[.uk] Dancing in the Rain: Stories of Exceptional Progress by ... (ISBN 0964483807)

Too much advertising:
A number of interesting accounts, but in many respects the book was unsatisfying. For a start, all the accounts presented a positive account of AIT, which Annabel Stehli has been an eloquent promoter of. It's not this I object to, but this should at least have been acknowledged in the title - perhaps a more accurate title for the book would have been "Stories of Exceptional Progress by Parents of Children with Special Needs Using AIT". Secondly, some of the progress described doesn't actually seem that exceptional. As a volunteer with autistic children, I've seen similar progress in children who weren't being subjected to any special treatments at all. Children with special needs, like all other children, grow and learn as they get older, and attributing this to whatever treatment was currently being used can be very misleading. Ultimately, a child's progress has a lot more to do with their overall education and the relative severity of their neurological disability. So maybe "Stories of Good but Not Actually That Exceptional Progress by Parents of Children with Special Needs Using AIT" ? My third point would be that the book seems to present an entirely uncritical view of any treatment that claims to "cure" autism or other neurological conditions. In fact, there seem to be so many treatments which have a positively miraculous effect that it's a miracle there are any disabled children left in the country. Parents need balanced information in order to make informed decisions about whether to subject their children to treatments which are largely unproved (and some of which have been heavily criticised by scientists). Too often, Stehli's book just seems to be acting as a free advert for any purported treatment going. It would have been only fair to have included some accounts of children who didn't progress "exceptionally" after a particular treatment, or at least a more objective commentary. Parents shouldn't have to feel that they aren't doing enough for their child if they haven't rushed to try every "alternative" treatment going.

PARENTS ARE EXPERTS:
Parents are the ones who know their child(ren) best. Any information that people can acquire to help children facing special needs is welcomed and appreciated. This book is such a teaching tool. Sadly, many lay persons' knowledge of autism has been confined to the cliche character of "Rain Man." Savantism applies to roughly less than 10% of the autistic population and sadly, "Rain Man" has become a negative stereotype for people with autism. This is one of the most heartwarming, uplifting litany of successes I have had the good fortune and pleasure to read. Ms. Stehli, whose own daughter, Georgiana was labeled "autistic" is a shining beacon of success. Now married and a mother, Georgiana was nonverbal until the age of four despite having mastered all other milestones within normal age limits. She had hyper acute hearing and literally had to learn how to synthesize her senory modes. Fluent in six languages, Georgiana is an advocate of Auditory Integration Therapy (AIT) and is also an author on the subject. AIT is a science that is targets auditory processing challenges and, from all accounts, aims to work with clients to gradually integrate what they hear into manageable units; e.g., individual words and/or sounds at one time. AIT also helps people concentrate without being distracted by other sensory modes. A Dr. Berard has made AIT a recognized science and this book, "Dancing in the Rain" brings his work to the lay reader. This book is truly a song to the soul, a cheer to the conscience and a voice of encouragement. This book is the voice of hope for many. Autism and related neurological disorders such as Aspergers and PDD are fully explained in Ms. Stehli's works. Unfortunately for many, "autism" and "schizophrenia" have been used as "waste basket" or catch-all labels for persons who fit no defined criteria. One costly misperception that persisted until recent years was that autism is a mental illness, which it most emphatically is not. This book helps to undermine labels and focus on integrating people with a myriad of behaviorial as well as neurological challenges back into the mainstream. Another highly damning and judgmental perjorative is the word "perseverate" in any tense. It is a truly dreadful word. While many professionals, parents included might find it a helpful shorthand, it is still an extremely negative, highly charged and destructive word that has hurt many. The terms "repetitive verbalizations/behaviors" and "special interests" are preferable as they speak to tolerance. Based on Dr. Berard's writings, autism and its related behaviors are often a curious response to an overload of sensory input. Georgiana describes AIT as literally saving her life and the stories chronicled in this book make a very strong case for AIT indeed. In reading Dr. Berard's writings, one can see that his findings certainly do appear valid; other persons once thought of as autistic such as Raun Kaufman ("Son-Rise") seem to share the challenge of sorting out sensory input. I feel this book is quite helpful and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

My story was in this book.:
I am the mother who wrote the essay "James," and although it is full of my untutored, unprofessional opinions, I have been contacted by mothers from all over the world who seek my advice. The reviewer from Britain can take the same tired, old stance that we shouldn't try everything that comes around because some of it might not work, but if we didn't try everything, then our child may have missed out on something that is later scientifically proven to work. In the world of autism, furthermore, a parent is told that the situation is essentially hopeless. (At least, that is what my generation was told.) "Listen to us," the traditional experts command, then they say, "Oh by the way, your child's condi- tion is hopeless, and we have nothing to offer but manage- ment." Given that they have nothing to offer, why listen to them? James is now 12 and the coauthor of his own book--THE SELF-HELP GUIDE FOR SPECIAL KIDS AND THEIR PARENTS. It is my believe that none of his achievements in speaking and writing would have been possible without AIT.