Eloise VanHeest, Health Ministry Chair
The Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Decoding Social Mysteries Through the Unique Perspectives of Autism. This long title describes exactly what the book’s authors, Dr. Temple Grandin, PhD and Sean Barron, want the reader to understand. Most social relationships develop rather naturally, learned from observation and experience. However, those who have been diagnosed with autism, like the authors, find these unwritten rules baffling.
The entire book alternates between the perspectives of its two authors – much of it is written in the first person. Grandin and Barron share their experiences from their early years. The persistence and patience of loving and dedicated parents, and teachers finally giving them foundations for living. Both Grandin and Barron had parents who rejected physicians’ suggestions that their child should be put into an institution. They taught persistently and also knew that social relationships needed to be learned. Because relating to others was difficult for the authors to understand, they put together their own “Ten Unwritten Rules.” Among them are:
- Everyone in the world makes mistakes. It doesn’t have to ruin your day.
- Being polite is appropriate in any situation
- Not everyone who is nice to me is my friend.
This book and three others are available in the Hope Church Library by the Health Ministry section.