Dear Reader, this is officially my first negative review for a book. Over the past eight years of blogging, I have reviewed over 200 books and chose not to review books that didn't meet my expectations. I wanted to do the same with this book too. In the end, I decided to review it so that no one else starts reading this book without a fair idea, especially the neurotypical sibling to your Autistic child. I have immense respect and admiration for Autistic siblings as they adapt to a tough life and are mature beyond their years. When life is tough, you either become bitter or better by developing a mature and spiritual outlook. I always say that my son has made me a better person. This author, unfortunately, chose the bitter path.
This book - 'Boy Alone' is written by Karl Taro Greenfeld, brother of Noah, a profoundly Autistic individual. Noah was born in the 70's, rightly called as the 'era of despair' . It was the time when the concept of 'refrigerator mother' was widely followed and it was also the time of Ivar Lovaas and his behaviour techniques where pinching, hitting, refusing food and water for days, spraying cold water and administering electric shocks was the norm!! Karl describes the early childhood in detail, his experience of growing up with a severely Autistic brother, his insecurities and diminished parental love as his parents always focused on Noah. In spite of their best efforts, Noah, doesn't progress much and is sent to a residential setup when he is a teenager. There he is abused and denied food. They bring him back home and set him up in their old house with a caregiver. These experiences account for nearly half of the book.
The next half of the book, let's divide it into two parts. In part one, Noah's life takes a U turn. He thrives in a deaf school, learns sign language, graduates to using AAC and finally after years of continuous efforts, is able to speak and communicate. He gets a part time job as a copy editor for a newspaper and learns to thrive with minimal help. He wants to have a social life and goes out to movies and attends functions. He also expresses a desire to go on a date and have a girlfriend. He succeeds in this endeavor with the help of his brother and finds an Autistic girlfriend. They are happy together and eventually plan to marry. You must be wondering, when everything works out eventually for Noah, why the negative review? right? Read on..
In the second part, the author clarifies that the above rosy description is his wishful thinking!! The truth is that Noah is not at home, but is living in group home or institutions where he is repeatedly raped, beaten, fights for food and has become increasingly violent. I can understand the author's apathy as a teenager when he has no power to change his brother's life, but to become increasing apathetic as he grows and enters his middle age, is beyond my realm of understanding. To say, that, he can do nothing to help his profoundly autistic brother who is repeatedly abused, is just----- ( fill in the space with an appropriate adjective, my limited vocabulary has no right word for this).
This concludes my first and hopefully last negative review. Sorry for the long post!
