Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism Hardcover – April 1, 2014
Author: Visit Amazon's Ron Suskind Page | Language: English | ISBN: 1423180364 | Format: PDF, EPUB
Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism – April 1, 2014
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About the Author
RonSuskind isthe author of four New York Times bestsellers and the criticallyacclaimed, A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City tothe Ivy League. His other books include, Confidence Men, The Way of theWorld, The One Percent Doctrine and The Price of Loyalty. He was the senior national affairs writer for The Wall Street Journal,where he won the Pulitzer Prize, and is currently the Senior Fellow atHarvard's Center for Ethics. He lives in Cambridge, Mass., with his wife,Cornelia Kennedy.
Direct download links available for Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism Hardcover – April 1, 2014
- Hardcover: 368 pages
- Publisher: Kingswell; 1 edition (April 1, 2014)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1423180364
- ISBN-13: 978-1423180364
- Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Specific Demographics > Disabled
- #7 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Specific Groups > Special Needs
- #36 in Books > Medical Books > Medicine > Internal Medicine > Neurology
Because Ron Suskind and his family have opened up their lives to scrutiny and done unbelievable work reconstructing Owen's life course with impeccable detail, I hesitate to even write a review. How can one review a family's struggle with heartache and the direction they take to help their child succeed?
If I could give the book 4.5 stars, I would. 5 for the story and, unfortunately, 4 for the writing. Ron Suskind is perhaps my favorite writer. And, I had the wonderful opportunity to see him speak. It was something I will always remember. I downloaded the Kindle edition in the middle of the night when I saw that he had written a book on a topic that has dominated my life for at least the last 30 years. Unfortunately, the writing is repetitive and overly detailed in Disney phenomena and quotes, It also has way too much philosophizing and overly bold assertions about stages of childhood development. It could be cut by a third and be a more captivating and powerful book. I felt that perhaps the author was so personally invested in the story that he got lost in the weeds. I was also wondering what happened to all the editors who had a hand in the book.
Despite my hesitation, I would still like to address the content. I have raised 2 high functioning autistic sons. I also discovered in my 50s that I, too, had some form of autism from birth. There is so much written about the manifestations of autism. Some of it is so inconsistent that it is often difficult to see how it holds together as a single phenomenon. I am impressed that Mr. Suskind clearly captured the quintessential agony of autism, loneliness and yearning for friends. I have never seen this sadness expressed clearly in the vast literature I have embraced over the years. It is like finding a friend who gets it.
Even though several friends sent me the link to the NYTimes article excerpt of this book, I didn't want to read another book about autism. I've read so many since my son regressed into autism 12 years ago; what more could there be to learn from yet another story? What may be "uplifting and inspiring" to some makes some of us feel even more depressed that we haven't managed that same level of success.
But then I saw the author: Ron Suskind. Ron is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist/story teller, and I love his other books. For him [a former classmate (UVA, Class of '81)], I was curious to learn about his son who disappears into autism by age three. I was interested in learning how his parents coped (&/or helped him &/or made peace with his condition). Maybe I could learn some clues to help me better parent my own son.
And the NYTimes excerpt was intriguing, though I was already jealous that Owen could understand Disney plots. But it was interesting how Ron and Cornelia figured out how to use Owen's Disney video obsession to reach him, building on Disney stories to help him express his feelings and navigate similar difficult situations in "the real world." Or, as we say in therapy-speak, help him "generalize" the Disney lessons.
Personally, I'm often out of energy to do the sort of work they've done; my son has quit noticeably progressing and puberty has created a whole new set of challenges. I went back to work full-time to create a college fund for our typical daughter (We've already spent more than 5 years' of college tuition on therapies, doctors, special diet, etc. for our son; but for all our efforts, we are still unable to hold a real conversation with him--not the kind Ron can have with Owen.
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