Customer Reviews

Sound of a Miracle, The

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found this book to be one which inspired me and helped me realize there's always a reason to keep trying. As the parent of an autistic child, I really needed to know there were others who had it worse than me, and that they were having success living positive lives. The story of the author's life is quite amazing. Annabelle's struggles were real, and as such, we have much to learn from her and her daughter's experiences, if only to know that there is hope.

This book also gave me much needed information on how some autistic children perceive situations around them, as well as their feelings about what is happening to them. I am better able to understand my daughter for knowing what Annabelle's daughter was able to tell us, due to her success with AIT.

Georgiana (Georgie) was born May 24, 1965. She made all developmental milestones within normal limits, as did her older sister, Dotsy. Speech was the major milestone that Georgiana did not make during her early years.

Georgie's mother had many overwhelming issues -- Georgie's unusual aversion for any type of sound, music included and Dotsy's being diagnosed with leukemia in 1967 when she was 4.

Annabelle naturally has Georgie tested and sent to early intervention programs. The only place where Georgie appeared to thrive was at Bellevue Hospital because, as Georgie herself said many years later, "it was quiet there." Dotsy's health deteriorates and she dies at the age of 8 in 1971. Georgie, then 6, is sent to a residential facility identified only as "Childville."

"Childville" sounds like a genuine Chamber of Horrors. Georgie complains about the noise and staff dismiss her complaints. She is overmedicated and complains that the medicines make her feel funny. She becomes hostile and acts out because she cannot stand any type of sound. A rather incompetent social worker identified as "Judith" seems determined to block and undermine any and all progress on Georgie's part. When the girl shows an unusual balancing ability and begs for a skateboard, Judith refuses, telling Georgie's mother that Georgie is "overcompensating a fear." Fortunately, Georgie gets her skateboard and is quite proficient on it.

Georgie is fortunate enough to have summers free of that institutional wasteland. Luckily for all, Annabelle marries Peter and that union produces a natural brother and later a sister for Georgie. Peter has some grown daughters from a previous marriage and it is in this loving, extended family that Georgie blossoms.

Annabelle decides that Childville is not the answer and withdraws Georgie when the girl was 11. Peter had accepted a job in Switzerland, and naturally Georgie wanted to join her family. Judith tries to keep Annabelle and Peter from withdrawing Georgie, invoking the name of and cliches from Freud. Fortunately, Annabelle withdraws Georgie, discontinues the medications and for the next several years, Georgie flourishes in Switzerland. She learns to ski, is mainstreamed and explains her aversion to sound. Luckily, she has been treated by several very humane doctors specially trained in AIT (Auditory Integration Therapy) and this treatment is continued during her years abroad. One can't help but cheer when Georgie dances in the rain, explaining that the rain "doesn't sound like a machine gun anymore."

An interesting expression that Annabelle coined is "hig," meaning "hostile inadvertent gesture." One can't help wondering why it isn't "hostile INTENTIONAL gesture" because Georgie would sometimes deliberately inflict physical pain on people who had crossed her. Annabelle devised the acronym "hig" to subtly call Georgie on her behavior in these instances.

After several years abroad, the family returns to the U.S. Georgie's records "mysteriously disappear" because the cruise ship she was on met with a disaster and several cartons had to be discarded.

Free of previous baggage, Georgie attends a public school in Connecticut. She graduates as class valedictorian in 1984 and, at last count, is happily married.

Georgie appeared on "Sally Jesse Raphael" in 1992 and drew a map of Africa, all countries included from memory. Bright and now quite verbal, Georgie is a strong advocate of AIT. She said it literally saved her life.

She is now fluent in 6 languages including Arabic; is a gifted artist and very spiritual. Georgie is also an author. She has chronicled her life story in "Overcoming Autism," in which she promises readers that upon reading her book they will have a very clear understanding of what it means to have autism. The book is currently available on her web site, but it is worth reading. It is a book you will cherish.

When you are the parent of a child with Autism, it's difficult to make people understand what is going on with that child. Friends and family, although well meaning, just can't possibly understand the big picture! Reading her book was like having my own private support group. As I read of her self-doubt as a parent and later realizing that her parenting had nothing to do with Georgie's issues, I cheered for her. I thought "Yes, I'm not the only one who has felt this way"!
The sections focusing on Georgie's successful treatment with AIT also gave me some hope for the future with my own child, as her symptoms are eerily similar to Georgie's.
A "must read" for parents and caregivers!

