About this item
Asperger Syndrome has become an increasingly common disorder. One in 300 individuals may have AS—exhibiting characteristics such as average to high intelligence, obsessive behavior, intense special interests, and difficulty dealing with everyday social situations—and it is now more prevalent than childhood cancer and Down’s syndrome.As the mother of a boy diagnosed with AS in 1994, Barbara Kirby found scant resources and support. She developed the internationally renowned OASIS (Online Asperger Syndrome Information and Support) Web site in 1995 to help other parents find the information they need. She teamed up with Patricia Romanowski Bashe, now co-owner of OASIS and herself the mother of a son with AS, to write The OASIS Guide to Asperger Syndrome, which has become the standout authority in the field and a must-have for this growing audience.
About the Author
Patricia Ann Romanowski Bashe was born in Wichita, Kansas, where her mother owned a nightclub and her father was an ironworker. From age seven until sixteen, she moved often, attending fourteen different schools in Oregon, California, and Florida before settling in the North Bronx. A graduate of Christopher Columbus High School, with a BA in English Literature from Herbert H. Lehman College (CUNY), she embarked on a career in publishing, first at a local newspaper, The Parkway News, then a legal publisher, and the trade house E. P. Dutton before becoming the first editor of Rolling Stone Magazine's book division, Rolling Stone Press. There she edited and contributed to several books, including "The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll," which she co-edited through three editions and for which she received an ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award. Her work on pop culture and music has appeared in "The New York Times Book Review" and "Rolling Stone," among other publications. After leaving Rolling Stone, she was preparing to apply for law school when she was asked to help cowrite two celebrity autobiographies: Mary Wilson's "Dreamgirl" and Vanna White's "Vanna Speaks." After both hit the bestseller list, law school was forgotten. Since then, Patty has cowritten twenty-three books spanning several genres: celebrity autobiography (with Annette Funicello, Temptations founder Otis Williams, Donny Osmond, Teddy Pendergrass, Nichelle Nichols), self-help ("Helping Children Cope with Divorce the Sandcastles Way," with M. Gary Neuman; "You Get Past the Tears," with Patricia Broadbent), health and fitness (with Joannie Greggains, Billy Blanks), paranormal psychology (the "George Anderson" trilogy and "Love Beyond Life" with Joel Martin), and special education and autism. The Emmy-award-winning miniseries "The Temptations" is based on the book with Otis Williams, and Annette Funicello's "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" was also a miniseries. After her son was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, she earned as master's degree in special education and became a certified special education teacher, Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and consultant to parents and school districts on students with autism. Her first book about autism spectrum disorders, cowritten with Barbara Kirby, is "The OASIS Guide to Asperger Syndrome," now in its second edition. She is preparing for the publication of "The Parents' Guide to Teaching Kids with Asperger Syndrome and Similar ASDs Real-Life Skills for Independence," due out on October 25, 2011, from Three Rivers/Crown. She lives on Long Island with her husband, the author Philip Bashe, and their son, Justin. For more about her book projects (including the chance to participate in research for them) or to contact her, please visit www.pattyrbashe.com.
