This month’s book review is a true story about a family’s struggles and surprising breakthroughs in raising their autistic child, “Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes and Autism,” by Ron Suskind.
Like many, I think, I didn’t know much and wasn’t aware of what it may be like to raise a child on the autism spectrum, but this book opened my eyes. I belong to the Bluestem Book Club, and one of our retired special ed teachers, Marcia Ough, recommended it. Thank you, Marcia!
Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize writer, shares their family’s story of how their second son, Owen, was a rambunctious three-year-old toddler who suddenly changed almost overnight in 1993. He became uncommunicative and withdrawn, and his growing vocabulary dwindled down to one word they could understand—“juice.”
After visits to numerous specialists, they finally accepted the diagnosis of autism for Owen. It was devastating and would prove to be a difficult journey raising Owen and his older brother Walter, a perfectly normal boy doing well in school and sports.
Finding the right schools and helping Owen became their life mission. Ron’s wife, Cornelia, eventually homeschooled Owen after being rejected at an elementary school where he didn’t seem to progress.
Early on, Owen was enamored by watching Disney movies repetitively; it was something he loved and that their family could participate in together. But almost miraculously, the Disney movies became the vehicle for how Owen learned to communicate again!
He started repeating what sounded like gibberish, but his parents finally realized he was reciting dialogue from many of his favorites, such as “Aladdin,” “The Little Mermaid,” and “The Lion King.”
This was a breakthrough for the Suskinds, and they saw a glimmer of hope for Owen. Eventually, they used the Disney dialogue to role-play and interact with Owen. What they discovered is now called “affinity therapy” and is being used in counseling other autistic children.
Owen’s story was mesmerizing to read, and Suskind does a great job of sharing the highs and lows of raising an autistic child into young adulthood. Perhaps one of their greatest fears was what would happen to Owen as he got older—would he end up in their basement, or could he develop enough life skills to live an independent life?
I highly recommend reading this book to find out how Owen eventually found a special needs college to attend and his continued improvements. I plan on watching the popular 2016 film adaptation by the same name but I’m sure as usual the book is better!
