He sounds like such a cool dude - I would love to have met that person in this book. I never felt like Owen was celebrated AS HE IS, autism and all. t never felt like I got to see and know Owen. What?! That doesn't even make sense to me. I mean, Owen wants to go away to college, and their solution is to behavior mod his stims out of him, because that's the only way he'll be successful. The wealth and amount of money the family spent, as if everyone can do that or as if it is mandatory or you're failing. ![]() Stereotypes of people with autism were present throughout. Achievements were only celebrated when they met what the adults wanted - a glimpse of "something more". It felt like the book was a race against time to make Owen as "normal" as possible. The idea of using a child's interests to help them meet their goals, to run with it, to let it be the world, to not worry about whether it's "too much" - I love that concept. As a parent of children with special needs, I just couldn't relate to this family, nor did I learn about (typical) autism treatment. Suskind hires every specialist known to man, including a one-on-one counselor for camp, and even renting a room for $500/month at a church for his wife to homeschool their child (in order to get him into the best special ed high school). Finally, the author's treatment plan for his child must have cost a fortune. Is this really autism? Whose definition are they using? The child did struggle, but Suskind just didn't flesh out what life with his autistic child was like, day-to-day. Suskind goes into great detail about his son's deep, compassionate insights and the reader is left scratching his or her head. So many times his behavior just didn't jive with autism. I often reread his run-on-sentences to try to figure out what he was trying to say. ![]() His wife, also a journalist, spends far more time with their autistic son why didn't she tell their story? It can't be that Pulitzer, because Suskind is guilty of the shmaltz he tells the readers good reporters avoid. First, the author, who is quick to tell us that he won a Pulitzer, was the wrong one to write this book.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |