One mother's remarkable account of raising an Asperger's syndrome child
Ben seemed to be an extraordinary child.
Born with a superanalytical mind, he was able to store hordes of information like a minicomputer. Yet, lurking beneath this boy genius's amazing, albeit useless, gifts for facts were an extraordinary fear of change and social aloofness. Unknown to his mother, Barbara, until much later, Ben suffered from Asperger's syndrome--the "little grown-up" disorder--a neurobiological disease similar to autism. Frank, honest, and beautifully written, Finding Ben is a remarkably moving account of Barbara LaSalle's struggles to understand--and overcome--the guilt she feels for not fully loving her son.
Burdened with the belief that the world would look at her son and somehow see her own failure, Finding Ben is a powerfully honest narrative account of how a mother's love can turn over time into resentment for having to raise a special-needs child.
It is through LaSalle's special friendship with Jack, a man full of wisdom despite his debilitating brain aneurysm, that LaSalle is finally able to love her son--and herself--again. With two stories to tell, Finding Ben is both a fascinating look at a mercurial disease and a powerful story of one mother's personal journey from frustration and resentment to love and acceptance.
Barbara LaSalle, M.A., is a marriage and family therapist who runs a psychotherapy practice in Los Angeles. A tireless advocate for people with mental illness, she is a frequent lecturer, workshop leader, and documentary filmmaker whose films include It's Not All in Their Minds, Living with A.D.D., and What Happens When My Child Grows Up? This is her first book.
In this heartfelt memoir, practicing psychologist LaSalle recounts her son's troubled youth up to his being diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), at age 25. Initially considered gifted, Ben (b. 1969) spoke in complete sentences before he could walk and consistently read at accelerated levels. However, his social problems resulted in his having no friends, grooming issues, school problems, anger toward co-workers, and a life in and out of group homes. LaSalle focuses on the difficulty in raising Ben and her struggle to determine his disability, ending her account shortly after his diagnosis. It is met with much relief; both mother and son rejoice that they are not to "blame" for Ben's disruptive behavior. While this emphasis provides little value to parents and adults struggling with how to help their children cope, the book is important as a study of the generation of ASD sufferers not diagnosed because they could talk. LaSalle does a good job of showing the thin line between gifted and disabled that exists with Asperger's children. Recommended for academic and public libraries with disability and Asperger's collections. [To find out more about Ben, read his journal entries at www.aspergerjourney. com.-Ed.]-Corey Seeman, Univ. of Toledo Libs., OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Shopping Cart
![Soaring Scores on the Leap Math Test for the 21st Century: Level F [With Answer Key]](http://images.ecampus.com/images/t/6/516/9780739816516.jpg)
