Kristie
Caldwell
EDUC 2530
(3) – 005
March 19,
2014
Mike Link
Saving Ben:
A Father’s Story of Autism Book Review
The novel Saving Ben: A Father’s Story of Autism is a biography about a boy
named Ben and the ongoing struggles he faced as a toddler through young
adulthood after being born with autism. The main storyline is about a father
who struggles to find a cure for his son and the overall life-changing journey
that comes with the diagnoses of Ben. Through this first-person narrative written
by David E. Burns, the reader is exposed to the family’s sacrifices and battles
of trying to find a successful method of treatment, the stigma that follows this
condition, and the journey of self-discovery for all members of the family on
their journey to recovery. The memoir is successful in exposing and educating
people to the effects of autism, while also helping to inform the parents of
children with this condition of the effects and symptoms that may come with it.
The setting of the narrative starts
off in a public library in Texas, where the author of the story, David E. Burns
is searching for information on autism. The audience knows very little about
the character but is exposed to his anxiety and frustration right from the
start. The story then flashes back three years to 1987, the year of the birth
of his son Ben. Flashback further in time to David’s own childhood as he
describes his own ongoing struggle with his sexuality. That is until he meets a
girl named Susan, who ends up being his wife and the mother of his three
children. Burns moves forward again to 1990, when Ben is an infant, and shows
the excitement of himself and Susan upon the arrival of their third child. At
the time, however, they have no idea of the battles that will soon come, as
this child would shortly be diagnosed with autism.
As Ben got older, the family begins
to notice delays in his motor and social skills, but believes that he is just a
“late bloomer”. At around eighteen months however, the skills that Ben had
retained began to decline or vanish altogether. He would fluctuate between
having good days, to sporadic episodes of tantrums, accidents, and illnesses.
Between the years of 1987 and 1991, Ben had visited the hospital 173 times for
continuous ear infections and other ailments. This leads David to begin his
research to help discover the cause of Ben’s declining skills, and the possibility
that his son may have autism. It was not until Ben was three years old that he
was able to get an appointment with a specialist, who would only classify him
as “developmentally delayed” and concluded that it was incurable. However, this
did not result in the family giving up hope, but instead gave them motivation
to find a cure for their son and help him on his journey to recovery
improvement. Unfortunately, this task was not easy on David and Susan, as the combination
of overwhelming stress and their personal issues ultimately resulted in a divorce.
Burns shares the many obstacles the
family endured with both the divorce and the discovery of Ben being diagnosed
as autistic. As a child with autism, Ben needed a routine, and the separation of
his parents and the many types of treatments made it difficult for him to
remain consistent in his behaviour, which almost led to the end of searching
for a cure by the family. That is until Ben’s teacher introduces them to
Lovaa’s Therapy, a technique that consists of treatments and behavioural
interventions on autistic children. Thus, “The Benjamin Project” is formed and
through it, the family hires psychologists and students to perform tasks with
Ben that enhanced his memory and skills. Through this therapy, Ben’s progress
improves with significant results and he is able to do some tasks individually
and communicate with the people around him.
Over the course of Ben’s childhood, he
experiences many failed treatments and going in and out of regression, but his
family never gives up on looking for a cure or helping him get better. By the
time Ben is fourteen years old, he has continued to mature and improve each
year, and soon enough his life is relatively stable. The memoir ends with Ben
as a twenty-one year old young man, who is a “work in progress” but he is now
past the “full force and fury of the autism storm”. (152)
Burns wrote this biography from
personal experience and the journal entries he kept of his son and their long
journey to his recovery. He shares some of the symptoms and methods of
treatments that families may consider when battling autism, which can be
considered controversial as many of these could either lead to regression or to
recovery, as all children respond somewhat differently. This can be frustrating
not only to the reader, but also to anyone who is coping with autism within the
family unit. Throughout the story, Burns comments on how not all members of his
family agreed with the treatments and with many seeing it as a form of “abuse”. (73) Although, many might not agree
with some of the treatments that were used on Ben, it is easy to see that the
work and love, which went into them, was to ensure Ben’s happiness and a
brighter future. Through the use of personal stories detailing the hardships
that went with them, the reader is able to see the frustrating path this family
underwent to get Ben past regression and move forward with improving his life.
