A Slant of Sun: One Child's Courage

Beth Kephart writes very well. I was totally hooked on this book after reading only a few pages. She is both a fierce advocate for her son and an interesting analyst of his difficulties. She takes us through her own journey and that of her son, from the first suspicions that something is wrong, through the struggle for a diagnosis, through the therapy and her realization that sometimes she ought to trust her instincts about her son more than the opinions of the experts. Though my own child does not suffer from any of Jeremy's problems, I gained considerable insight about parenting from this book. You are likely to find this story fascinating whether you have any children or not.

A Slant of Sun, is the beautifully written story of one boy's triumph over a diagnosis of "pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified". Authored by his mother, Beth Kephart, we are taken on a journey through the heartaches, frustrations and joys of their relationship to each other and to the world. Ms. Kephart eloquently brings to our awareness the fact that each child is unique and that each parent has the opportunity to alter the course of a life by his or her willingness to challenge conventional thinking. Through the author's determination and love for her son and by Jeremy's strength, she guides and supports him in his courageous struggle. Ms. Kephart has the unique ability to bare her soul while maintaining the book's focus on her son and his day-by-day victories. For any one who has ever loved a child, A Slant of Sun promises to engross you with its depth, honesty and bravery.

I love "A Slant of Sun," a first book by Beth Kephart, a memoir for her nine-year-old son Jeremy. This book is about everything that matters in relationships, whether son and mother, husband and wife, friends. It's about acceptance and compassion and anger and courage. It's about stripping life down to its essentials to find out what the essentials are. What does it matter if your son has good manners or a sensible bedtime if he has not, in the course of his young life, found the words, any words, that will order the rest of his life? I love you, Mommy. I want cereal. I want to play. Diagnosed at age two with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, Jeremy had obsessions and rituals and fears and no language to express his need for them. He loved cars and arranging them in precise, unvarying patterns. He was terrified of strangers, of any disruption in his day. The picture on the cover of the book is of Jeremy, alone and facing the world from his front porch, wearing the too-big green hat that for a time was his equivalent of Dorothy's ruby slippers, a bit of protection, a hedged bet against a world that wanted him to be like other kids. And a badge, too, that said, "I'm not like other kids. I hope I find my way, but it will be my way." In fact, that's how it was. Today, he is on the verge of third grade, a move forward that, like all new things, has him a little nervous. "I know," he confides to his mother, "that I'm not good at transitions." He agreed to having a bunch of strangers in his house for a party in honor of the publication of the book for which he was the inspiration and the hero as long as he could leave and play soccer in the backyard when he felt like it. He not only held his own, he held forth.I know because I was there. I met Kephart through her bread and butter work as a freelance business writer. I met Jeremy when I learned that his diagnosis was the same as the one pinned on my sister's child, who is three years younger than Jeremy and who, like Jeremy, is gifted in many ways and has eyes you could drown in. I hoped, like everyone who loves a child and sees him suffering, for a prescription. That is not what I found, either in knowing Jeremy or in reading the book about him. I found, as another reviewer has noted, "an extended poem" about the healing power of love. That, ultimately, is what makes this book worth reading. Jeremy's extraordinary progress through his disorder is, implacably, his story and his alone. The disorder is too broad for it to be otherwise. Kephart - though she knows the science of PDDNOS and autism well enough to be asked to lecture at Johns Hopkins - is as bewildered as anyone. She writes, "It seems to me that the stronger Jeremy grows, the more confounding becomes the incipient question: Just what has happened here? Five years ago we saw our child disappearing - a rapid descent into silence. We met with doctors. We

As one who appreciates beautiful writing and as the mother of a son with PDD, I absolutely loved this book. There were many moments I recognized from my own experience in the roller coaster-like highs and lows Ms. Kephart experienced, the sterile and absolute reports from the medical community, and, worst of all, the rejection of her child. The only additional experience I've had that she didn't report is the blame that others would like to lay at the feet of the parents of such a child. Like Jeremy, my son has made great progress and is a high school honor student at our local public high school. While he doesn't spend time with friends, he's gained enough social confidence to enjoy social functions. I'm glad that this book is drawing an audience beyond those with an interest in autism-like disorders, however, if you finish the book and don't question the way we as a society define "normal," then you've missed the point of the book.

A Slant of Sun: One Child's Courage By Beth Kephart, May 1998, W.W. Norton & Company; 249pp As each of us have become parents, we have watched in awe the transformation of a swollen embodiment of hope into a human being who personifies our genetic material. Eternally compelling, we behold, we examine, we are astonished. For most parents, the gift of watching a child grow is truly a profound experience; but nothing is more heart wrenching than to watch a child grow with difficulty. Beth Kephart takes us into that vigilant world of a parent with a child who diverges from the path of normal development in her outstanding book, A Slant of Sun: One Child's Courage. Yet, this particular book is so much more than a story about loving parents who diligently and successfully maneuver their gifted, mildly autistic child through the maze of denial, disillusionment, doctors and diagnoses. The fact is, this book is a must read because of Kephart's incredible style of writing words that fit together like a correctly completed rubric's cube. Kephart's ability to detail the ordinary moments of life transform them into the extraordinary. Her lyrical prose is sumptuous. Her vivid word combinations always satisfy. I recommend that you pick up a copy of Beth Kephart's book, find a warm slant of sun to read by, and enjoy!