me Is My Friend 269

Rule #7 People Act Differently in Public Than They Do in Private 303

Rule #8 Know When You're Turning People Off 325

Rule #9 "Fitting In" Is Often Tied to Looking and Sounding Like You Fit In 351

Rule #10 People Are Responsible for Their Own Behaviors 377

Temple's epilogue 419

Sean's Epilogue 421

References 423