Life, Animated

the book is Life, Animated by Ron Susskind; a story of sidekicks heroes and autism. 

It is a decades-long chronicle: young boy regresses into autism and with the help of many people and the unlikely resource of animated Disney movies, begins ever so slowly to find himself and to learn how as an autistic boy to live and function with remarkable insights in our very complex world. 

It is a long book and not always an easy or entertaining read but as a parent of a child with Asperger's, I'm always drawn to resources that might help; especially with the scary thing we call being an adult.

The most difficult part of the book for me to fathom was actually that the Susskind family is very well-off. NOt tha they are well-off but that somehow they can afford schools and therapists and costs that would exceed the total normal income of most middle-class families. One school cost $85,000/year! What happens to those without the resources or income to get this kind of help?

Every book has some quotable moments or thoughts; here are a few:

Finding the "hidden ears" as in Dumbo or finding the thing that makes (allows) you fly.

"find beauty in yourself, then you will be able to really see it in others and everywhere."

And finally perhaps the most important thought is that children with autism,  "... like so many, they are different, not diminished. So many folks are exactly like the rest of us; only more so and less so.

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