Davene Fahy - Anthony Best: A Picture Book about Aspergers

Anthony Best by Davene Fahy Illustrated by Carol Inouye Copyright 2011, 2012 by Davene Fahy All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Sky Pony Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or info@skyhorsepublishing.com.

Sky Pony is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Visit our website at www.skyponypress.com. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Manufactured in China, September 2012
This product conforms to CPSIA 2008 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. ISBN: 978-1-61608-961-0 For all the Anthonys I have known. My next door friend is Anthony. If you ask Anthony his name, he always says, My name is Anthony Best and I am the best boy. Sometimes he screams. Sometimes he screams.

But thats usually when noises are really loud. Anthony hates loud sounds. Or when someone calls him Tony. Anthony doesnt like changes and that means you better always call him Anthony or be ready to hear a scream. Anthony understands me, but he doesnt look at me when I talk to him. But I get him to look at me cause I look right at him and I say, Hey Anthony, look at me! And he does, sometimes! And sometimes Anthony will do weird things like one time he started to cross our street without even looking for cars.

But thats cause Anthony doesnt understand that its dangerous. Well its good that not many cars come down our street so his Mom can always get him. Anthony likes to play by himself, but I like to play with Anthony. Sometimes when hes in a spinning mood, Ill spin too. And when hes in a flipping mood, Ill flip my pages too. That makes Anthony happy.

And I know hes happy when he flaps his hands. Once when Tommy and I were playing in the sand box, Anthony threw sand at me and Tommy said that was bad and he wasnt going to play with Anthony any more. But I said that was Anthonys way of playing with us. And I showed Anthony how I put sand in a bucket. The other day Tommy came over and said, Did you hear this knock knock joke? Knock, Knock. Boo. Boo.

Boo who? I said. And Tommy said, Dont cry. Its only a joke. And we both laughed and laughed. But Anthony didnt laugh. He didnt see what was funny.

He just said, Im a friendly honey bee and Im going to be your friendly. Last week this big, huge truck came to Anthonys house. And guess what was in it? A piano. I didnt think those mover guys were ever going to get that piano into Anthonys house. But they did, after they took the door off. The next day I heard this great music coming from Anthonys house.

I knocked on the door and Mrs. Best answered. I didnt understand what was going on. I said, I heard this beautiful music. I thought you were playing the piano. Mrs.

Best said, Come in, Hannah. And there was Anthony, sitting at that big, black piano and playing a song I never heard before. Wow! I cant do that and Tommy cant either. So you know, when it comes to music, Anthony really is the best boy. Autism spectrum disorder (a neurobiological disorder) includes Autism Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Delay and Aspergers Syndrome. The precise relationships among these disorders is still being sorted out.

According to the National Institutes of Health, individuals with autism can be characterized primarily by developmental difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social relating and leisure and play activities. People with these spectrum disorders often exhibit unusual repetitive movements and resistance to change in routines. Higher functioning children (often labeled Aspergers Syndrome) may have language but have poor social skills, language problems and difficulty with play. They often have supersensitivity to sound and touch, temper tantrums and other erratic behaviors. They may have fixations and obsessive behavior. They occasionally have extraordinary skills not exhibited by most children.

These disorders typically last throughout a persons lifetime though symptoms range from very mild to quite severe. Although there is no cure, with early intervention, these symptoms can be modified. For more information about autism spectrum disorders you might want to check the following websites: http://www.autism-society.org http://www.cureautismnow.com http://www.autism-resources.com http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/autism.cfm