Taylor Brad
3044589
Mike LinkMarch 20, 2014
The Journey
of Struggle and Acceptance
A Child Called Noah: A Family Journey is a heartwarming story of parents
trying to cope with daily life with their second child Noah who has a
disability and the continuous fight to find out what their child has and how to
overcome it. Josh Greenfeld, the father of Noah describes his view as a parent
in an autobiography of his son’s struggle with Autism, displaying it through a
journal entries. Greenfeld, a Jewish man, his Japanese wife, eldest son Karl
and youngest son Noah display the family journey of overcoming and accepting a
disability into their lifestyle.
A Child Called Noah: A Family Journey provides
the reader with an insight of the struggle of parents adjusting their
lifestyle, by dealing with a child diagnosed with autism. This story describes
the daily ups and downs, progression and regression that their son Noah
encounters. When Noah was two years old, nobody could have suspected that he
would have any signs of autism, as he was progressing like a two year old
should. He was very independent and was speaking up to one hundred and fifty
words (4). But, by the age of four, the family had a shocking surprise, Noah
started regressing, taking steps backwards rather than forwards.
When Noah
was four years old he was not toilet trained, could not feed himself, spoke few
words, had a short attention span, and had no interest in other children (66).
Noah’s older brother Karl was developing normally and on time, showing
progress, however when Noah was younger, he seemed to be growing into a person
quicker than Karl did at that age, yet now it seems to be the opposite (13). After worrying about what was wrong with Noah
and why he was regressing instead of progressing the parents decided to meet
with doctors, psychologists, and psychiatrists and were given a variety of
diagnoses such as being mentally retarted, autistic, emotionally disturbed,
brain damaged, schizophrenic and suffering from a combination of Chinese box conditions,
leaving them questioning what was the matter with their son (4). They were told
by doctors to not worry about anything, that he was just developing slowly and
that is was a gut reaction that Noah would develop normally in time (21). With
Noah now speaking less than ten words, his parents were concerned and afraid to
admit to themselves that their child may not act the same as another child.
After a long
two years of struggling with multiple diagnoses and questioning different
schooling. They contacted a school in Chicago, the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic
School, the Bettelheim people and the Jewish Board of Guardians, but none were
able to offer treatment for Noah (82). However they had heard of an
operant-conditioning program at UCLA which was a behavioral form of therapy,
where the child is actively nudged through both rewards and punishments from
passive disengagement and into communication and language (92). In order for Noah
to attend the operant-conditioning program the family of four moved to
California. Along with the school, he would on go therapy at home with three
therapists. Both parents wanted to do everything they could for Noah in order
to make his life easier and for him to learn the basics in life. When pursuing
the idea of living in California they hoped to improve Noah’s ability and
skills to help him progress. However California was not a permanent move, they
had decided it was best to move back to Westchester where they lived originally.
With Noah
now being five years old, and after a year in California with daily treatment,
Noah’s improvement was incredible and extremely noticeable by teachers,
neighbors, and classmates. Noah is now
out of diapers, can be pushed along the developmental trail further than before,
is more independent than before but enclosed in his own world (98). They accomplished
more out of this move then they could have ever imagined, most importantly
being able to accept and have confidence in themselves as parents in the
ability to cope with Noah and his autism.
A Child Called Noah: A Family Journey is
about a parent’s reaction and goals, when being told their child has autistic
tendencies and is regressing rather than progressing. After reading this book I
felt as if I knew the whole family, John, his wife Foumi, eldest son Karl, and
youngest son Noah. Greenfeld pours his heart into his autobiography identifying
the struggle as parent, the toll it takes on a marriage when encountering a
disability, and how to work around it in order to improve your child’s life
skills. He describes the ups and downs and constant challenges along the way
with Noah. But with having diagnoses after diagnoses, the family sticks
together and does everything to help Noah progress, in which he succeeds.
I really liked the format Greenfeld wrote in,
which was journal entries. Greenfeld describes the journal entries as being the
easiest way for him to share his experience over the past few years. He was
able to explain the changes in his marriage and in Noah, as well as the baby
steps accomplished and lack and gain of progress displayed (98). The book made
you feel more at home, making you feel a part of the family which was easier to
understand from that point of view. However, it was confusing at times as it
jumped back and forth, but also interesting at the same time to be able to
compare Noah’s progress from year to year. A
Child Called Noah: A Family Journey gave me a huge insight on Autism, as I
had worked with two autistic children in the past summer, knowing about symptoms
but did not recognize many of them until I read this book and recalled seeing
those tendencies before with the two children I worked with.
In
conclusion, A Child Called Noah: A Family
Journey describes the struggle of accepting a disability and the impact it
plays on a family and the child. I highly recommend this book, for all parents,
with or without a child with autism or a disability as it is very informative
and important to know the symptoms. As well as anyone going into the profession
of teaching or working with children or children with a disability.
Work Cited
Greenfeld, Josh. A Child Called Noah: A Family Journey. New
York: Holt, Rhinehart and Winston,
1970. Print.
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