Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism (Audio CD)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jenny has done an incredible job retelling the story of Evan, who also was forced to make the perilous journey through autism. Autism is not a dead-end diagnosis. It is the beginning of a journey into faith, hope, love, and recovery." --Jerry J. Kartzinel, from the introduction, MD FAAP

Review

“Emotional, devastating…a story of hope.”
—People

“Honest, informative, down-to-earth, and sometimes painful… Mothers everywhere thank her.”
—The Chicago Sun-Times

“Surprisingly fun to read, realistic, and engaging… a good introduction to the ups and downs that autism brings to everyday life.”
—autism.about.com --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.; Unabridged edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1433211777
• ISBN-13: 978-1433211775
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (314 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #768,855 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars There are better books from a parents' perspective, November 23, 2007

By	H. Michaelsen (Martinez, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism (Hardcover)

I too have a child who has autism and I was disappointed in Jenny's book. If you can get past the swearing (I'm not sure why she has to cheapen her experience with expletives), she definitely writes from her heart. However, as a non-celeb mom trying to find ways to deal with autism and not go bankrupt in the process, I had a hard time identifying with Jenny's journey since she seems to have a lot of money to put towards her son's treatment, and other help like nannies and cleaning ladies and such. Further, Jenny did seem to find a treatment that worked for her son, but I feel that all kids on the spectrum are so different and respond differently to the various treatments out there. She seems to advocate that this is "the only way". I think there are better books out there from a parent dealing with autism. Look at Susan Senator's Making Peace with Autism for starters. I appreciate the awareness Jenny has brought to autism with her TV appearances, but sadly, I thought her book was a little disappointing.

69 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I suppose it's OK..., October 27, 2007

By	Reggie Dunlop (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism (Hardcover)

You can summarize most of the book by "Mommy Instinct" and "Google University".

As a person with a Masters in Biochemistry, it pains me that surfing around on Google now qualifies as "research" worthy of printing in a book. I'm sure the true autism scientists who get up every day painstakingly working toward some answers, must cringe that Jenny McCarthy is now their spokeswoman. I suppose any press is good press, and with media coverage comes grant money... so perhaps Jenny may be helping them out somehow.

As a person who is a now a physician, I think Jenny should understand that the doctors she bashes for the first 50 pages of the book did not go to medical school, and work 90 hours a week during their residency, and incur huge debt, just to come to work and give her bad advice. Doctors are human, and actually do care (especially the new ones), yet they must handle situations as they are taught. True, the outcome (or lack thereof) might be frustrating for a parent... but I wish she would accept that the people at the time were likely trying to do their best... and doctors are not God... they sometimes do not know all the answers for a situation that falls outside of the norm.

As a parent of a four year old with autism, I do feel that Jenny accurately conveyed the joys, frustration, fear, tears, more frustration, confusion, and even more frustration that is associated with a parent's discovery and subsequent acceptance that their child has autism. Herein I think is the value of this book. It may give some insight to friends and families of those with autistic children... what goes on in our homes when we are alone. Her best line was to the effect of... "please offer to babysit for these parents so they can go out to dinner."

I wonder if Jenny could appreciate the challenge facing other parents with autistic children, who cannot afford a nanny to help out, who cannot afford intensive therapy, who may have been kicked off their medical insurance plans. Now that would be an interesting follow-up book.

Gluten-free diets. There is no scientific proof yet that these diets help for certain. I think that if your child has obvious GI problems then it is worth a try... however there are also legitimate businesses capitalizing off Jenny's PR campaign who charge $1500 to evaluate a child and then prescribe the same diet to every child. If that child makes gains over the 1-2 year monitoring period... was it the intensive therapy... or classroom instruction... or the diet... or just the passage of time... that caused the improvement?

OVERALL: Its a decent read. Took me four hours. Rather than buy it, go borrow it from a friend and donate $20 to an autism society instead.

24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book of heartbreak and, more importantly, hope, September 17, 2007

By	Bill Kempin (Lenexa, KS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism (Hardcover)

Jenny's latest book, "Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey In Healing Autism," is a book full of heartbreak, as Jenny relates the story of how her son was misdiagnosed and how she had to fight the health care system to get the right diagnosis and the right care for him. But more importantly it's a book full of hope, as Jenny tells how behavioral therapy, diet and supplements have helped her son immensely. It's a book I highly recommend to anyone with concerns about autism and any Jenny fan. It's an awesome read.