It was easy to read, and very captivating. It is in no way a clinical account or written in a textbook-like manner. It was written from the heart. The book is a very honest and brave account of what it was like for a mother to raise up her severely autistic son.
While it was written to give hope to other parents whose child has been diagnosed with autism, it was certainly not sugar coated as there were heartbreaking moments where I felt her pain.
The author Renitha shares with the readers what she did to help her son become who he is today. Her son is today, an 8 year old boy attending school for typically developing children, who is socially aware, full of emphaty, loves his taekwondo, excels in maths, swims, plays the piano and has a bright future to look forward to.
Although my son is not autistic, it was very easy to relate to many issues that she faced. My son too has gross motor, fine motor and speech issues. While the steps that she took to help her son’s issues may not work for all kids, as she repeatedly emphasised, I would certainly try some of them.
Feeling alone in one’s journey to help your special needs child can be rather crushing. It is hard to connect with other parents who are able to understand as we all lead busy lives and have various constrains. In a way, I do not feel alone in my journey, having read the book. It certainly didn’t matter that I’m in Malaysia while the author is in UK and it didn’t matter that my son does not share the same diagnosis as hers.
She is an absolutely amazing mom for not only surviving the tough early years of bringing up her son, but being able to bring out the best in her son. It has given me added motivation in my effort to help my son too.
I would definitely recommend this book to any parent with a young autistic child, any parent whose young child has been diagnosed with special needs, and anyone who are friends with parents of young autistic children.
The book is reasonably priced at a recommended retail price of GBP 8.99. It is available on Amazon at: www.amazon.uk, and www.amazon.com. I’ve compared overall prices and suggest that if you are ordering from Malaysia, to buy it direct from the publisher’s website as I did, (www.authorhouse.co.uk) because it charges less for postage compared to Amazon.
While the author is my best friend from school days (and I’m so proud of her), I can honestly say that the review above is unbiased. If you get onto Amazon UK’s site, you’ll be able to read the very good reviews left by many readers of her book. This was the review from the National Autistic Society in UK, posted in Amazon UK’s site:
An excellent example of the pain, confusion and difficulties that can be involved in raising an autistic child.
Moreover, an example of how an autistic condition is not necessarily static, but that autistic children can grow and develop beyond expectations, even to the extent that their initial diagnosis effectively changes.
This book struck many chords with me and it was interesting to read the unique problems faced by one mother and how she dealt with them. Renitha also raises many interesting issues, such as the need for a non-uniform but informed approach to autism, and her understanding of the causes of autism.
The book provides a valuable insight into autistic family life and should by read by all professionals, policy makers etc, so that they understand how hard life can be for some families. Parents also need to know that there is much to hope for, that the struggle to cope with and understand their child is worthwhile, that incredible progress can be made from not just learning about autism per se, but from playing to your own and your child's strengths, from finding your own unique way to best help your child and enjoy family life.
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