News from the Border: A Memoir

by Jane Taylor McDonnell

This searingly honest account of experience with autism is above all a story of survival: McDonnell's overcoming the roller coaster ride of raising a deeply troubled son and his constant bravery in the face of overwhelming difficulties. Photos. McDonnell will appear on CBS This Morning.

Genres: Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is WONDERFULLY written.

My favorite quote, from the end:

But over time, I began slowly to redefine what I took to be our common humanity. I realized we are all only a car accident away from mental incapacity. People who are mentally handicapped are in no way essentially different from the rest of us. Our intelligence may seem to be an inherent part of our selves, but it simply resides in our bodies tentatively and always in grave danger.

[Sandra Dias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um relato muito bem escrito, com linguagem simples e acessível e sem grandes floreados.

Uma mulher, um ser humano que tenta fazer o melhor que consegue por si, pela sua família e acima de tudo pelo seu filho que nasceu um pouco diferente.

Foi impossível ler este livro e não terminá-lo a sentir-me diferente.

Aprendi e acima de tudo sinto-me mais sensibilizada com as famílias que têm mais este desafio pela frente.

Livro doado à minha Biblioteca Municipal.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written by a professor at my college, and her husband was an English prof from whom I took several classes. It was a good memoir of living with a child with special needs, and well written to boot.