All I Can Handle: I'm No Mother Teresa: A Life Raising Three Daughters with Autism

I loved this book! What some people would think of as a hopeless situation, the parents of three daughters with autism never gave up on their children. They loved their girls unconditionally despite the tremendous sacrifices they had to make to get medical help and the best possible education for them. The mother tells this poignant, true story in an honest and witty conversational style that made me empathize and admire their strength and resilience. It was informative for anyone who works with autistic children or knows or sees someone who is autistic or is a parent of an autistic child. I would love to share some of her stories, but I don’ t want to spoil the freshness and joy of reading the book.

I read this book because I thought it was a book about what it is like to live with 3 children with autism. Instead of stories about every day happenings it was an outlet for the author to talk about her beliefs in regard to the orgins of autism and how it should be treated. I was disappointed. It was dull and I would not recommend it to others.

CRAPISODES: a big poo episodeSTAGTRASTROPHE: a big disaster in the Stagliano's lifeKIMOIR: Kim's memoir, which is what I'm going to tell you about now ...Kim's very first book, All I Can Handle discusses autism, but this is NOT a book JUST for the autism community. This is a book for everyone. Anyone who has ever thought, man, my life kinda stinks, or man, my life is not exactly what I thought it was all cracked up to be.It's for all moms out there who are doing their darndest to raise their kids the best they can. It's for all parents who fight to get their kids the best no matter what types of obstacles their kids might face.All I Can Handle is a book is for anyone who just wants to take a break and read a story from a hilarious and heartfelt writer who will not make you feel sad or sorry, but will make you breathe in deep and say, "Thank you God, for making people like this, and for giving the world children as sweet as this, and for creating loving families like this in our world who will not give up and who will take a stand to do what they believe in."Kim is this kind of writer. She's funny and true, she writes things that you won't believe a mom of three autistic girls would ever say, but they are things that have you cracking up out loud!And when you're done reading ALL I CAN HANDLE, I'M NO MOTHER TERESA, you will say to yourself, "Man, I really want to meet this family, and I definitely want to meet Mia, Gianna and Bella and hug the Bejeezus out of them. What a wonderful book about a very special family!

I've been a fan of Kim Stagliano's writing for years. She first caught my attention with her Huffington Post piece where she coined the phrase "crapisode" - a formerly nameless concept that I had been all too familiar with. As a mom whose life was forever changed with my daughter's diagnosis of Autism 8 years ago, I've read countless books on the subject. This was by far the most enjoyable.With honesty and humor, Kim puts into words the feelings and experiences that so many families affected by autism are facing. Kim shows us that we're not alone as she recounts her own journey and the many challenges (Stagtastrophies) her family has had to overcome. She makes us cry a bit, and laugh out loud. But ultimately, Kim inspires us to grab hold of this life and live it with passion and grace.

I read this book in one sitting. Reading Kim's book you feel like you are hanging out at Starbuck's chatting with a good friend. Kim lays it all on the line and opens her life to her readers, no holds barred. As a result, I found myself laughing, crying, sympathizing, empathizing and really just rooting for the Stagliano clan. Kim gets what it is like to be an autism mom (she knows it x3!) but never loses sight of just being a mom, as well as a daughter, a sibling, a wife and a friend. Sharing the lows along with the highs, Kim shows us that we are not alone - even though we may sometimes feel that way - and that no matter how bad things get, things will look up (even when it isn't obvious at the time). She shares her life with honesty, humor and faith. This book is a real gift to readers everywhere, whether your lives have touched by autism or not. Kim's voice is a refreshing one and I look forward to much more from this terrific author.

This book is honest, funny, and touching. I read it in one weekend--and I did wish it were longer, but I guess I'll have to wait for the sequel! I agree with the other reviewers who said that reading the book felt like having a cup of coffee with the author, but it was even better: like having many cups of coffee over many years, hearing the author tell almost unbelievable stories (losing a child twice on one vacation, unemployment striking the family multiple times, plumbing disasters and rentals from hell) that make you laugh and cry and groan in rapid succession. Kim Stagliano's responses to the events of her life are human, of course, but never once do you hear her complain. Explode, yes (I loved the Valentine's Day conversation with her newly unemployed husband), but never wallow in self-pity. The chapter on "my turn" was one of the most moving pieces of writing I've read in quite some time. Well done. I hope we'll get to read more.

I really enjoyed this book. Although the topic is serious, the book was an easy read. I am also the mom of multiple children with autism, although I *only* have two. But I have no typically developing children, so I can relate with so much of what Kim described in her life. She is a funny, witty writer - I found I flew through the book. It is a warm and insightful read. So many times I was saying "YES!!!!!" to what she was able to articulate about the autism epidemic. How pediatricians and the government are sort of scratching their collective heads, wondering what the heck is all the fuss - all the while parents are on the front lines, trying to convey that there IS most definitely a problem here. Stagliano nails it! I am buying extra copies to give to friends, because I know they will enjoy this book as well.

THIS BOOK WAS RECOMMENED TO ME AND HAS I HAVE AN AUTISTIC CHILD, I ORDERED IT, TOGETHER WITH TWO MORE COPIES FOR THE GRANDMA'S.THIS BOOK IS BRILLIANT, FANTASTIC, I CAN'T SING IT'S PRAISES ENOUGH. YOU LAUGH, YOU CRY, YOU CAN RELATE EXACTLY TO WHAT THE MUM IS TALKING ABOUT, AND IT GIVES YOU A BIT OF HOPE FOR THE FUTURE AND REMINDS YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY FAMILY OUT THERE, WHO FINDS IT TOUGH GOING.THE GRANDMA'S ENJOYED IT TOO!!

I bought this title as one of my family members is affected by ASD and I thought it would prove to be a helpful insight. Unfortunately it was a poorly edited compilation of the author's previous blogs that I found tedious and repetitive.

I need to preface this by disagreeing with the author about vaccines and autism, but that is not the point of this book. It is a glimpse into the struggle of parents with severely autistic children, and the struggle and fight to get help and recognition for them. It’s a brave and pretty insightful retelling of the challenges and moments of terror and joy of their lives.At numerous points in the book Kim mentions the statistic that autism affects 1 in 110 kids and how alarming that is. After I read it I googled the current CDC statistics and they are now 1 in 59 kids. This change happened in the last decade. Alarming indeed.

I wish I didn't buy or read this book! It was a waste of time and money. At least I only bought a used copy but it's going in the trash.It would have been nice if this book was more about the day to day challenges of raising three girls with autism.There are not a lot of stories about her kids. She writes more about herself, her marriage, her husband losing multiple jobs, her husband golfing a lot, their financial problems, her job and her blog. She puts a lot of her blog entries into the book and self congratulates herself for her articles that were published.Her arguments are more like angry rants about how vaccines cause autism, gluten-free diet is the only way to go, how there is an autism epidemic and they need to find a cure, etc. She is mad with anyone who dares to disagree with her.There are a lot of spelling, grammar and typo mistakes in the book and she repeats herself a lot.The book is not funny like she claims it to be.After reading the first 80 pages it got really uncomfortable to read so I just skim-read the rest of the book. There is a lack of respect for the views of proponents of neurodiversity.I'm so glad I didn't read this book when my son was first diagnosed with autism. The book made me physical sick to my stomach and it gave me that feeling like I have to throw up. It's not that often that a book makes me feel that uncomfortable.It has a dark chapter in it. She describes in detail several stories of how some parents with kids with autism brutally killed their kids - so disturbing! Why did she include that?!

Encouraging.