Customer Reviews

A Real Boy: A True Story of Autism, Early Intervention, and Recovery

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Of the books of this type, about "recoveries" from autism by extreme intervention, diet, medication, etc, this book is probably the best I've read. The author seems to have much sympathy for others. I loved it that she made a point to get to know adults on the autistic spectrum and to appreciate their good qualities, and that she seemed to realize how lucky she was to have the resourses she did to help her son. She also didn't have the air of someone with total confidence in herself, which was endearing to me. I felt her story and Jonah's was honestly told, and I am glad he is doing as well as he is.

With that said, books like this can be very hurtful to read. I have a son on the spectrum. He was diagnosed at an early age with classic autism. Even if I had known about all the interventions talked about here, having the funds or the wherewithall to make them happen would have been about as likely as me sprouting wings and flying to the moon. We couldn't have paid for even one of the experts that Jonah saw. Our school district would have laughed for days at a plan like the one Jonah's agreed to. We were in no way able to move to a different district. If I had read this book when my son was young, I would have cried for hours, because I couldn't help him as the author did.

However, my son today no longer even meets the criteria for Aspergers Syndrome, to say nothing of autism. He still has unusual traits, but he is in a gifted program at school and would not be seen by almost anyone as having autism. I didn't do much to acheive this beyond what our poor school district offered, and what a mother's love does on its own. No special diets, no ABA, a few free social skills groups when I could....

Books like this sometimes make you feel you should plan very carefully before having a child with autism!! If only you could! You should make sure you live in a rich school district and have a great deal of money yourself, you must make sure your child is an only child so you can give them all your attention, you must believe wholeheartedly in special diets, you must be an intellectual...if not, perhaps you should think twice before having that autistic child! Oh, that's right---YOU CAN'T! So until all parents can do what this parent did, you might want to think twice about reading this book. There is nothing wrong with what Christina Adams did, there is much right with it. But it's not the only route to recovery.

If you just found a loved one is autistic and don't know where to start I would recomend reading some other books first. A good place to start is Facing Autism by Lyn Hamilton and Overcoming Autism by Lynn Kern. Those books will give you a better overview of what to expect and what you can do rather than this book.

The Autism Spectrum is very large and not every child classified as autistic is the same. I think those other books do a better for a wider audience than this one. Her son seemed, from her descriptions, to have a lot more abilities than a lot of autistic kids do and I think that (along with her great efforts)is part of the reason why her son was able to improve.

It buged me that the author is constantly ripping on people who don't do as much for their kids as she did for hers. She even goes into detail classifying the different types of "autism mommies" and what each group is willing to do. Of course she is in the group that will do anything for their kid and should be highly thought of and respected. Don't get me wrong, I agree that the only real way to treat autism is to tackle it full time. Autistic kids need intensive programs to get better. What she fails to realize is is that not everyone with an autistic kid has a boatload of money. She could afford to do some things for her son that others can't do because her and her husband had the finacial means to do such, to hire a lawyer to sue the school districts and to get programs started (heaven forbid she suffered too.... they had to sell their cabin) before funding could kick in, and to pay for the drug treatments. Not everyone has the financial means to do that.

She also only has one child. She doesn't have anything in here about what to do if you have multiple children and one of them is autistic. It becomes a lot harder to concentrate all your efforts one one child when you have others at home that need your attention as well.

It almost sounds throughout the book that she's promoting herself for sainthood before she dies.

Anyway, I thought the book was well written and interesting to read and there were a lot of good ideas but if you are just getting started learning about autism and what you can do for a loved one then I would start elsewhere. If you already know a lot about autism and are just looking for something else to read on the subject then it's a decent and interesting read.

I do applaud her efforts and what she did for her son.

My son has been diagnosed with an ASD. He turns 5 next week. I read this book and I cried. I lost sleep when I read this book. Why? Because clearly Ms. Adams has the resources and money to get what she felt was needed for her son. I admire her single-mindedness but how on earth can all parents of children with ASD's be expected to do this? I'm the primary earner in my family and my husband at present is unemployed. We rely on our school district to provide the services that Stephen needs. I cannot open my home to therapists for 40 hours a week or see the army of specialists that Ms. Adams and her son saw. I have to work and provide for my family! So, I felt like a failure. I felt that the window for early intervention for my son is closing because he will turn the dreaded 5! I don't have the support network of other "Autism Mommies" that Ms. Adams has.

On the up side, this book spurred me to think more of what my son needs. I'm going to ask for an IEP meeting with his special education teachers and therapists. I'm going to demand more speech and occupational therapy. And I will become intimately familiar with IDEA to know what my rights as a parent are when working with my district.

