Before the summer of 2007, Shonda Schilling had never heard the word Aspergers, but that was the summer when everything changed. Things had been going downhill with her son Grant for a while by that point. His misbehavior and his refusal to listen had built to epic porportions, and what was worse with her husband Curt on the road all the time pitching for the Boston Red Sox, their routine was always disrupted. Grant was becoming a discipline problem, and with his father often away, it got to the point that random people on the street were offering advice. Everyone seemed to have an opinion "he's too spoiled," "he needs a good spanking," "he needs more discipline"-- Shonda and Curt were getting unwanted parenting advice from every corner, but no matter what they tried, nothing seemed to alter Grant's behavior.
All that changed after his disasterous first attempt at summer camp, a turning point that convinced Shonda that something was definitely wrong. She took Grant to a doctor's office where he underwent tests for a battery of childhood behavioral conditions, but while she thought she would hear the letters ADHD, she never expected the word Aspergers.
What began that day has influenced every day in her life since, as Shonda and Curt came to understand the realities of their son's condition. A form of high functioning Autism, Asperger's is a condition that has been increasingly diagnosed in children who at first appear disruptive and difficult. Detailing every step in her journey, Shonda offers an intimate and startling portrait of this syndrome from a parent's point of view. In candid and emotional prose, she addresses the guilt she encountered after learning of her son's condition and the painful experience of suddenly grasping this missing piece of the puzzle.
From Grant's early years to his thriving success in the two years since his diagnosis to helpful advice for other parents dealing with Aspergers, Shonda provides an honest and moving glimpse inside her family as they learned to live with Aspergers. Part advocacy book, part memoir, this book offers an honest and moving look at two parents struggling to understand the complex beauty that is son.