This is a very comprehensive family account from early years up to college, her sister's death, through her mother's divorce & remarriage, the birth of a younger brother & how autism affected her familial relationships. The AIT treatment she received is still being debated somewhat but, as the parent of a son who received AIT twice, I do not consider it a 'cure'. It is ideal, however, for autistic children who have extreme aural sensitivities. Despite the claim of a 'cure' (much like Catherine Maurice & ABA), this book defines Auditory Integration Therapy & explores a facet of sensory processing difficulties that many children with autism face.

At first, I thought: "Here is another book, where I will not learn anything different from what I had read from other books". In fact, I did learn about auditory integration therapy. This therapy does make a difference in an autistic child life. In reading a book on autism, I expected to learn more about the person affected with autism not about the parent's story life. I really want to have a follow-up on the life of the autistic child. Is there any book written by Annabelle Stehli's daughter. If so, I wish to read it. It might be a very interesting and beneficial book. If not, why didn't she do so. Because according to a mother, she seems quite normal, why can't she write her own story.

An excellent book for parents of PDD children with sound sensitivity. It explains the physiology of the senses and how they work together. It gave me insight and hope for another therapy for my son. It is also spiritual in a sense that faith for miracles is valid.

Annabel Stehli is a good writer here but there is certainly an emotive urgency to this mother's search for a cure for her daughter's autism that does tend to get a bit close to melodrama at times. The story of Georgie is told in a way that is an easy read and a good read. The characters are likeable and Georgie has certainly gone on to achieve good things, there is no doubt. But this book is certainly fixated on the 'magic bullet' theme, as though autism is one thing with one answer. Fact is, its not. Whilst AIT went on to help some people (and Lucy Blackman's wonderful account in her own remarkable autobiography is a wonderful example of that), it dramatically failed to help others and there were also accounts of those who felt it made things worse. Unlike Lucy,who also went through AIT in her teenage years, Georgie went on to be able to function as a highly able person with Autism. Lucy, who there is no doubt is as intelligent as Georgie and has a university degree to prove it, remains functionally non-verbal and overtly autistic but copes better since AIT. It is a great comparison that puts the whole AIT treatment in perspective. In some ways Lucy could be argued to be more able than Georgie, having written her own autobiography in spite of being functionally non-verbal where, here in The Sound Of A Miracle, it is not Georgie's voice we hear but that of her mother. There are many people with autism who dramatically improve in late childhood or their teens and what is overlooked in The Sound Of A Miracle is that, like Donna Williams, Georgie had just coped with the death of a close relative, was under threat of institutionalisation and living in a situation where the household was in a great state of unpredictability. It is always possible that some of what spurred Georgie on to improve so dramatically in her teens was a combination of motivations and not just the miracle treatment of AIT we are invited, instead, to focus on. In this sense, the book is actually richer if we read between the lines. Certainly ridding a child of any sensory hypersensitivity will aid them in focusing and remaining focused on the outside world. Nevertheless, for many this is not enough and it takes other motivations to put the power behind those changes to produce results. We should sometimes ask ourselves whether part of what makes someone motivated and driven to be outwardly focused is the fear of being discarded and left behind. This is a tantalising question that this book really begs us to ask whilst trying to convince us of the conclusion it wants us to have.

The book deals with autism which is a very common disorder here in the valley today. I wonder why parents of autistic children aren't given this approach to their problem here in the US? When you have a child with special needs you're willing to try anything that doesn't hurt the child. I thought the mother in the story was less than a perfect mom, but I'm sure she did her best at the time. It was worth reading. I have a grandson that has been diagnosed with "auditory processing" disorder. I am reading everything I can find in search of some miracle for him. He went through an auditory intergration theraphy this summer, so I guess we are on the right track.

Fortunately I managed to get past the first chapter of "Sound of a Miracle", where author Annabel Stehli says "I became more and more determined to find a way to become 'just a housewife' and do it justice. I found myself envying uneducated, bovine women who took it all in stride and gloried in seeing their faces reflected in their clean, shining plates." Yuck. I can't believe Stehli wrote something so insulting and ignorant, but the book did get better.

The book's main focus is on Stehli's relationships with her two daughters, one of whom is autistic and one of whom has leukemia, and her attempts to get effective treatments for both of them. I found past attitudes toward autism to be both shocking and interesting. At one point, Stehli is grocery shopping, reaches into her somewhat messy tote bag for her wallet, and is told by someone she hardly knows, "How do you expect Georgie to be able to organize herself when you're in such a mess?" Sadly, such comments seemed to be typical.

The first half (or perhaps a bit more) of the book is undoubtedly the most interesting part, and I practically flew through the pages. Stehli's grief, depression, guilt, and society's (and the medical establishment's) attitudes made for a fascinating read.

