Life, Animated: A Story Of Sidekicks, Heroes, And Autism (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Interesting book. This is the story of the Suskind family, who have two sons, the younger one with autism. It is a meandering story, from Owen's regression into autism to his current adult life. This is an affluent family, since the father is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He writes, and the mom devotes herself to taking care of Owen, and to some extent, his older brother Walter. Suskind does not use any of the typical buzzwords that we think of, such as ABA, cognitive-behavior-therapy, Floortime, Divisio Teach, Denver Model. Owen goes to private schools, paid for by the parents, and some of them work well, others don't. At one point, the mom "home schools" Owen in a rented room in a local church. But essentially this is the story of how they 'taught' Owen how to think and reflect on himself using his obsession with Disney. Instead of enforcing the 'no TV talk' which is often heard in schools, they enter this world with him when they realize the scripts have meaning for him. This is quite complicated, and takes the planning of several tutors, psychologists and psychiatrists and coaches. I had a hard time sometimes with the way this book is written. I think it is over-written, heavy- handed. I'd like to have heard the mother's voice more often, since she was the one who implements all the interventions. The author does refer to trying ABA, and Floortime, but could see no progress. However, the intervention they chose bears a resemblance to DIR. I And this author does not ever imply that what they did with their son has any merit for other families. They just tell their story. And what is that story? In my words, it is, "Go with the child into his interests and follow them...these oobsessive interests can be used to help support a child's thinking, learning and academic skills". At three years old, Owen Suskind was a happy talkative toddler. Then, seemingly overnight, he began to regress in multiple ways: he stopped talking, seemed to no longer understand language, began to lose motor skills, spent his time whirling & crying. Eventually, his terrified parents learned that he had autism. They were determined to help him any way they could. This is the story of the next 20 years, as they tried therapy after therapy, school after school.Owen was captivated by Disney animated movies. His parents discovered that they could reach him through the movie dialog. While he could not carry on even a limited conversation, he could communicate by reciting lines from the movies. Some of his insights, as communicated through the movie dialog are incredible (deep enough that I have to wonder if they are "enhanced" by the author). Still, the idea that Owen could communicate through memorized dialog and that that skill could be used to teach him is fascinating and incredible.I found the family's saga interesting and inspiring. Having worked with young people on the autism spectrum, some of whom had similar obsessions with cartoons, superheros, illustrating, I could recognize Owen as the complex real young man that he is. Unfortunately, the book was overly detailed and poorly edited, and the family's seemingly unlimited resources were too evident & off-putting.
What do You think about Life, Animated: A Story Of Sidekicks, Heroes, And Autism (2014)?
Great book for anyone that knows someone in their life who has autism. Uplifting for the most part.
—wamomit
An autistic boy finds a way to communicate using Disney movies.
—saro0o
An outstanding book. The only thing I can say... Magical.
—lexo242
excellent read for those who have loved ones on spectrum
—ezrielynn