Burns writing style is rather disorganized at the beginning, which
made the novel a little hard to follow at first. He began his narrative as
being in a public library searching for information on autism, but then went
back in time to the birth of his son, and then even further back to his own
childhood. This made it difficult to keep track of the relevance behind each
story, as he did not go back to give the reader a conclusion to these
scenarios. For example when he flashed back to his childhood, he described his
struggle with his sexuality. Burns made it seem to be a rather key component to
the memoir, as he referenced it periodically throughout the book, but he never
did not go back and summarize how he ended up dealing with these feelings or
the overall affect it had on his family. Overall, I believe that in a biography,
it is important to describe the events in chronological order to help make it
easier for the audience to understand and follow them.
Although the writing style was disorganized in spots, Burns made
up for this by including a chapter of photographs. In this section, he had
family pictures of Ben throughout his childhood, through his teens, and on into
early adulthood. Through these pictures, it was easy to see the changes of both
the family and Ben during his journey to recovery. I found this section of the book
to be a very important component overall, as it was easy for the reader to see
the major differences between his parts of regression through the phases of
recovery not just in Ben, but also in all members of the family. I think this
was essential for the biography, as it was much easier to visualize and
understand the steps and impact this journey had on the family.
Many examples were provided throughout this memoir, about the
stigma and prejudice that comes with autism, not only on the individual diagnosed
but on the family as well. Right from when Ben was a young child, the doctors
would not diagnose him as having autism, but instead would just say he was
“developmentally delayed” (35) or as being classified under the category of
having “mental retardation”. (36) Ben was unable to attend many daycares and
schools near the family’s home due to his “odd behaviour”, which made it
difficult for the parents to commute to and from work and to honour their other
commitments. As the memoir was written during the 1990s, it shared how the
stigmas attached to autism were beginning to improve in this decade, and even
more so now as this condition is more common and there is more information
available to the public about this disorder. However, not all prejudice and shame
have vanished, as some still remains today. For anyone who is dealing with
autism in some form in their life, this account can be a valuable resource to
show that with some work and perseverance, that improvements are possible.
To some reading this book, they might see it as just a family’s
journey of coping with autism and trying to recover from it. But this biography
is much more than that; it is also a journey of self-discovery. Through the
storyline of Burns discovering his sexual orientation and trying to come to
terms with it, the reader is able to see part of his acceptance and finding
himself. The most important part of this self-discovery however was the one of
Ben, where he was able to achieve the best possible version of himself by the
end of the memoir. It was clear that the reader became emotionally be involved
in the foundation of all members of the family finding themselves, which made
the book more memorable.
Saving Ben: A Father’s Story of
Autism is a story about a family who is coping with
autism, and it is told from the viewpoint of a father helping his son with this
disorder. This biography is intended for an audience of readers who are
interested in, or who may be in similar circumstances such as the parents or guardians
of children with autism. Overall, I feel that Burns did an outstanding job of
showing the pathway from Ben’s regression to his journey of recovery, and made
it easy for the readers to follow the emotions and hope of everyone involved along
the way. It was a touching story that showed the family’s journey to
self-discovery and the love of a father to a son. It expressed how this bond could
lead to unwavering hope and determination, and that anything is possible to
help those suffering from autism to be the best person they can possibly be.
Burns ended with a quote, “Hope is in the heart. It is its own reward. Keep the
faith, never give up” (154). That is what Burns did. He fought for his son and
never gave up, and he was the major contributor in choosing the right path for
Ben and helping him in his recovery.
Work Cited
Burns,
David. Saving Ben: A Father’s Story of
Autism. Denton, Texas: Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism, 2009.
Print.
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