Books on Autism

Autism is a neurological condition which has its onset in childhood. The condition is characterized by social impairment, lack of communication and repetitive behavior. There is no cure for autism however the behaviors can be improved with therapeutic intervention. Families who have children with autism face difficult challenges with raising them. The books that have been reviewed provide hope to families who struggle with autism. Both books provided first hand experiences of families who have had to deal with the challenges that come with raising a child with autism.

There's a Boy in Here: A Mother and Her Son Tell the Story of His Emergence from Autism is a book written by both mother and son, Judy and Sean Barron, about their memories of the difficult upbringing of a child with autism. Sean writes his account as a grown adult who has since overcome some of the challenges of living a life with autism and now presents as a high functioning adult with autism. Sean was diagnosed with autism in the 1960’s during a period in which the diagnosis was considered to mean that her son would not be able to live a fulfilling life. The book highlights the challenges of not only having a child with a disability but also the challenges of having to do so with little support in the form of therapeutic services. In the book Judy describes in detail how average tasks such as going swimming can be very challenging for someone with autism. Judy’s perspective in the book demonstrates the various techniques she endured to try and get Sean to get in the water. Sean’s perspective in turn provided interesting detail about how he felt when he was in the water. While the physical sensation of the water felt nice to Sean, he could not understand the concept of swimming as he felt the bottom of the pool was going to disappear beneath his feet. Several passages in the book highlight these difficulties experienced by the family.

I felt that the book provided some much needed hope to families who have children with autism. The first person perspective of the book allows parents to feel that they are not alone. Including the perspective of the child also allows parents to be able to understand the perplexing behaviors of their autistic child. Despite these positives I did feel that the book may be instilling false hope in parents. In the book, it seems that one day Sean just realizes why he has been behaving the way that he has and then was willing to work hard to overcome those obstacles himself. This can provide a false hope in parents that their children will be miraculously cured. The book may also instill unrealistic expectations in parents who may feel that their child needs to just have the will or drive to change and they can. The book also did not present methods or ideas for intervention as Sean appeared to cure himself. The book can still be a beneficial read however parents need to understand what they can realistically expect from their own autistic child.

Son-rise: The Miracle Continues is a similar story as it is about a family who attempt to engage with their autistic son who had appeared lost to them. The book is a hopeful tale as it demonstrates how his family tirelessly worked and refused to give up on him until he was seemingly cured. Kaufman’s (1993), experience is similar to the Barron’s story. Their son was diagnosed in the 1970’s and they were also informed that their son would never be cured and would have to live in a facility. Rather than face the challenge of having little to no services available, the Kaufman’s dealt with service providers who were hostile or negative. The book did a good job with highlighting the frustrations parents can experience when dealing with these services providers. Kaufman was offered little hope by the physicians he met with and was given a poor outlook about his son’s life. The book goes onto discuss the program and interventions the family utilized which later cured his son’s autism. Kaufman was able to turn his experiences into a treatment program for other children facing autism. 

I found that this book was hopeful and provided methods that parents can use with their children. However as in the previous book the fact that their child was “cured” of autism can provide false hope to parents as the condition cannot be cured. Kaufman is also very critical of other treatments for autism, such as the use of medications like Piracetam. I may have viewed this criticism in a different light had Kaufman not developed his own treatment model for autistic children. Kaufman’s critique of alternate therapies such as ABA presented as inaccurate and it felt as if he was attempting to promote his own therapeutic center. While this book can provide some insightful information it should also be read cautiously by parents of autistic children.

The fact that both children in these books were essentially cured of their autism leads me to call into question the validity of the diagnosis. Although throughout the book the children present with the symptoms of autism the fact that they were cured leaves me to search for other possible diagnoses. Also both books were written in the 1990’s about experiences that were had decades prior. In recent years increased research has made it so that we have more information about autism and ways in which children can be treated so that the symptoms are not as debilitating. While we still now autism cannot be cured there is an understanding that the condition is not a life sentence and children do not have to be institutionalized. These books are more useful as memoirs in which parents can find commiseration in the similar experiences had by other parents rather than books which provide hope that their children will be cured. As the topic continues to be studied hopefully in a few years books which claim that their children were cured will have some validity to them. 

Reference

Kaufman, B. N. (1993). Son-rise: The miracle continues. H J Kramer, Inc.