Strange Son
Two Mothers, Two Sons, and the Quest to Unlock the Hidden World of Autism
by Portia Iversen
Portia Iversen has an autistic child. She is reaching for help and creating ways of dealing with this crippling
developmental disorder, which is now affecting as many as 1 in every 150 children born in the USA. This disorder
affects mostly baby boys, and the why of that has yet to be figured out. The incidence of autism in our country
is staggering, and the people whom this disorder affects are not only the autistic, but also the families of those
born with autism. They are, in some ways, more affected as time goes by. Caring for a child who is severely
autistic is depleting and disorienting in every case, in some way. Laying groundwork for the autistic child to
become self-sufficient is difficult and pains-taking and leaves every member of those families exhausted every day,
week and month of their lives.
Autistic children can often grow up to become functional adults if they are treated very early in their lives.
If the disorder goes unnoticed or untreated for many years, the diagnosis is almost certainly going to become harder
to escape. Treatment, encouragement, and understanding are the keys to dealing with autism in everyday life, and
this book lends some forms of treatment, lots of understanding, and bunches of encouragement along the path of
seeing an Autistic child grow to adulthood.
Bravo for Ms. Iversen in the writing of her book, and in all the time she has spent with her child trying to
understand and encourage a mind that has trouble opening. Strange Son provides insight into the problems
associated with autism and the increasing number of those afflicted with it, which numbers more every day. We
have to start to understand this in order to deal with those with autism, so that more autistic children can grow
up to become functioning adults in the work-place -where most of them want to be- and to be treated as normal,
which is what most of them want also. This is a book that all friends and families of autistics should read, and
get your copy now, because you may soon be dealing with an autistic on a personal level. |
The Book |
Riverhead Books |
December 2006 |
HardCover |
ISBN-10: 1573223115
ISBN-13: 978-1573223119 |
Nonfiction / Autism |
More at Amazon.com |
Excerpt |
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The Reviewer |
Claudia Turner VanLydegraf |
Reviewed 2007 |
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