Who do I petition to ban this sick book?
CockneyRebel
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I kind of don't understand, really. Parents have no problem providing their children the kind of care they need when they are babies. At it's worst, isn't it just like still having to care for a baby? They could put up with it the first year or two, why can't they continue to put up with it? Not everyone grows at the same rate, and, although it's rare, some don't grow at all. Why is that so difficult to accept? I'm not saying I'm grateful for the severe form. I view it as a mental disability like Down Syndrome, but not many people cry about wanting their Down children put to sleep!
OK, first things first, I think you're guilty of doing exactly the same thing to people with "severe autism" as you accuse others of doing to you. Severe Autism isn't something to be overcome, it's an integral part of you which doesn't make you any less worthy.
As for the bolded comments about Downs syndrome... one of the reasons why you don't see as much vitriol from the parents of people with Downs syndrome is that there genuinely is an "eugenics" movement against them. There are pre-natal screenings for DS, and so the parents of DS children have usually made a conscious decision to keep their child. I would further add that many people with DS also go on to live independently, get jobs, etc. - it isn't "no hope".
Finally, there is plenty of vitriol out there about all kinds of disabilities - you just naturally pay the most attention to anti-autism stuff. Schizophrenia, for example, has a reputation much worse than autism, and I think the stigma is often a bigger obstacle than the symptoms themselves.
Looks like everybody beat me to the punch, you don't ban the book, however offensive.
Although as it stands, I do not want to be cured of Asperger's Syndrome, it is me, I wouldn't know how to live any other way, like many have said before me, I don't know if I could do my job without it.
That said, there is a possibility that some sort of cure or modification could be found in the future.
Can I assume that at least half of us will have to admit, that as the autism gets more intense, the issues being more difficult? That the author is not having an easy time of it? With respect to me, I fully expect all my children to be able to to graduate college and find employment, and probably struggle with the similar problems that I face. That is to say, he is having a harder time than my parents or I have or expect? The gray area between black and white?
ProfessorJohn
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I haven't read the book, I have no desire to read it, but I will offer my own thoughts on the title.
I can see what the author might be getting at. If you have a child with cancer, you receive a lot of sympathy from people. They think what a great parent you are to have to go to the lengths you do to receive treatment for your child. They offer support, grieving with you, and never think that you are in any way to blame.
Unfortunately mental health issues are usually not viewed the same way. If your ASD child has an blow up in public, somehow it is because you are a bad parent. If you were a better parent your child wouldn't act that way. If only you disciplined your child, they wouldn't be that way. What a crummy parent you are. You start to believe that yourself. They don't know your child has autism because there is nothing outwardly visible that shows that. Most everyone knows what cancer is, many less really understand what autism is.
I am assuming that the author's child has a more severe cause of Austism than just Asperger's. That must be really tough to deal with. I can look back at my own life, with a fairly mild level of Autism, and realize I put my parents thru hell at times. The completely unpredictable outbursts that would occur. One minute everything would be ok, and suddenly, someone would say something, and instant explosion, with yelling, screaming, something things getting thrown and broken. This occurred well into my early adult years. It must have been horrible for them. I wonder if they ever thought "Let's take this one back to the orphanage and trade it in for a less defective model".
Since I probably won't ever read this book, I don't know if this is what the author is thinking at all, but maybe it is.
Somebody whose child actually did have cancer weighs in. It's a sad read (since their child did die of cancer) but the book author needs that perspective.
Be Careful What You Wish For
Just read a digital preview (30 pages). Quick summary:
1) Although the author feels some social anxiety when he has to explain why his son hasn't come to a social event, he's glad that the son does things that he loves and makes him happy and wouldn't drag him out to social events to ruin that happiness
2) Because of a lack of proper support from medical professionals, their son got stuck with some really bad therapists who they got rid of pretty quickly
3) There are some dodgy sentiments - "I hope to live one day longer than my kids", some sympathy for murder-suicide parents, endorsement of ABA
4) The specialist doctors they saw were also quite bad - the first one suggested Fragile X, despite Matthew not having the physical signs. He told them they should focus on Matthew's happiness, but apparently that felt like he was telling them Matthew was dying.
5) The author compares himself to an indentured servant and complains about only eating out once a year (er... isn't that normal?)
6) It's really badly written
I started off feeling like it was quite a positive, sympathetic book with a stupid title, but as it drew on the focus shifted away from the experiences of the children and focused on their father's financial problems.
CockneyRebel
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I agree with the vast majority of the customers who posted their reviews on Amazon, but I wouldn't go so far as to stop shopping there. There's lots of Cut the Rope and Kinks merchandise on that site that I can't find in any of the stores where I live.
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mr_bigmouth_502
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Blame the author, not the store that sells her work. Most stores that sell books/movies/music/whatever couldn't care less about the messages or intentions of the writers behind the works they sell. They may not care, and that may sound like a bad thing, but it also means they aren't endorsing any particular viewpoints. Who knows, the people who run Amazon may disagree heavily with the author's message, but it's just one book among the millions that they sell, and they're not going to be bothered with the content of the books they sell, so long as it's all legal.
lostonearth35
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I don't agree with the book. What are you talking about?
I'm surprised any publisher even looked at the book twice, let alone read it and actually publish it. Let's compare autistics and neurotypicals for a second:
Autistics v. Neurotypicals
Are genetically homo sapiens / Are genetically homo sapiens
Have human thoughts, feelings and emotions / Have human thoughts, feelings and emotions
Want to be loved and accepted / Want to be loved and accepted
Do not like to be mistreated / Do not like to be mistreated
Are capable of both good and bad / Are capable of both good and bad
So why are autistics singled out among their neurotypical counterparts? Just because their mannerisms may be slightly different to the average NT or they are, in my dad's words, "wired differently" (when really everyone is wired differently to each other - no two people are the same) that means they are more of a burden to society than NT's? Stuff like this makes me sick. All I can do is hope his children never see the book.
They didn't, really.
If you follow the upthread Amazon link it gives you the publisher, PublishAmerica which is pretty much a self-publish outfit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_Star_Books
Since it provides "minimal editing" they may have never actually read it but just run it through a program to make sure it wasn't actually pornographic.
The upside is that since it isn't much of a legit publisher, that Amazon link is probably the only place it is sold (Amazon is very free with self publishing) and it is highly unlikely to be in any bookstores. It is also highly unlikely to have sold much on Amazon either since its reviews do not have the "confirmed purchase" tag so people are probably reading only what is free as TheWalrus did upthread.
^ I just made a Google search, and found that Barnes & Noble sells it online.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-wish- ... 1606720707
Edit: I just searched a Norwegian book club I'm member of, one that also sells books they don't publish themselves, and it's available there too.
It's not just Amazon then.
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This is an age-old subject,
one that was solved (to my satisfaction by the founding fathers of the USA).
You need to let everybody have the freedom to express their views or their ignorance,
no matter what you think of what they say.
why ?
Because you're not perfect either, and many people might disagree with what you have to say as well.
And if you have the power to ban books you don't like, so will they.
And you'll lose a very important natural right: Freedom of Expression.
Not being able to express yourself is extremely detrimental to your psychological health.
When a human being can't express his/her-self, it almost always leads to depression or violence.
So basically, without Freedom of Expression, your only two alternatives are death or violence.
You understand now why you need to let other ignorant people express their views ?
If you don't like their views, just ignore them. That's a skill you do have, and can foster.
And no, I don't think ignorant people expressing their ignorant views can turn society into a bunch of autism-hating Nazis.
mr_bigmouth_502
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I don't agree with the book. What are you talking about?
Neither do I.

