not in CLAN

This book is about the author's two oldest sons, George and Sam, who are both autistic, and her youngest son who is not autistic. The author talks about the daily struggles with her children, provides a vivid insight into autism and how it is experienced within a family.

A fascinating look into a family with two autistic sons (and one neurotypical).

What's particularly helpful about this book is how it shows autism affecting the two boys differently. Their impairments are different; their treatments are different. Strong ammunition against the "this one thing will cure your child's autism, guaranteed!" crowd. ( )

I've been trying to read this ever since I stumbled across an excerpt in [a:Nick Hornby|2929|Nick Hornby|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1254337802p2/2929.jpg]'s [b:The Polysyllabic Spree|4260|The Polysyllabic Spree A Hilarious and True Account of One Man's Struggle With the Monthly Tide of the Books He's Bought and the Books He's Been Meaning to Read|Nick Hornby|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327723619s/4260.jpg|2961810] and finally got my hands on it through interlibrary loan. I kind of read it in one sitting. It is brilliant. It is funny and heartbreaking and fascinating and tender and every good adjective I can think of. Moore is tough as nails and clear-eyed in her gaze on her two non-neurotypical sons (who are, in her words, "autistic through and through"), but when she talks about how much she adores them, the lady doth not protest too much. You believe her. You believe that while every day brings fresh frustration, it also brings joy of a kind she cannot really convey.

I am ridiculously in love with Jake, her youngest -- who is neurotypical -- and the one thing I would like to see in a second edition which is almost wholly lacking in this one is an examination of Jake's relationship with his brothers. Since reading copperbadge's discussion of the prodigal son and siblings of the non-neurotypical, I have become much more sensitive to this (not to the extent of, uh, talking to my sister about how my depression affects her, but baby steps). Obviously, a five-year-old (which is how old Jake was at this writing) can't really have the same kind of deep conflict that Sam has or that my sister probably has, but I remain troubled by Moore's blithe assertion that she does not want Jake to feel responsible for the care of his brothers when he's older. I'm just not sure how she's planning to make that happen, especially since she doesn't seem to have a clear sense of what could or would happen to her sons if and when she can no longer care for them herself. It is clear to Moore and to the reader that George and Sam almost certainly will not be able to live independently as adults, but there is a real...blitheness is the only word I can think of, to her tone, when she talks about it.

But as a whole? OMG SO GOOD.

(Also, please God, if only Charlotte Moore were the face for parents with autistic children, instead of Jenny McCarthy. The world would be better off.) ( )

Since I work in the field of autism, people constantly give me books on autism for my birthday and Christmas. Most of them are fairly generic and stay unread beyond the first chapter. However, George & Sam is the single best book on autism I have ever read. Charlotte Moore is touching but realistic, giving the impression that she loves her autistic boys rather than the children she imagines she should have had. I recommend this to anyone who wants to know what autism is really like. ( )