A lovely book that I got in today's mail. As a book reviewer, I generally get advanced reading copies with a paper cover, so to get this lovely over- sized hard covered book with dust jacket was a big surprise. The other surprise is that it was a photo book of autistic children, that unless you understand some of the signs of autism, you wouldn't know that these children and their parents struggle with autism. There is a short amount of text to go along with each of the photos. Each child has a two-page spread except for siblings. I was amazed at not only how many siblings had autism but how many twins were also autistic. I wasn’t aware of that, if it is a statistically valid sample or just a fluke with the book. The siblings still had the two-page spread and it was interesting what those that could, would say about their brother or sister. Several of the text pieces mentions the parent’s reaction when the child at any age would finally say mom or dad.
In this lovely book, the only thing I can see to make this book better is to have a photo spread of my son who is autistic, high functioning. I too remember the first time he said ma-ma. Two weeks before his second birthday, he came up and patted my check and said ma-ma. I cried. At that point no one could tell if he would ever talk. And talk he does. Within about 2 weeks of saying ma-ma, he was speaking in full sentences! He is completely self-supporting, lives on his own, drives a car and pays the payments for it, works a full-time job and picks up temp work whenever possible to help his finances along. He is also active in many church and social activities. Now that the effects of arthritis demand that I need help with many functions, he is my go to guy. Helps me get groceries, helps with errands and will spend the whole day with me if needed in exchange for lunch and a candy bar that he 'sneaks' onto the conveyor belt at checkout. If I get too tired to go into a store he gets what I need, uses my code for my debit card and sneaks not only his candy bar, but one for me as well. I admit to having been a bit worried when he was young that he would need supervision and help all his life. Boy was I fooled. I couldn't be prouder of him!
This book would be a great conversation starter between those with autistic kids and those that don't understand what autiism is all about. This is not a book of treatments and theories on solving the puzzle of autism, but simply a book rejoicing in the child themselves.
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