Rating: 
Summary: opening our hearts and minds
Review: "Running With Walker" is not a book to be read once but many times. Each encounter with this book makes me realize that it is a book for everyone who is a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle,sister, brother, etc. We humans are all tied to one another in this bunch called "family". A book that dares to open our hearts and minds to what really goes on in loving and rearing children is truly to be treasured. Robert Hughes has not written a book about autism. He has created a window through which he gracefully invites us to share in his family's most personal space. Thank you, Robert Hughes.
Rating:
Summary: opening our hearts and minds
Review: "Running With Walker" is not a book to be read once but many times. Each encounter with this book makes me realize that it is a book for everyone who is a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle,sister, brother, etc. We humans are all tied to one another in this bunch called "family". A book that dares to open our hearts and minds to what really goes on in loving and rearing children is truly to be treasured. Robert Hughes has not written a book about autism. He has created a window through which he gracefully invites us to share in his family's most personal space. Thank you, Robert Hughes.
Rating:
Summary: Love Song to a Family
Review: "Running With Walker" shows the reader the very best and the very worst of what life has been like for the Hughes family. It's a very honest and straightforward telling of the mistakes and successes these remarkable parents had, raising their two remarkable sons. The prose is rich with descriptive metaphors, and the transitions are so smooth that you don't even think about putting the book down till you reach the end. But most of all, "Running With Walker" is a love song from the author to his family: a moving litany of everything best about each member of the Hughes family. You can't help but love them too, after you read their story.
Rating:
Summary: Running with Walker
Review: After reading this book, it helped me come to realize that no matter what obstacles seem to overwhelm us, we always find a way to overcome them and achieve a sense of accomplishment in our lives. Running With Walker is truly an inspirational tale to any that have had issues, and it sends a firm message: believe.
The way this is written allows an inside look at the lives of the Hughes family and how they established a caring, loving family despite their austistic son, Walker, who grows better each day due to the encouragement of his parents and brother. I thought this story was wonderful in both the written word and the message it gives to those who read it. The sheer ability of the entire storyline to change instantly from dramatic and heartfelt to vibrant and amusing is really quite amazing, and this is a great addition to any bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: intelligence and compassion
Review: As I read this memoir-I was struck by the intelligence and compassion that informs it. Of course-it is about a family with an autistic child. But it is also filled with insight and practical wisdom-about parenting and loving and guiding and coping and persevering. A superbly crafted book, "Running With Walker" is perceptive, imaginative, witty, poignant, humorous-all at the same time. Hughes has created remarkable portraits-not to be missed-of his family-even his city-and especially-of himself.
Rating:
Summary: intelligence and compassion
Review: As I read this memoir-I was struck by the intelligence and compassion that informs it. Of course-it is about a family with an autistic child. But it is also filled with insight and practical wisdom-about parenting and loving and guiding and coping and persevering. A superbly crafted book, "Running With Walker" is perceptive, imaginative, witty, poignant, humorous-all at the same time. Hughes has created remarkable portraits-not to be missed-of his family-even his city-and especially-of himself.
Rating:
Summary: Care providers need to see this book
Review: Care providers in Early Childhood and Developmental Delay need to see this book, for their own professional good. The author is an incredibly perceptive parent. He vividly draws the story of his son's experiences in the hands of a range of professionals. In doing so, Hughes shines a hard light on what appear to be the worst and best possible practices in today's arena. His descriptions elicit gasps -- of consternation or admiration -- page after page. Heart-rending frankness here is lightened by a saving sense of humor. As a fellow parent of a special-needs child, I am left in awe.
Rating:
Summary: Care providers need to see this book
Review: Care providers in Early Childhood and Developmental Delay need to see this book, for their own professional good. The author is an incredibly perceptive parent. He vividly draws the story of his son's experiences in the hands of a range of professionals. In doing so, Hughes shines a hard light on what appear to be the worst and best possible practices in today's arena. His descriptions elicit gasps -- of consternation or admiration -- page after page. Heart-rending frankness here is lightened by a saving sense of humor. As a fellow parent of a special-needs child, I am left in awe.
Rating:
Summary: A Remarkable Breakthrough
Review: Early in this memoir, we learn that the parents of Walker Hughes experienced no theatrical Helen Keller/"Miracle Worker" moment to define their understanding of their son's autism. This proves to be foreshadowing.Throughout the narrative, the reader is propelled by a kind of exhilarating expectation of the breakthrough that will transform Walker's life and that of his family. This is fueled by affection among the principal characters and their allies, as well as by the flashes of recognition that bind the experiences of the Hughes family with families everywhere. The end of the book arrives without the cinematic resolution we have come to crave. Nevertheless a remarkable breakthrough has been achieved -- a wondrous description of what autism is about, and a lesson on How It Is that hope is nourished and joy is perpetuated in the course of yet another set of life challenges. I recommend this book as a clinical study, but also as literature: Camus comes to Chicago.
Rating:
Summary: Running With Walker, A Family Story of True Love
Review: Faith, hope,courage,easy words to say ,even easier to aspire to, but Running With Walker tells of a family who lives these ideals as a matter of course.I read this book ,or rather devoured it, in a day and a half,its' story as compelling,its' characters as real as any best-selling novel.Running With Walker far exceeds the specifics of a family coping with an autistic child. The humor,warmth and some-times painful honesty of the fathers' narrative,the mom's undaunting hope and determination, the younger brother Davy's compassion and love in the midst of an unusual and difficult situation can speak to any of us in a heartfelt and profound way.
Walker, as the focus of the story,is revealed as a joyous , energetic and loving human being who happens to be autistic.Because his family sees the real boy and not the autistic label, we can too , and join the Hughes'in their struggle to provide a satisfying and fulfilling life for both their sons and each other.I know I will reread this book many times for its' insight and uplifting message and recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who appreciates a true story about family love.
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