I Read a Book

I’ll be honest.  I don’t really like to read that much.  Maybe it’s because I got so burned out in graduate school having to read so many books cover to cover that weren’t that interesting to me?  Maybe it’s because I enjoyed watching Sesame Street and Electric Company better than reading Nancy Drew as a kid?  Maybe it’s because you can’t read about present day sporting events in a book?  Whatever the reason, it’s not in my nature to read.

However, a few years back, my husband and I started reading at night before bed, and I really enjoyed it.  It was sort of like a New Year’s resolution since we started in a January.  After a few months it faded, and I really haven’t read much since.  I did realize what sorts of books I like though—biographies.  There’s just something about the honesty and candidness in biographies that’s truly gripping to me.  I just adore them.  Maybe because they are usually people’s E! True Hollywood Stories in print, but regardless, I knew there were some books out there that actually interested me.

This past Christmas I got three books from my husband as gifts.  I suppose he thought we would get on that New Year’s Resolution kick again, but I didn’t really pick them up until my recent maternity leave.  When you’re a new mom, especially in my case, you often take the time to slow down for a few minutes.   You actually tend to have time on your hands every few hours where you’re just sitting for 20 or 30 minutes at a time feeding your child.  So I picked up a book.

I remember when I unwrapped the Jenny McCarthy book, Louder than Words, I was so excited.  It is subtitled “A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism,” and while I wasn’t dealing with similar issues, I was fascinated to know what she had to say.   My husband had no idea I was interested in this book when he picked it up off of the clearance rack in a local bookstore.  Frankly, growing up with autism in your house makes you curious about others dealing with that condition, and in the work I do, there are bound to be others I interact with every day who deal with autistic tendencies in the developmentally disabled even if they haven’t specifically been diagnosed as such.

What a book!  Want to talk about inspiring me to advocate even more for people with special needs!  That’s just what McCarthy has become; an advocate and a woman who hasn’t let “no” stop her along the way.  From dealing with misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis and medication after medication she finally starts finding some answers to helping her son out of an autistic state.

I found it incredibly interesting that she was unaware of autistic characteristics that her son had from birth.  Symptoms that I think I would recognize right away like flapping his hands, being mesmerized by engineering things like escalators and door hinges, or his lack of affection toward her or anyone else.  I suppose even just a few short years ago people weren’t as aware of autism as they are today.  Then again, there is the denial factor that most people can go through, seeing the signs and not wanting to acknowledge them.  The way I see it, if you identify the signs, start with Early Intervention as quickly as possible.  See what you can do to make the person better or in the very least have a better quality of life for you and the individual you love.   Sometimes being an advocate just means opening your eyes and asking for help…. I’m learning a lot from Jenny McCarthy and her son, Evan… all because I read a book.