Perhaps, Ms. Adams your next book could be one that reflects a more realistic picture of what a working family goes through when dealing with the ASD diagnosis.

I am so happy that Ms. Adams recovered her son. Jonah is extremely fortunate to have such a loving mother. I read her book hoping that after 4 years of dealing with the disorder (my son is 7), a success story would boost my spirits and renew my battling spirit to win back my child. What I didn't expect was to be insulted by Ms. Adams' categorization of "Autism Mommies and Daddies" and general holier-than-thou attitude. MOST people who are trying to recover their children cannot afford the astronomical costs of ABA therapy, lawyers and special diets. We also cannot afford the emotional bashing as someone puts us down because we are not in a financial situation, nor have the connections, to acquire the methods/services she did. It is wonderful she had the resources to figure out a solution for her son's recovery, but instead of hurting others, she should try to help those less financially stable or well-connected figure out how they can acquire the same services for their children.

Jonah's story itself was very interesting, and I did learn a couple of new things from the book. I smiled everytime Jonah made a gain and groaned at his setbacks. The way the story is written, however, leaves something to be desired. The digressions interrupt the story and are sometimes confusing. I would not recommend this book to others and groan at the loss of money I spent on this book - money I could have used for my son.

Otherwise you may find the author's tone and attitude oppressive.

This story is about a wealthy family who had very specific, high expectations of who there child should be. When the mother is told her child is not this, and is autistic, she states, "He'll never be normal. Our lives are ruined." This statement is in a chapter dramatically named, "Darkness falls." It is unclear who she is worried about.

ABA, or Applied Behavioral Analysis, is, indeed, a proven strategy for very young children on the spectrum. Unfortunately it is not widely available at no- or low-cost. Parents need to know how to operate in the other-worldly system of the public school districts. Parents need to know their rights and fight for funding and support. To learn more about this go to your school district's website and read everything under "Special Education" and under "IDEA," which is Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This is a law that can help you if you know it well.

I wish I could like this book more, as I am an educator in special education and believe we need more books like this to help struggling families. Unfortunately this book is for a small set of parents with a great deal of money and time. (That the writing was overly-flowery and loaded with excessive digressions did not help.)

The book is well written, but as a mom to a 2 1/2 year old son who is more severly affected, I found myself becoming depressed about our situation while reading the book. I think it might be better for people who's children are on the moderate to mild end of the spectrum.

A Real Boy is extremely well-written, and the narrative of this memoir keeps you hooked just like that of a first-rate novel--I had trouble making myself put the book down. However, at the same time, you get loads and loads of easily understandable information about autism. The moving, yet realistic and down-to-earth story of Jonah and his family should be highly appealing to both those who are dealing with a child or relative's autism and those who just want to read a great human story about determination and love.

A Real Boy is essential reading for anyone who has a child with special needs, but it is also a compelling and vivid memoir that offers outsiders to the world of Autism a rare insight into the demands of parenting a child "on the spectrum." Adams not only chronicles here the daily struggles her family faced, but also illuminates the path she and her family found to take them out of the woods of Autism, the very path that so many parents are searching for. Many parents faced with an Autism diagnosis feel overwhelmed and even paralyzed, and I think A Real Boy would be enormously helpful to them as it describes very vividly the therapies Adams employed for her son and his improvement from them. In the end, readers will find themselves cheering for Adams, her husband, and their beautiful son, Jonah. Read this book; you will be touched and inspired by the story of this mother's determination to change her son's fate.

With every page of this book I cried and laughed. Jonah and my own son were and are so similar. Not only have I used this book to motivate myself but also have given it to grandparents and friends who love my son. It provides understanding and a great hope for not just Jonah and my son, but all the children who have been touched by Autism. This is the fifth copy of this book I am purchasing.
I read some of the reviews that saw this book as elitist. Some of the basic things being done for this child cost little or nothing. It is not the team of evaluators that saved Jonah but a mother's determination to not take "incurable" as an answer.
Christina, if you read these reviews please know that you have helped save my son as well. Anyone who sheds light on this terrible condition is saving lives!

I am not a book reviewer, but I am an Autism Mommy who gained REAL HOPE from this book. 2 days after my son was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, I found myself sitting in a bookstore looking through every imaginable book on autism. What struck me about Christina's book, was that my son is the age that hers was in the beginning of "her story". I read this in one sitting, and couldn't put it down. I wanted to know what "recovery" looked like, and what steps they took in their journey. I so related to her roller coaster of emotions and found comfort in her struggles dealing with such a difficult and similar situation. She opened my eyes and inspired me to look under every rock and be a REAL advocate for my son. She gave me the greatest gift a new autism mommy could get -- HOPE! Thanks Christina!