Correspondence

Dear S--

I re-found the link to your site---I appreciate the on-site apologia!

Also, I'd assumed that you had read the book, but I realized you probably have not---the fact is I DO talk about kids whose parents did even more than we did and did not recover--along with kids in special schools, the problems of poor women, etc. I also mention the moms who never got a chance to help their kids.

There's a key paragraph where I say they are ALL real boys. Not just the "recovered" ones. Actually, I think you'll really like the book, if you can ignore the PR department blurbs.

Best wishes for a good summer,

Kristina

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Hi Kristina,

You are right, I have not read your book (though it is
on order). My irritation--which I thought I made
explicit on my blog--was with the publicity.

It sounds as though your book may be The One parents
of newly diagnosed kids should read, the one that
provides the realistic perspective Serousssi's and
Maurrice's lack. After reading theirs I was so
convinced recovery was imminent that I started this
blog to document our success. I also named it "Leelo
the Soon-to-Be-Not-Autistic Boy." Obviously it has
since been retitled.

I read your B,C article the moment it hit my mailbox,
and recall it vividly. My son also goes on a
behavioral bender after a smidgen of sugar, we also
intended to stop breeding after Leelo's diagnosis
(though I now have an infant daughter--post-diagnosis
depression and non-surgical birth control do not mix
well, for me).

So you know: I trashed your article in my blog, even
more violently. I had many problems with it, but even
so wonder how many of the things that lit my hair on
fire were foisted on you by an editor.

But, I didn't write to you personally, or to B,C,
because I didn't think you needed to read what I had
to say as much as I needed to write it. It is not your
fault that your child recovered and mine has not
(yet!).

Let me know if you're okay with my posting your latest
response.

And you have a great summer, too.

=S

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S—

[permission given]

Yes, I certainly HOPE it will be the book a mom buys instead of the various others---I tried to put pieces of the entire experience in there- from emotion, IEP legalese and tactics, doctors who are of no help, the cool adults I know on the spectrum, self-blame, pitocin, vaccines, synesthesia, marital trauma, the fabulous getting-kicked-out-of-preschool experience, etc. One-stop shopping for us DMs (desperate moms)!

Thanks,

Kristina