Thing - A Young Boy's Journey with Asperger Syndrome

Rachel is a self employed consultant in the field of Leadership Development, Emotional Intelligence and Resilience - teaching adults how to be more effective in the workplace and at home.She holds a BsC Honours in Psychology from Royal Holloway University of London and completed her dissertation in Autism around Theory of Mind.Her son is 7 and was diagnosed in January 2017 with High Functioning Autism (Aspergers Syndrome). She has been home schooling him for the last six months due to exclusions from two mainstream primary schools due to inappropriate social behaviour. He has recently started school at a specialist independent school for Autism.

"I bought this book because I know the author. Having always valued her professional insights as a leadership development professional and coach, I was intrigued by her new venture and wanted to support her effort. I knew I would enjoy it but, not having first-hand experiences of the subject it tackles, I never thought I would find it so informative a read. Whilst reading it I found myself thinking about my own children and how the approach she uses so effectively in the story of the thing would have helped them understand, and us discuss, the broad range of behaviours and experiences they were facing. The questions and suggestions at the end are a great addition to what is, above all, a story children will enjoy and parents will delight in. I knew I would always be biased in reviewing Rachel's work but I'm glad I can be completely objective in highly recommending it." - Emmanuel Gobillot - international writer; "We read this at my sons' school in the Year One and Year Three groups. It went down so well and Fergus when he came home asked if someone he knows and plays with "had a thing" like this. It really helped him understand and empathise but also helped him to see what happens within himself. A lovely book, well written and excellent for younger children. The teachers also said that it went down really well and some held drawing classes to help the children talk about and explore what they had learned." - Stephen Lambe - parent; "We received our first edition the other day.my son and I have read it separately. He is 6 and this is the first book I've seen him pick up and read a number of times. I asked him what his favourite part of the book is and he replied "The Thing" ; Having read it myself I can say it's a beautiful book! I intend to read it with him and have asked discussion.; Well done I thoroughly recommend this to anyone with a child on the spectrum." - Kelly Hart - parent; "Received My first addition today and wanted to read it straight away and for me it brought so many memories back of my own son growing up he is now 18 years old thanks Rachel for writing this book we never forget but it's always nice to be reminded I really enjoyed it " - Jane Hornsby - parent; "Beautiful book Rachel Jackson. My boys started reading it the minute we got it in the car driving home. We all started talking about 'our things'.... Love the illustrations too!" - June Davenport - parent