Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism

I have just finished Not Even Wrong and am in that stunned place of being so moved and so enlightened that I will need time to process it all. This is an amazing book. This author should be on the best sellers list as he consistantly writes with such savvy, humor and dedicated research, unearthing fascinating lessons from history that expand my understanding of this world and the mysteries of life. .

After reading "Sixpence House" and finding it delightful, I looked up Paul Collins in the library catalog and saw this book. When I read "adventures in autism" I gasped. Not their little boy?! But yes, their little boy, whose adorableness was palpable in "Sixpence House," was diagnosed with autism around the age of three. This is a memoir of becoming the parent of a special needs child. I say "becoming" because the change from "the parent of the child we love who we thought was normal" to "the parent of the child we love who is autistic" is gradual, marked by milestones of shock and understanding. Paul Collins shares this becoming with us, so honestly, so lovingly. He interweaves his own story with accounts of the history of the diagnosis of autism, of people with autism and of historical people it is reasonable to speculate were autistic. In doing so, he makes a subtle case for the role of the autist in society past and present. Their disabilities are just as frequently remarkable abilities. Their capacity for single minded obsession has led to many scientific discoveries and technological applications that we all depend on. Above all, his deep delight in his son and his unconditional love for him are apparent on every page. Thank you Paul Collins for sharing Morgan with us all.

I have taught preschool children with disabilities for twenty odd years. I am always looking for books that I can share with parents to help them on their road to raising their child. This is going to the top of the list. What a gift Mr. Collins has written.For one thing, the total unconditional love Morgan's parents show shines through. It doesn't matter what he can or cannot do - he is a child first. Anything else is secondary. That is such an important view for parents, and teachers, to have. They took the bull by the horns. The diagnosis was devastating, but it didn't stop them from jumping in to the interventions that were recommended. One of the biggest issues I have is trying to get parents beyond the intial shock and denial, and get them moving. TIme is of the essence. I also have trouble sometimes getting them to see that they indeed are partners in this process - what we do at school cannot be isolated, and must be followed through at home as well. His descriptions of how they experiemented, and how they took the ideas of therapists and adjusted them to fit Morgan was perfect. His description of the classrooms and the activities were right on target as well.His explanation of how people with autism think can help me explain to parents why their child might be reacting the way that they do.I was impressed by his experience as a father. Its a rare family where the father actually takes on an equal share of the work in raising a child with disabilities. His POV was enlightening and will give many other fathers encouragement to be involved.I also appreciated the historical point of view. I think parents and professionals need that background to see where we have been and get a better idea of where we are going.Speaking of professionals - the books postive take on the therapists was a breath of fresh air. I have quickly tired of the tirads that parents feel they need to write about, and how they had to fight this and fight that, when for the most part, people in this field are in it for good reasons and are trying the best they can. Its important for parents to question and to look for options. But the positive attitude in this book and the author's willingness to work with the staff, makes all of the difference.In short, this is just an excellent book on so many levels. I highly recommend it to any parent, professional in the field, or anyone who wants more information about autism.

As a person whose imagined future plans have almost never included children, my threshold for empathy with a memoir of parental experiences is pretty high--to me, you had a choice and you made it, knowing full well that your kid, like all kids, would one day be a bratty teenager. Maybe that's why this book works--because Paul Collins and his wife didn't have a choice about their son, Morgan, being born autistic.The way that Collins blends a momentous year in the life of his family with a variety of stories about the history of autism and notable autists (including many whose conditions have been diagnosed posthumously, because autism wasn't understood at all until recently) works, too. We feel his pain and his growth, and laugh and cry with him, even as he gently gives us a textbook education in the development of society's understanding of the condition, from Peter the Wild Boy to Rainman and beyond.Quietly, deftly, Collins also seeks to reshape the way we think about autism. For instance, he says, "Autists are described by others--and by themselves--as aliens among humans. But there's an irony to this, for precisely the opposite is true. They are us, and to understand them is to begin to understand what it means to be human. Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing. A child tugs at his or her parents and whispers, 'Where's that man's arm?' But autism is an ability and a disability: it is as much about what is abundant as what is missing, an overexpression of the very traits that make our species unique. Other animals are social, but only humans are capable of abstract logic. The autistic outhuman the humans, and we can scarcely recognize the result."And then, of course, we have the moment when Collins sees an adult version of his son at a fast food restaurant and watches the reaction of people around him, then walks a few blocks, stops, sits down on the stoop of a church, and cries. "I can't bear the thought that someday, somehow, someone will be cruel to my child. Or pretend that he is not even there." His pain is palpable; you can't help but care about him and empathize with his struggle.Destined to be a comfort to parents of autistic children, this most recent Paul Collins book is a worthwhile and exceptionally enjoyable read with or without such a personal stake. Even more than Sixpence House, this book perfects the genre of personal history and intense research into the arcane that Collins is creating for himself. Give him 200 pages of your time.

Oh! You thought that autism only affected "Rain Man" and only impacted the life of his brother who sleezily hauled him off to Las Vegas. Or maybe you thought that autistics have only been born in the last 14 years. Boy were you wrong! :-)Autitstics have been impacting human life and the course of history for hudreds of years. Paul Collins does a fantastic job of not only chronicling his experience with his young son and his being diagnosed as autistic, he also does a fantastic job of chronicling the existence of autistics who lived before there was such a word. Way to go Paul Collins!Thank you for exposing Bruno Bettleheim for the creep he was and for interviewing Simon Baron-Cohen (a nice man, as far as I can tell).Thank you for sharing your fascination with Peter the Wild Boy.I am an adult with an autism spectrum diagnosis, Asperger's syndrome. I hope your little boy is always treated with respect by the world that so often demands conformism.oddizm