'The Horse Boy' - A 'Must Read' for Anyone With an Interest in Autism

Now I have to say I have read a fair few books on autism in the past. Some have engaged me, some have turned me off after the first few pages. In fact I used to read books on lots of things - novels, non fiction, articles, you name it I would read it! But as the mum of two small children, at the moment I have not been much of a mind to read anything with more text than the back of a cereal box. It has taken me three months to get through the first few chapters of my Christmas present book. But 'The Horse Boy' ISBN 978 1 921520 16 7 (Text Publishing) is different. I have only had it a few days, and I am already about a quarter of the way into this 356 page epic.I can't put it down, and it has been about three years since I have honestly been able to say that about any book.

Books on autism tend to fall into a couple of categories - there are those that profess to offer a cure of some kind to autism, or to offer a magical insight into the world of a person with autism, there are those that provide merely the dry facts on research on autism with all the readability of an academic text, and there are those which are closely linked with breakthroughs and often rather costly autism treatments available to parents who are often still grappling with incomprehensible levels of grief, guilt and plain old exhaustion. The Horse Boy is different. It is written from the perspective of a parent, but includes good information about autism treatments and their place in the spectrum of management strategies, as well as interesting anecdotes that put each idea into perspective. It does not preach or tout a particular message, but simply tells their experiences as they happen.

'The Horse Boy' (at least to the point I have read to so far!) is written by a father about his son, Rowan. The story traces Rowan's family on a journey through their early experiences with autism, including a range of conventional and less conventional autism treatments (medications, applied behaviour analysis, speech therapy, occupational therapy).

Early in the story we learn of his close bonding with the horse (Betsy) who belongs to a neighbour. Father and son share long rides in the forest on Bessie, and his father's close observation of his son's language reveals distinct changes in Rowan's language patterns from day to day. Language learning seems closely related to his experiences on Betsy, although there is the almost inevitable frustration of set backs, regressions and days of 'autism babble.'

'The Horse Boy' is easy to read, and it gets you in quickly and keeps you enthralled through a well constructed storyline, engaging language and a way of telling the story that makes you feel as a reader that you are really talking with the author face to face. For families dealing with autism, this book tells it like it is. There are references to autistic tendencies such as echolalia, self stimulating behaviours, and mind blowing tantrums and distress. There is also that incredible feeling that pervades each page that most parents will relate to; 'I will walk across hot coals if I can find something that makes the world better for my child.'

Reading this book prompted me to remember a parent I met in my first year of special education teaching who told me of holding her limp, almost lifeless daughter in her arms and demanding the attention of a specialist in a hospital, after being earlier turned away because 'there was nothing wrong.' She told me then, with a fierceness I would never have expected from a tiny, demure woman, 'Never, ever let someone else tell you that you don't know your own child. If you think something is wrong, it probably is. Parents just know.'

The story of 'The Horse Boy' continues! To date, Rowan has learnt to ride with his father, has been diagnosed with autism, and has taken his family on a roller coaster ride through the early development of autism in a young child. They have just hatched a plan to go to Mongolia from their home in Texas, and to try and break a little further into the closed world of a child with autism. Read the next part of the story in next month's review article of 'The Horse Boy.'