Reviews

  A Book Review by Abbe Morrongiello,
            a parent to a teenager with Asperger's:

I am the mother of a teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome. I have read many books about Asperger’s Syndrome, but this is the first book of poetry that I have encountered written by an Aspie. It explains from an Aspie’s point of view what it actually feels like wrestling with issues like sensory overload, social roadblocks, bullying, and depression. My Aspie son read selected poems, and he strongly identifies with them.

Although there are many poems about emotional pain, there are also poems about love, hope, pursuing her passions for writing and painting, and finding her own laughter.

Michal writes many poems about the sensory issues that many Aspies encounter: adverse reactions to loud noises, hugs, tastes, textures of food and fabrics, and smells. I enjoyed the humorous poems “Food” and “Noise”.

 She also writes about her difficulties with having a social phobia, understanding idiomatic expressions and her extreme discomfort with society. One of my favorite poems in the book is “The Phone” because I also suffer from what I call “phone-a-phobia”.

I imagine that it would be comforting for other Aspies to read someone else’s personal account of having Asperger's Syndrome. Perhaps they would discover that someone else understands them and that they are not alone in their experiences and feelings. Some of the best poems in the book are the ones where Michal accepts the Asperger's part of herself despite all her difficulties.

In addition to highly recommending this book to Aspies, I recommend it to parents of Aspies, teachers, and medical professionals. The poems give an invaluable insight as to what it is like to live with Asperger’s, to overcome struggles, and to find your way.

I admire Michal for having the courage to share some very personal painful experiences through her poems with the intention of helping others. The fact that she has risen above these experiences gives me optimism about my own son’s future.

A Book Review by Jamie Freed,
          Director of Adult Services,  AANE
         (Asperger's Association of New England) :

Michal Maoz’s poetry is powerful, honest, direct and passionate.  Her poetry collection, The Alien in Me: Poetry by a Person with Asperger's Syndrome spans her life and covers, in detail, her experiences of loss, alienation, true love, disappointment, fear, appreciation and powerful self-discovery. 
One can imagine that her poetry has served as a pressure release as she’s navigated the exceptionally choppy waters of her life.  
 As a parent of children with Asperger's Syndrome, she captures the intensity of her love for her sons as well as the painful challenges of raising them.   The section devoted to her own Asperger's Syndrome which she discovered while researching her son’s diagnosis is honest and thorough.  It addresses so many of the component parts that make up Asperger's Syndrome that it could be used as a guide to explain its facets and accompanying feelings. 

With this collection, Maoz takes giant steps toward her goal of improving the lives of those on the autism spectrum by providing a clear, unobstructed window into her own AS world. 
 In finding her voice through her poetry she speaks for many with AS who have not yet found theirs.

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