The extended title of this book suggests a depressing tale - not so! Certainly the reality of living with an autist is described but in the most upbeat way.
I absolutely loved this account. Since the diagnosis of our son in September, I have kept notes of his progress and it was absolutely fascinating to see how much of our experience mirrors this Chris and Nicky's.
My catch phrase is that autism is not an intuitive condition, so to read such vivid accounts of off the wall situations which we have lived through too was really uplifting.
I loved the style of this writing; I laughed out loud at the experience with the woman's skirt and slapping the bald man's head; incredibly we've experienced very similar. As parents of autists, we need to be able to laugh and get back into the (figurative) driving seat; this book helped me gain some perspective and put me back in control ... who wants to feel a victim?
I loved how A Real Boy brought to the fore thoughts I hadn't even realised; how I miss not hearing anything about school, how I too, hold my son by the wrist, how very powerful the words from the sibling about the condition are and the importance of participation in the school nativity, to list just a few.
One big difference between our experience with our son and the Steven's experience with David is that of DVDs. To use the Steven's metaphor; DVDs to our son are as heroin to an addict such is his obsession. So, whilst the introduction of DVDs worked well for the Nichols, in our case, I'm sure they have shaved years off my life! I can cope with hours, days ..weeks even ... of fast forwarding and rewinding Rosie and Jim and other favourites on video... but watching £14.99 DVDs shooting in and out of the DVD player for hours on end and then being used to sandpaper our walls or in place of ice skates is a direct route into orbit for me.
I loved being able to compare David's echolalia with my own son's and I appreciated the accompanying explanation - fascinating.
I thought it was extremely clever and very poignant how the parents' dreams for the future were touched upon.
I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in living with autism.
