A lovely book which explores living with autism. (A real boy) (A Real Boy - Christopher Stevens with Nicola Stevens)

Member Name: jenjade

Product:	A Real Boy - Christopher Stevens with Nicola Stevens
Date:	20/02/09 (221 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well written and covers very important issues. A good lenth and a page turner

Disadvantages: I would have loved more photos of David in the book.

A Real boy is written by Christopher Stevens with help from his wife Nicola Stevens. The book is written from the parent's perspective as they realise there son has some problems and is later diagnosed with Autism. This book is amazing it follows there son David from a baby through until he is about 6 years old. The book is 286 pages long as cost me £6.99 from Amazon. I have read several books about Autism and this has to be one of my favourites.

David is profoundly autistic he cannot even speak through most of the book and is a danger to himself. He accidentally catches the house on fire, run away, climbs out the upstairs windows etc I am amazed at how the couple cope with David. David has an older brother who does not have autism the book covers the parents trying to balance bringing up the two children together. I was surprised to discover this was written by the father and it is written from his perspective, which took me a few chapters to get used to.

The back of the book shows a photo of a happy smiling boy on a see saw. The back cover says, "David is eleven years old. He is happy, healthy and affectionate. He loves school, Disney songs and climbing trees but he is also profoundly autistic. Unable to speak more than a few words. Barely capable of expressing his basic needs. Oblivious to danger. Blind to other people's emotions and deaf to their pleas." Copied for the back page of the book.

This book follows the family through some very difficult times such as moving house, choosing a school for David and decided to use respite care to have a break from their own son. The book gives a nice insight into the reactions and responses from the community to a child who has additional needs. From the kind and caring people who have helped David and his family to the negative reactions from the public and some doctors. This book has really made me think as an adult how lucky I am but it has also made me evaluate my reactions towards other people. We have all been in a supermarket at some point trying to do are shopping in peace and felt annoyed with the women who is letting her child scream the store down. I have though to myself just take him home without bearing a though that he might be like that 24 hours a day!

I think this book would be a great read for a parent of an autistic child there are some good strategies and they have looked into theories surrounding autism. I would recommend this book for every adult to read just to get you thinking about what other people cope with on a daily basis and how badly this country is at supporting others. At £7 this book is a reasonable price, the book is an easy to read book, which kept me, hooked from page to page. This book is written by a family who live in Bristol which is near me so this drew me towards the book even more.

Summary: A great book that everyone should read about an autistic boy and his family