When Tara Kennedy-Kline discovered her son had Asperger's syndrome, she learned to communicate with him -- then wrote a book to communicate what she had learned.

Tara Kennedy-Kline, a dream coach and business owner of her own toy retail company in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, took an interest in writing after her youngest son, Alex, was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. Her book, Stop Raising Einstein, will be published by Advantage Media in November.

The book is moving and informative. As she writes in the introduction, Stop Raising Einstein offers not just one mother's story, but also "activities, journal prompts, and food for thought." The book's takeaway message? "Open your mind and heart to one another's dreams and imagine the possibilities!"

Last summer, she sat down with contributing editor Jennifer Spivey to talk about her decision to write Stop Raising Einstein and what happened next.

Advantage: What was your motivation to write this book?

Tara Kennedy-Kline: There were so many motivators. I think the pinnacle moment was after I came back from one of my training workshops for coaching. My kids were kind of coming at me. We knew that my son had Asperger's. We treated him differently and we let him get away with more. And when I went up and talked to him and started using some of the language that I normally use with my coaching clients, that we had been taught at this training, it really landed with him and made an immediate impact on him.
At that point I started journaling we always journal together but I started journaling with him at night and asking questions that I would ask my coaching clients through my dream coaching process. I sort of dumbed-down the words for kids and once I got through some of the dream coach process, I introduced other concepts that I had learned through other books I had read. Then I just started introducing other concepts through question form and let them come up with their own answers and then we would write about it. So, that's where Stop Raising Einstein came from.

AMG: In the preface, you say that you suffer from ADD and depression. How do you deal with raising a special-needs child while coping with your own issues?

TKK: In the beginning it was horrible, almost to the point of being manic, because everything was happening at one time. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. But what I had to do was realize that it was the filter I was seeing things through and not necessarily my life. Basically, what I had to do was stop the negative thought process somehow and start focusing and appreciating the positive, because when you do that it totally does change your filter.

AMG: What made you decide not to go the traditional publishing route?

TKK: That's easy. Never having written a book before, I had a writing consultation and I was recommended two publishers. I spoke with both publishers and because of the whole ADD thing what I realized was the Talk Your Book program that Advantage offers was absolutely necessary for me. I felt like I was part of a bigger picture. I was part of a family rather than just being this person that wrote this book. I believe too, because of the support and the guidance and the positive communications and open communications that I've been able to have with the people at Advantage, it's inspired me to come up with so many more ideas for other books down the road too.

I felt like I was part of a bigger picture. I was part of a family rather than just being this person that wrote this book.

AMG: Your book isn't published yet, but you've already experienced changes. What's the biggest thing that's happened to you so far?

TKK: I think the biggest thing that has happened as a result of all of this, is the connections that I've made as a result of just having written the book. I've met so many amazing people and those things have turned into bigger things, bigger networking opportunities, helping more people which is really amazing. That has been transformational for me.

Tara Kennedy Kline's Stop Raising Einstein will be published in November 2009 by Advantage Media Group. For details, visit www.tarakennedykline.com