Eventually Stehli's autistic daughter Georgie undergoes auditory therapy in Europe, and at this point, the book became a proud mother's love letter to her daughter. Apparently after Georgie's treatment, she never has another problem again, masters everything she attempts immediately, and is the smartest, most beautiful girl in the world. OK, I can understand Stehli's pride in her daughter's accomplishments, but I still kept wondering...surely Georgie's life couldn't have been that perfect.

Having just finished reading From Tragedy to Triumph where Dr. Loovas persuaded the author to tell her story, I find similarities with The Sound of a Miracle with Dr. Bernard Rimland coaxing this author, Annabel Stehli to share her story. While reading these two books any parent with a child on the autism spectrum will be shocked to learn what the parents ahead of us endured via professionals and the media based on their incorrect perception of autism.

What I do not agree with is the promotional aspect of these books, suggesting autism can be cured and these kids have overcome the disability. The Sound of a Miracle is touted as a tribute to a mother's courage, yet after reading the same book, I feel that the mother failed the daughter and did not gain the proper insight into her autistic daughter Georgie.

There are two parts to The Sound of a Miracle, with auditory training not being discussed for the first half of the book. Not wanting to criticize the author too harshly I feel the book delved more into her older daughter Dotsie, who passed away from Leukemia, the Mother's two marriages and her own addictions and religious beliefs. This could have easily been written into two or three books covering each topic in depth.

There was a gap of many years from when Georgie graduated from college and the author wrote the book. Maybe by that time she could see more clearly how Georgie needed help right from the beginning. It was obvious that the author was not confident in her parenting skills and questioned herself throughout the process of raising children. The author had a hard time cuddling and receiving eye contact from the time Georgie was born in 1965, plus she knew there was something odd about her eyes, and she had a low apgar score. There always seemed to be turmoil at their apartment in New York. Her husband Bill was not very involved in the parenting aspects of the girls. Early in the story Annabel took the girls away for a few weeks one summer for a vacation. During this time Bill had an affair with her best friend and things went downhill drastically.

Bill was not mentioned too often after that, and only briefly when Dotsie died and then when Annabel wanted to take Georgie to France. The Sound of a Miracle was upsetting to me because after Dotsie passed away Georgie was institutionalized for many years. This started as a trial since there was no alternative for Georgie. Annabel was intimidated by the staff at the institution and believed them when they stated her lack in parenting was to blame. At one point she was drinking and taking many prescriptions, ended up being committed herself. I found that period of time to be confusing because her mother and siblings were only involved intermittently. For a moment there I did not want to finish perusing this because I was not sure which direction The Sound of a Miracle was headed and found the passing of Dotsie very sad.

How a parent at that time never heard of Dr. Bernard Rimland is beyond me. It certainly seemed to me that the author would not act on her own parental instincts and needed reassurance for every move and then it even took others to persuade her to remove Georgie from the institution and try the auditory training by Dr. Berard. While Georgie was at the institution her Mother met and married Peter and had two more children.

The author actually pondered several times leaving Georgie at the institution and starting her own life with her new husband and children. She was not as devoted to her daughter as she wanted to have a normal child in her new son and not risk her daughter coming home and possibly hurting her baby.

As the parent to two children with autism I did learn a great deal about the auditory aspects, but this was due to Georgie sharing her personal experience and not anything the author shared as the parent. All those years Georgie just assumed everyone saw and heard things the way she did, but she was crazy for not being able to handle these issues in the same manner.

On one hand I was truly disappointed in the first section of the book after reading the suffering Georgie had to endure due to no one researching further her issues. I was questioning the author remarrying and starting another family when I felt she had abandoned and failed her daughter. The most shocking part within the book was when the institution contacted her ex husband, Bill to try to persuade him to keep her from taking Georgie out of the country. Bill had some relative look into the Dr in Switzerland and agreed with Annabel that this was worth trying. Had it turned out otherwise I would have been very upset and feel the professionals should have been punished for their wrong doing and interference with her life.

I do prefer books that have a positive outlook on autism and not those that base the outcome on a miracle. Although this is one of those in some aspect, it was still a worthwhile read to know firsthand what the journey has been like for others. But my children are autistic and from what I gather always will be since I am not looking for a cure, but do hope to actually hear the sound of my child's voice one of these days.

As a reader I cared about Dotsie and Georgie and was heartbroken over the death of one and the lost childhood of the other. I came away learning more from the trials and tribulations of this family and know what to avoid when pursuing therapies and searching for schools for my children for future reference.