Autism With Some McCarthy on the Side
I wonder if the librarians at my local library have figured out what is up with me. I mean, when they see the books that I check out combined with the folks that I bring along with me to the library. I think that they put it all together, the books and the folks, and the realization hits. But do they feel sorry for me? I hope not. And, maybe not. What do I know about what they see in the course of the day?

I’ve been reading a lot of books lately. Specifically, a lot of books on autism and things related to it. For a long time, my life was too crazy and I didn’t want to add to it by reading more. But, I’m over that for now and have some good books to recommend to y’all. These three are different, I think, because they focus more on the people with autism and their families than they do on “treatment” or “what to do now that you have someone who has something that will never go away and will by the way change your and his life forever and ever”.

To the book reviews:
Rules by Cynthia Lord. What an awesome book. Even though it is a fictional account of a girl and her autistic little brother I would still put it at the top of my list of books to recommend for people who want to learn about autism. Really. Cynthia Lord, the author, is a mother to two children, one of them autistic. And she just nails it. The book has humor, it has information, it has hope. Plus, it only takes about an hour or two to read — unlike some of the tomes on autism that I’ve been checking out of the library recently. I think that this book would be truly enlightening for someone who is only vaguely associated with autism and wanted to know more. Or it could be good for a school aged child who might be trying to understand about a disabled classmate/friend. I *highly* recommend this book.

Elijah’s Cup by Valerie Paradiz. This is a mother’s account of her son’s diagnosis of autism and what followed. Parts of it are sad. She talks about her depression and the break up of her marriage (an all-too-common occurence in families with an autistic child). She also tells how they found friends in total strangers and about her realizations about herself. She also examines the childhoods of several famous people and speculates about what their diagnoses would be — if they lived today. It was an interesting account, and hopeful, overall. She and her son found their way, together.

Succeeding with Autism by Judith H. Cohen. In this book, the author investigates the educational and personal history of Michael, a twenty-something mathmatics professor who has autism. I found this book to be very interesting. The book follows Michael’s history and, goodness, it was a rough one. He had a very supportive family and a particularly tenacious mother who continually advocated for him to keep learning and progressing. However, he was a terror to live with and physically abused his family. He was actually hospitalized at the age of 9 because of this violent behavior. I read it just in awe of his mother. Perhaps the most interesting part of the book, besides the (eventual) success story of Michael, are the interviews that the author did with him and with members of his family. The last chapter, especially, in which she interviews Michael and really gets inside his head — to realize the motivations, fears and joys of this autistic person, was so very fascinating. All in all, this is also such a hopeful book to read because of the success that Michael and his family ended up achieving together.

By the way, the McCarthy on the side was The Road which I basically read to see what all the fuss was about. Nothing like reading a searing, postapocaliyptic novel to break up the readings on autism.