Snapshots of Autism: A Family Album

Rating:
Summary: A Very Different Look at Autism
Review: I didn't expect to laugh so much. I know autism is a serious subject and that there is grief and pain involved for the parents. Those are included here, touched on, lightly. The trip to Peggy's Cove, for example, showed the heartache of this mother of an only child. But Jennifer Overton's book "Snapshots of Autism" is really a song for her beautiful son, and parts of it are amazingly funny. I think that's what makes this book so real and so touching.

Jennifer does discuss Lovaas and ABA and various other kinds of teaching and dietary theories in her search for just the right things to make Nic's life easier. But mostly this book is about the *inside* of their family--- the real deal, the gut-level day-to-day life with an autistic child. Shattered dreams replaced slowly with new hopes. The celebration of small triumphs. Laughter. And a lot of love.

This is an amazing book!

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put It Down!
Review: I was taken into a new family last week: The Overtons of Nova Scotia. That is how familiar and real this book about living with an autistic child is--- Jennifer Overton draws you in with the story of her very human reaction to a superhuman challenge.

She and her husband David have one child, and they eventually learn that Nic is autistic. Any expectations they have had for their son now have to be re-drawn in the colours of the austistic spectrum, and it is not an easy task.

Nic's mind is unrelentingly detailed, literal, specific. Shapes and numbers are easy--- feelings and approximations send him spiraling into panic. But there is great humour here as well, and absolutely fascinating looks into an autistic mind and how it works.

Jennifer uses a lattice of holidays and famiy celebrations to catch and contain the wild tendrils of Nic's energy and observations, and the device is perfect for the construction of this "family album." The letters to her son that begin and end the book are so full of pride and love that you cannot help the tears that come with reading them.

In the end you realize you have become part of the famliy, and that Nic Overton is just an extraordinary young boy with equally extraordinary parents.

Rating:
Summary: The Long and Winding Road
Review: Jennifer Overton's "Snapshots of Autism" shines with honesty, humour, pain, and love. This extraordinarily intimate and accessible book draws you into the Overton's life with their son, Nicholas, and spins you through the cycles of holidays and birthdays and special occasions experienced through the filter of autism. I promise you'll never look at Hallowe'en the same way again!

You'll cheer Jennifer and David's amazing energy and commitment in the face of an indifferent and political medical system as they fight for the best learning environment for their only child. But mostly you'll fall in love with Nic, with his razor-sharp mind and his terrible fears, with the absolute purity of his life.

This book is not only a source of information and support for those parents who will recognize the grief, the rage, the despair, the courage and the pride that Jennifer and David experience, it is also a love letter to Nic. Any son of any parents would be forever grateful for this album, and you'll be very glad to share it.

Rating:
Summary: Once in Love With Nic...
Review: Jennifer Overton, calling on her extraordinary resources as a wife, mother, educator, actor and author, has produced a work of compelling intimacy and irresistible charm.

The story of Nic--- a bright and beautiful boy who is diagnosed austistic--- is told with unflinching honesty and palpable love. Jennifer and her husband David move mountains to try to provide the best for their son, while making sure his unique perspective isn't crushed by well-meaning mainstreamers.

The devices of poetry, art, screenplay, journal, and stage play are enlisted to make Nic's world accessible even to those who have never had an autistic child in his or her life--- and the ride is exhilarating!

This book is luminous and painful and funny and profound--- and yet you feel as if you are sitting in Jennifer's kitchen, listening to it all as Nicholas walks in and out of the room. Go ahead--- fall in love with him!