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Dancing In The Rain: Stories Of Exceptional Progress |
Author:
Published: 2004-09-04 |
List price: $14.95
Our price: $14.95
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Customer comments on this selection.
 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. It helps dispel the tiresome cliche of "Rain Man." Sadly, many of the personal accounts show that many people's working knowledge of autism was confined to that fictional character with savant abilities. Savantism applies to roughly less than 10% of the autistic population and has ironically become a stereotype for people with autism. This book helps move beyond "Rain Man," which does not apply to most people on the autism/Asperger's spectrum.
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. Her book, "Overcoming Autism" is currently available on her web site. It is one of the best books to date on the subject of autism.
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.
Another highly damning and judgmental perjorative is the word "perseverate" in any tense. While many professionals, parents included might find it to be a helpful shorthand, it is truly a negative and destructive word that has hurt many. The terms "repetitive verbalizations and/or behaviors" and "special interests" are preferable as they speak to tolerance. 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.
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.
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