This book seems to have accrued some criticism for Judith's 'baring of her soul and telling of her sons' most apauling secrets' on the interwebs; however, In her defense I must emphasize that only the truly necessary has been divulged. Additionally: please not 1) a very slight amount of actual dialogue between Gus and Henry is quoted verbatim, and considering her prowess as a journalist we must assume that "tweekage has occured", therefore in life, given the opportunity to discuss with Mrs. Newman her sons proclivity to discussing 'turtles' I must assume that 'turtles' is just an example category (which could really have been stegosaurus) and the point is that autistics like to discuss details of things and focus on particular subject areas extensively on occasion. If I do get to meet Mrs. Newman in person I will ask her if she has colored music. If I get to meet Gus I will ask him to sing something. What this book provides best is a melange of wit, at once a mothers' semi-autobiographical experience of raising autistics in New York (with help), and a sort of 'action catalogue' of possible behaviors that 'might' occur for someone within the spectrum or close to it. Therefore depending on whether or not you are a researcher, a parental unit, or a synesthete or autistic person what you will take home and identify with most will vary greatly for the reader. Another Journalist who has written auto-biographically about herself as well as her child and should be praised for it not condemned is Adair Lara. (Highly recommended for parents of difficult teens) Judith is that rare journalist who can provide movement, nonfiction factoids, as well as parental coping strategies all wrapped up in one neat package. Read it before you judge.
Reviewed by Ellen A on Apr 18, 2018
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