Friend Like Henry [Hardcover]

Nuala Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2007

This is the inspiring account of a family's struggle to break into their son's autistic world - and how a dog made the real difference. Dale was still a baby when his parents realised that something wasn't right. Worried, his mother Nuala took him to see several doctors, before finally hearing the word 'autism' for the first time in a specialist's office. Scared but determined that Dale should live a fulfilling life, Nuala describes her despairat her son's condition, her struggle to prevent Dale being excluded from a 'normal' education and her sense of hopeless isolation. Dale's autism was severe and violent and family life was a daily battleground. But the Gardner's lives were transformed when they welcomed a gorgeous Golden Retriever into the family. The special bond between Dale and his dog Henry helped them to produce the breakthrough in Dale they had long sought. From taking a bath to saying 'I love you', Henry helped introduce Dale to all the normal activities most parents take for granted, and set him on the road to being the charming and well-adjusted young man he is today. This is a heartrending and fascinating account of how one devoted and talented dog helped a little boy conquer his autism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'I sat down for a few minutes to skim through A Friend Like Henry...Hours later, I was still there, with tears running down my cheeks - for the appalling difficulties faced in dealing with the condition and with officialdom, but most of all for the extraordinary devotion and empathy between the boy and his dog. Just buy it, please.' -- Sarah Stacey, Mail on Sunday 'Truly affecting ... terribly touching' -- David Sexton, Evening Standard 'More than just a heartwarming tale about a healing relationship between boy and dog. It is also a mother's painful search for love from a child' -- Herald --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Nuala Gardner is a nurse and midwife. She and her husband Jamie have two children, Dale and Amy, both of whom have autism. Dale is 18 and planning a career working with children with autism.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 270 pages
• Publisher: Hodder Hb (July 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340934018
• ISBN-13: 978-0340934012
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #846,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real, Moving, Inspiring, June 23, 2008

By 

Joanne Goh (Singapore) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Friend Like Henry (Paperback)

this book didn't start all that well for me, partly because I thought it was a novel, the writer's style is very matter of fact.

But the writer keeps her wit throughout this immensely difficult journey and it grows on you. This story was moving and funny. It also allowed bright lights to be shone on the difficulty of autism from the sufferer's perspective, the care giver's perspective. More than anything it reminded me that we should never give up on people, everyone has great potential.

The whole Gardner family and friends, you all are AMAZING.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent insight into dealing with an autistic child, August 16, 2009

By 

Pauline Evans "perennial student" (Muscatine, IA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Friend Like Henry (Paperback)

My son has mild autism, and I can recognize in this account much of what we dealt with. We never went through the total lack of communication that the Gardners had to deal with, but I remember the terrible frustration both he and I felt when he couldn't tell me what he wanted, the sense that he was sometimes looking through me instead of at me, his indifference as to what adult took care of him, his unwillingness to get near other children, extreme pickiness in eating, throwing up at will, running around in circles, arm flapping, and so on.

Fortunately for us, there were educational resources made available to us from the time the autism was first suspected, even before it was agreed on as a diagnosis. Special ed, speech therapy, and a lot of patience from teachers and staff, have helped him to be successful in school - though hardly without problems on a regular basis as he has trouble coping with change.

I was surprised, based on the title of the book, that Henry wasn't even more central to the story. There are a few chapters that are all about Dale and Henry, but once the biggest breakthroughs are made, Henry fades into the background. I would have liked more focus on the boy-dog relationship.

I have to say that the one negative review, that talks about the mother spoiling the child, appears to be from someone who has no experience dealing on a daily basis with an autistic child. The usual ways to deal with misbehavior - timeouts, taking away toys, spanking in cases of deliberate defiance - assume the child's mind works the way more children's minds do. But the autistic mind DOES NOT work the same in a variety of ways. Autistic adults who have developed good communication skills tell what it's like, and there are some very basic kinds of understanding that we take for granted that children with autism only develop with a lot of help and effort.

I was surprised at the extreme amount of time and money that Nuala seemed willing to spend. Perhaps her husband's job paid well enough that money was not an issue. I certainly couldn't afford a lot of what they got for their kids. And while I understand and admire her devotion to her son and persistence in helping him, when she did that to the detriment of her own health I think that things are out of balance. She says very little about her relationship with her husband, but she makes it sound as though she devoted all her time and energy to her son, and I would have expected that there would be a severe strain on the marriage. Perhaps there was, and she chose not to share that.

Nuala does make it clear that she is not telling other parents how to care for autistic children, because every case is unique. As an account of how she dealt with it, it is fascinating and moving.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to get a small picture of autism, this is the book!, January 29, 2009

By 

Marjorie Okerstrom "mother of 3 (2) with autism" (saint paul, mn) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Friend Like Henry (Paperback)

Awsome book!! I am a mother of 3 two of which have autism. I loved the book and could relate to most of the situations and struggles they as a family went through.