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Defying Autism
Experience the Cunninghams’ personal account of their struggle with their son’s diagnosis of autism and how their encounter with the Lord led to the dramatic deliverance and healing of their son. The message, which is written in first person, begins with the author’s story of meeting her husband and ends with the healing of their son. It is an invitation to readers to seek God’s guidance for dealing with extreme challenges.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 30, 2017
What an amazing read! Karen shares her heart wrenching story! What an incredible story it is. You NEED to read this book. I have passed it on to my daughter and husband and will pass it on to a friend when I am done! It was one of those wish I had read earlier books! Don't wait check it out!
October 30, 2022
This book is dangerous. Unambiguously, horrifyingly dangerous. It sets out the idea, first of all, that autism "virtually no hope" and that the only way to help an autistic child is to "cure" them though "deliverance ministry."
I should not have to say why this is such a horrifying idea. Autism is not a curse, a disease, or demonic intervention. Most of the behaviours exhibited by Ms. Cunningham's son were easily recognizable as autistic behaviours, and alleviation of the harm he was causing himself could have been found. Instead, Ms. Cunningham chose to refer her son's habit of chewing on rubber as "animalistic" and his meltdowns as "psychotic" and "manipulative." That is just the tip of the iceberg, however, as the end of this book has Ms. Cunningham taking her son to a "deliverance ministry" to be healed. At the end of the book, her son is apparently "healed" and "free from autism" and she does not choose to acknowledge that she has, most likely, traumatized him deeply.
A book like this is dangerous because it does not just advocate for healing autism, it wraps it up in a religious bow and presents it as not only a valid option, but the only possible option for Christian parents struggling with their autistic children's needs. Instead of looking for helpful ways to handle the competing needs of themselves and their children, these parents are told that they can be free from the "burden" of their autistic children just through prayer and dedication to God. There is so much harmful rhetoric in here that an entire book could be written on it.
This book is rated one star because there is no rating option lower than that on this site. This book should not be taken as advice or even taken seriously at all. There is no point in trying to gain anything helpful from this book, unless it is a case study on how to traumatize and terrorize an autistic person. I only own this book to prevent others from doing so. Please, please, do not view this book as a guide on how to treat autistic people.
I should not have to say why this is such a horrifying idea. Autism is not a curse, a disease, or demonic intervention. Most of the behaviours exhibited by Ms. Cunningham's son were easily recognizable as autistic behaviours, and alleviation of the harm he was causing himself could have been found. Instead, Ms. Cunningham chose to refer her son's habit of chewing on rubber as "animalistic" and his meltdowns as "psychotic" and "manipulative." That is just the tip of the iceberg, however, as the end of this book has Ms. Cunningham taking her son to a "deliverance ministry" to be healed. At the end of the book, her son is apparently "healed" and "free from autism" and she does not choose to acknowledge that she has, most likely, traumatized him deeply.
A book like this is dangerous because it does not just advocate for healing autism, it wraps it up in a religious bow and presents it as not only a valid option, but the only possible option for Christian parents struggling with their autistic children's needs. Instead of looking for helpful ways to handle the competing needs of themselves and their children, these parents are told that they can be free from the "burden" of their autistic children just through prayer and dedication to God. There is so much harmful rhetoric in here that an entire book could be written on it.
This book is rated one star because there is no rating option lower than that on this site. This book should not be taken as advice or even taken seriously at all. There is no point in trying to gain anything helpful from this book, unless it is a case study on how to traumatize and terrorize an autistic person. I only own this book to prevent others from doing so. Please, please, do not view this book as a guide on how to treat autistic people.
August 26, 2013
This book is an encouragement to anyone who has a family member who has autism. Cunningham takes us through her journey with her son and how God healed him.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews