All I Can Handle: I'm No Mother Teresa

A Life Raising Three Daughters with Autism

By: Kim Stagliano

Narrated by: Nicole Vilencia

How one woman raises three autistic daughters, loses one at Disney world, stays married, has sex, bakes gluten-free, goes broke, and keeps her sense of humor.

"Dr. Spock? Check. Penelope Ann Leach (Remember her?) Check. What to Expect When You’re Expecting? Check. I had a 700 dollar Bellini crib for God’s sake! Everything was perfect…."

And so begins Kim Stagliano’s electrifying and hilarious memoir of her family’s journey raising three daughters with autism. Always outspoken, often touching, and sometimes heartbreaking, Kim Stagliano is a powerful new voice in comedic writing - her "Kimoir" (as she calls it) is the next must-listen within the autism community and the literary world at large.

©2010 Kim Stagliano (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Hits home

A very realistic look into the life raising multiple autistic children. I didn't agree with all of her positions, or necessarily need to have so much of the book devoted to vaccine talk, but she did a nice job of showing what life is like inside an autism house. A beautiful story of a mother fighting against the odds to make the most of life for her family.

I want more...

Wow! I would listen to this book when I had alone me-time, which was mostly while driving to work. It had me crying and laughing each time and many times doing both back to back. I have 1 daughter with Autism and with Kim having 3 I could see my daughter in many stories of each of her girls, as well as myself in Kim. If you are reading this Kim, Thank you!!! This meant the world to me. I learned things that clicked and helped me to understand, like Kim saying, 'Often times kids on the spectrum have sensory issues that interfere with knowing when they have to pee or poop.'

Also, the narrator, Nicole Vilencia, was amazing and I wish she read more autobooks because they can be so dry, which this was not. I now picture that being Kim's actual voice.

I feel that this book came from a place of love, compassion and acceptance for all view points and would be hard to find it offensive. Autism is not one size fits all, and I feel that she portrayed that thought in a nutshell so that even when she mentions vaccines and therapies, it is done so in a non-offensive way to those that may disagree.

As a side note, I wish that we could work together for the most part instead of getting all political when vaccines are mentioned. Think of how much further we would be in helping those with Autism.
I love how Kim has friends that think both ways. I understand that emotions are a big part of this and sometimes misdirected.

Thank you Kim and Nicole. Please do another book, and make sure Nicole is the narrator...pretty please.

Great book! Amazing family

It was great to hear someone speak about their family and dealing with autism in a realistic but positive way.

Best book ever

If you could sum up All I Can Handle: I'm No Mother Teresa in three words, what would they be?

Touching, inspiring, funny.

What did you like best about this story?

A true story of a real mother.

What about Nicole Vilencia’s performance did you like?

Nice voice and very good picture of what is happening.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

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

Any additional comments?

It is great. You just have to read it.

Not a science book, so much as an empiric one.

This book is about the adventures and struggles of a mother of three autistic girls.
It presents some scientific facts, but it is not a scientific book.

If you have autistic kids or want to know more on what an autistic kid's parent's life is like, read this book. This book is different from the other ones because it is like I am reading from Kim Stagliano's diary itself. The experiences told here are so alive and full of humor and truth, because Kim is able to hook the readers in a witty way, and she tells the stories she and her family have gone through with such a positive view point that you have no choice but to love her. She also describes her married life and how this couple handles their every day situations (let's face it, it is not easy to raise three kids, let alone ones with autism).

So, if you want to laugh and have a real life situation view of life with autism, read this book. You won't regret it.