Life on Hold: A Mother and Son's Journey Through Autism

by Wheatley, Thelma

• ISBN13: 9781894663335
• ISBN10: 1894663330
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Insomniac Press

Summary

Lift on Hold is the captivating true story of one mother's courageous battle with autism and its effects on her beloved son, Julian. Diagnosed at an early age, Julian Orchard's autism turns violent as he enters his teenage years. Before and after the onset of the violence, his mother, Thelma Wheatley, and her husband, Alec, have to deal with educational and medical institutions that are set in their ways. Julian can't get the right medication or the right school placement -- the doctors and principals and all the other experts say there's nothing to be done. But Wheatley knows instinctually that there must be a better future for her son.

Facing the frightening reality of violence -- one of the worst fears for parents of autistic children -- Wheatley fights for improvements in Julian's schooling and medical care, and learns many important lessons about how to effect change. Along the way, she has to deal with the effects of raising a severely sick child has on her life and relationships.

Just when the violence in Julian's behavior looks like it can't possibl