Showing posts with label April Fool's day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label April Fool's day. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Funny, You Don't Look Autistic-A Book Review

april fools day banner

April 1st, is that day that many of us dread.  Will we be tricked or will we impose a trick on someone else?


Now because of the current climate within our communities and world in general, the joke seems to be on us all.  There will be no pranks to play on anyone, if you are being socially responsible and socially distant from others and I hope you truly are.

So instead of doing a whole write up on practical jokes and such, I decided to go in the exact opposite direction.

Instead of bemoaning my isolation, I decided to learn something new!

It's fitting that it also falls in line with one of my New Year's Resolutions.  I promised myself that I would read more and at the same time look at many different genres that I might not have done before.  To that end, I picked up a book that really was entertaining and informative in so many ways.

Funny, You Don't Look Autistic, caught my eye.

It is an autobiography of a young man who early in his life (age 5)  was diagnosed with Autism.  What made this book catch my eye is that one of my granddaughters has been diagnosed with this disorder as well.  I wanted to understand it better so that I could have some meaningful conversations with her, her parents, and her siblings as well.  

Michael McCreary is the young man at the center of this book. He is very open about his life, family and what it means to be autistic.  

Now let's be clear, this is not a clinician's book, it is the story of a young man, who with the help of his family and a diagnosis of autism, is trying to find his way in the world.   Michael is very blessed in that his level of autism is high functioning in the ASD (autism spectrum disorder) scale.  The things he does are not things that all autistic children will be able to do.  His parents learn how to integrate Michael's abilities with his inabilities.  This makes for a very adaptable world for Michael.  Not all autistic children are that "lucky".   There are so many different levels of autism and we just don't understand all of it.  We are making great progress, but there is still much that we don't understand.

Most of you will remember the movie Rain Man (starring Dustin Hoffman), that was my first real glimpse at autism.  His level of autism is called Savant.  Savants are another whole level of Autism.  Yet it is so much more complicated and varied than what was presented here.

There are so many different levels of Autism

As I mentioned earlier Rain Man (a Savant) had a level of autism that allowed him to understand numbers to the point of being able to figure out a date, and being able to know it was a Monday or Tuesday....you get the picture. But autism has many different levels and with those levels people have certain abilities or lack thereof. 

Autism is here and with our growing understanding of the condition, children that are diagnosed with this can look forward to a better understanding from both parents and the educational system.

Sensory overload is a common trait in autistic children.  They either have too much or not enough sensory responses.  They may be bothered by the feel of clothes on their bodies, noises that we generally are able to push into the background , are like bells and whistles going off in their minds.  So their reactions to these stimulii is completely different than ours would be.  I know my granddaughter always has one leg of her pants rolled up to her knee, she just cannot handle the cloth rubbing on her leg.  One of my nephews needs headphones to block out sounds that are overpowering to his mind.  These are just some small examples of what having an autistic child can look like.  There are many and "Autism" is a misnomer.  The true way to speak of this disorder is to call it the Autism Spectrum.  Spectrum, lets us understand that there are just so many levels of this disorder in the general population.

Reading This Book Has Helped

Michael in this book has made me see what it is that can undo an autistic persons demeanor.  I did not understand sensory overload at all.  But reading about it through his eyes, it made more sense to me.

Autistic children, at least high functioning autistic children, usually have a gift of some sort.  Michael's was being on stage and making people laugh.  He fed off of the reactions to his "story" and made sense of his time with those reactions.  It also helped a lot of people who did not understand Autism to take a second look at what that means.  

If you want to learn more..........

I really recommend this book.  It is light-hearted, optimistic, funny, and yet opens some doors and windows into a disorder that has many parents, grandparents and the general public wondering.  I found it to be entertaining as well as informative and that to me is a double bonus.

If you are interested or want to delve into an Autistic life a little further, this book would make a really good read.  I'm glad I stopped to pick it up and I'm sure you will be entertained and learn something new at the same time.  It really is a winner in my books.

If you want to learn more about Autism there are many websites devoted to the subject and I offer a few here:



Now just in case you were wondering....April 2nd is World Autism Day.....Happy April Fools Day!








Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Friday, April 1, 2016

FREE KINDLE BOOK: April Fools Pranks 31 Pranks for the Office Book Review

Free Kindle Book:  April Fools Pranks - 31 Pranks for the Office
Let me start by saying, this is NOT an April Fool's prank or joke.  The book really is free to download on Amazon.com.

I've never been a very good prankster and I am the world's worst at making "April Fool's" of anyone.  Maybe people can tell by the look on my face when I am lying.  Or perhaps, it is simply because I can't seem to keep a straight face when I am trying to trick someone.  If I am telling a tale, I tend to burst out laughing before I can get to the punchline or end.  

I can't even seem to fool someone with a text message.  I have tried, but I always get a text reply of April Fools!  It's just so wrong.  Even my children won't pretend they are fooled.  


The Book, April Fools Office Book


 April Fools The Office BookCheck AvailabityWhen I found this book on, April Fools Pranks,  I was pretty excited.  It only took a few minutes to read and I love some of the suggestions.  Mainly, because I don't have to speak to pull these pranks.  

My favorite suggestion included a cat food treat box.  That is one I could definitely do!  I think it would be hilarious to see the look on Buckhawk's face  when I offered to share my treats with her.

I can so easily imagine making screenshots to mess with all of my fellow contributors here on Review This too!   I can totally envision poor Dawn Rae or Elf freaking out over not being able to log-in to their sites and begging for tech support immediately.   

I could also imagine bringing a jar of Vaseline into the office.  Yes, this one I would have to use on our ever efficient and meticulous cleaning guru, Susan Deppner.   

I would have to turn Mary Beth's photos upside down, or maybe flip them sideways and I would mess with Olivia's mouse.   I always wanted to see these two lose their patience.  Until I read this book, I didn't think that would be possible.

For Barbara aka Brite-Ideas, who loves music, I would borrow the musical birthday card prank suggestion and for BarbRad, I would totally pull the paper clip trick on her.  Not being able to remove the paper clip would drive her nuts.  I think I would be forced to rename Brenda's book files or better yet, her eBay files!  Oh, yeah!  (Treasure's by Brenda eBay store, be ye forewarned!  lol)

I have a very "special" coffee mug set aside just for Heather and for Bev, I have something really, really bad planned, but I can't tell you all about that one, YET!

I was laughing so hard when I was reading and thought of how much fun it would be to mess with them, that I woke the dogs from their sound sleep and was forced to get out of bed to let them outside.


Read the Book


Well, I couldn't very well describe each of the pranks here. You will have to download and read the book yourself to find out exactly what each of these pranks entail.  It was fun dreaming and I think you will enjoy it too!

Click Here to Download the FREE Book on your Kindle, or use the Amazon Free App to read it on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required!




glittery joker Yes, I do know about payback which is why it is probably a really good thing that we don't report to a brick & mortar office everyday!




"FREE KINDLE BOOK: April Fools Pranks 31 Pranks for the Office Book Review" Written by:
House of Sylvestermouse





Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


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Susan DeppnerSusan Deppner

We may be apart, but
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