Thorn in My Pocket: Temple Grandin's Mother Tells the Family Story [Hardcover]

Eustacia Cutler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2004

A Thorn in My Pocket is Eustacia Cutler's story of raising her daughter, Temple Grandin, in the conservative Leave-it-to-Beaver world of the fifties, a time when children with autism were routinely diagnosed as "infant schizophrenics" and banished to institutions. She tells of her fight to keep Temple in the mainstream of family, community, and school life, how Temple responded and went on to succeed, as Ms. Cutler puts it, "beyond my wildest dreams." Ms. Cutler also explores the nature of the autism disorder as doctors understand it today, and how its predominant characteristics reflect our own traits in an exaggerated form.

 

 

Insightful chapters include:

 

• And Baby Makes Three
• As the Twig Is Bent
• Childhood
• The Separate Worlds Begin
• Things Fall Apart
• And Start All Over Again
• The End of Childhood
• Then What Happened?
• Looking for the Source
• The Legacy of Genes
• What It Means to Be Human

Editorial Reviews

Review

“I laughed, I cried, I was shocked and amazed. Her story is one that will stay with me especially on the days I have trouble with my child.”

 

“Very talented lady and wonderful writer.”

“Her writings are very powerful and moving.”

About the Author

Eustacia Purves Cutler received her Bachelors degree in English from Harvard University. She has lead an interesting and fulfilled life as a singer, actress, writer and mother of four. One of Eustacia’s children, Temple Grandin, has high functioning autism. She has used her experiences with autism to write past television productions, such as: The Innocents, The Disquieted and Teachers Guides to Television, a production of NBC-TV. In addition Eustacia has integrated her creative theatrical knowledge to write Lydia and Secret. Eustacia is affiliated with the Dramatics Guild, Actors Equity Association, The League of Professional Theatre Women/NY, and the New York Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts and Media. Euctacia continues to write and had dedicated a vast amount of energy into writing and sharing her personal experiences with her daughter’s autism. She tours all over the world speaking at conferences on the subject of autism. Eustacia resides in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Future Horizons; 1 edition (December 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932565167
• ISBN-13: 978-1932565164
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Specific Groups > Special Needs

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

155 of 158 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Lesson to Learn February 4, 2005

By C. Haning

Format:Hardcover

Eustacia Cutler's book about raising Temple Grandin answers the two questions I've always had whenever I've heard or read about Temple Grandin. How did Temple survive in a time when everyone was warehousing their kids with autism in mental institutions and how did she succeed so well as an adult?

This is not a "how-to" book on educational procedures or anything like that. By reading this autobiography, you will understand the character of Temple's mother, who quite literally saved Temple's life. Fifty-some years ago, Eustacia was the product of her time in most ways--the stay-at-home wife to a wealthy man who was bent upon institutionalizing Temple, particularly when he got the support from psychiatrists who believed at the time that the reason for Temple's autism was Eustacia herself.

There's a real lesson to learn here. Instead of surrendering her child, the originally compliant Eustacia (women were supposed to be that in the 40s and 50s) changed. She intuitively knew that if she gave up whom she could be, her child would be given up as well. She fought ferociously and even walked away from her marriage and her economic well being to save her child. And at that time, when she faced a family who didn't support the divorce financially and a society that looked down on single mothers, she had four children!

If there's one thing that stands out in this book, it's that you have to be who you are and all you can be in order to give that same gift to your child. Temple Grandin comes by her strength, intelligence, and creativity because she had a mother who studied every angle of whatever or whoever she could find to help her child and wasn't afraid to try anything, from allowing her child to negotiate with a local merchant to fighting for her child's right to the education Eustacia believed would save her.

The reader gets a clear picture of the evolution of the science of autism over the decades with some pretty deep conclusions on Temple's mother's part. It's personal. It's incredibly written. This is NOT a how-to-raise-your-child book. It's a story about the meaning of life and society itself. I'd recommend to anyone who wants to know how character is formed-it's not just parents of children with autism. It's one of the best books I've read in a long, long time and I'm eighty years old with a library of books I've read over a lifetime!

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What a journey! February 3, 2005

By M. Lawrence

Format:Hardcover

There are so many wonderful layers to this book. I have to admit that early on I pigeon-holed Ms. Cutler, almost dismissing her, for having what appeared to be a rarified life. But her accessible language, her wit, her determination, pulled me along until I saw how very wrong I was. She cuts herself no slack as she peels back layer after layer of her life, revealing how she struggled to find ways to give her firstborn child, Temple, a shot at a life of possibilities. As the layers fell away, I could see just how high the stakes really were. Like her, some of us have found ourselves doing battle with people who say they love us and with the experts. We can identify with the pain and the personal costs to our identity, our sanity and, yes, our soul. Ms. Cutler's journey includes her involvement with people, places and events that are now acknowledged as major influences of the 20th century, giving us some rare glimpses of living history. In the end, when you remember how frighteningly easy it would have been, how expected, frankly, for Ms. Cutler to have simply put Temple in an institution, you can appreciate her love and determination to face the fear of the unknown, to eventually leave the favored, the familiar, the expected, to find her own way.

54 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How To February 6, 2005

By Kathryn J. Riley

Format:Hardcover

To those who say this is not a "How To" book, I have to disagree.

Eustacia Cutler tells us "How To" fight for a child's right to be a part of family and society. She tells "How To" stay the course when family and physicians conspire against you. "How To" overcome the feelings of guilt and being overwhelmed; "How To" get on with life. "How To" be supportive of a child who was unable to show affection and was so often at odds with the world. Temple's mother has written a beautiful, sensitive book. It is a book that fills one with hope; if Eustacia and Temple can have such a successful outcome, so perhaps can others.