Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family's Triumph over Autism

This was a very interesting account of how one woman traveled down a very bumpy Long & Winding Road with two children on the autism spectrum. Her children made great strides with ABA, Applied Behavioral Analysis. It was through the diligent efforts of the ABA therapist that the children were able to learn to identify words; identify sensory perceptions and verbalize the experience.

One thing that bothered me was the heavy handed use of the word "perseverate." That is a truly harmful and judgmental word that has hurt many; helped none and is best avoided. The terms "special interest," "repetitive verbalizations/behaviors" are far preferable and much more accurate. The overusage of this damning, negative and destructive word cost this book one star. It is a word best avoided. The deleterious affect this word has is addressed in Annabel Stehli's book, "The Sound of Falling Snow: Stories of Recovery From Autism & Related Conditions."

I tip my hat to Catherine Maurice for was exposing the fraudulent claims made in re holding therapy. The very name of this quack nostrum makes me want to run for cover! Maurice actually met with Margaret G. Welch, the founder of this nostrum and was initially a Welchian follower. Over time, she saw that holding therapy was questionable and harmful. Welch's book "Holding Time," as well as Bettelheim's "Empty Fortress" and Elisabeth & Nikolaas Tinbergen's atrocious works on autism are the worst books I have EVER read!

Welch had her view films of "holdings," wherein the children filmed were either a) not autistic or b) displaying the adverse response to being restrained. I also didn't like the way Dr. Welch would tell parents to yell at their children; level accusations at them and then follow up with hugs. Welch actually advocates that people LICK their children, much as dogs do their pups. That made me queasy. To date, I have never heard of anybody with autism licking anybody!

For people with autism, particularly severe autism, decoding expressions is difficult and trying to interpret conflicting behaviors had to be confusing. Many of these young clients were non-verbal preschoolers! I was queasy when I read of how Welch had people hollering at their children and blaming the parents for "not resolving issues" with the children and that forcing the children to endure hugs would "cure" them. Horse feathers!

Donna Williams, an illustrious author with autism says of Welch's method that it "teaches people to give the desired response" so as to be freed from something dreadful. Lise Pyle wrote of her son John in "Hitchhiking Through Asperger's Syndrome" that "hugs are to be endured, not enjoyed by John." John is given the respect he deserves instead of being subjected to this ignominious treatment.

I was thoroughly disgusted with Dr. Welch for saying to Maurice's daughter, "lonely Anne-Marie," "sad/angry Anne-Marie," and trying to plant anger in Maurice's mind towards her then pre-school, nonverbal daughter. I cringed when I read of how Maurice practiced this "holding" at the home; I was ready to run like a deer at the thought of the child being forced to endure this. Anne-Marie naturally did not like it and I was delighted when Maurice jumped Welch's ship and resumed ABA, which worked quite well with her children. In time, they were moved off the a/A spectrum and Welch had NOTHING to do with their progress. It was upsetting to think of the number of good people who were snowed by Welch's methods and claims.

Autism, as has been pointed out IS a spectrum condition. It is a neurobiological condition that affects sensory processing and communciation to varying degrees. It has nothing to do with resolution of any kind; it is simply neurobiological. It is also EXTREMELY counterproductive to blame parents. Nobody would make their child autistic! There is NO scientific data or proof to back Welch's claims. To add further insult to further injury, Welch cites Nikolaas Tinbergen, who was an ornithologist. Tinbergen's execrable works in re autism is just a rehashing of Welch, although his work predates hers. The bottom line is they say enforced hugging is a panacea for autism; blame mothers; claim autism is psychological, which is a fallacy. If enforced hugging was a cure, then everybody would be doing it and nobody would have autism! It is just an emotional elixir that satisfies the hugger at the expense of the autistic population. Tinbergen was an ornithologist, not an expert on autism! His work, together with Bettelheim, a notorious fraud and Welch's fallacious claims are among the worst and most misleading in autism literature.

As a survivor of enforced hugging, which I abhor, I can tell you all it did was sour me on hugs. I think it is so cruel to take what is purportedly a loving act and convert it into a self serving punishment. I knew a boy who was put through the Welchian method; hated it and it backfired big time. The boy would cry piteously, "no more hug! Hate hug!" and beg not to be sent there "to be yelled at when you aren't bad." Now nearly an adult, he will say, "I'm still autistic. I still like WWII jeeps and planes and I still hate hugs." Prior to the Welchian method, the boy stoically endured hugs. To this day, he will flee them. That was very unfortunate, but not surprising.

ABA on the other hand, recognizes autism for what it is - a neurological condition that affects behavior. ABA focuses on teaching cause-effect and linkage, e.g. linking words to a feeling or an object. ABA also teaches clients to focus directly on the issue at hand, e.g. someone talking to them and to tune out extraneous stimuli.

Since a/A is a spectrum, there will be overlapping behaviors and sensory issues. Not all people with autism think in pictures; are adverse to being touched; are nonverbal or suffer from the more extreme form, Kanner's Autism.

I recommend that ALL parents of children with autism as well as adults with autism to give ABA a try. Floor time is another good method that encourages direct contact and fun as well as focusing on relevant stimuli. "The Boy Who Loved Windows" is an excellent book about how a child was eased off the a/A spectrum by use of floor time.

This book is an excellent depiction of one woman's journey with her children through the world of autism, and how she came out on the other side. She had remarkable success with intensive applied behavioral analysis and intensive speech therapy, and consequently her book does not discuss other interventions. But that is not why she wrote this book. She wrote this book to share the SUCCESSES she had, in the hopes that others might also benefit.

And benefit our family did.

I can't remember how I stumbled over this book years ago when my child was first diagnosed with autism. I read it with tears filling my eyes much of the time, and feelings ranging from elation that THIS might be a way to help my child, relief that I wasn't the only mother to experience strong roller coaster emotions, and envy that Maurice had the financial resources and the amazingly talented people at her disposal to provide her children with such an intensive and successful program.

After reading this book, we managed to put together an eclectic program for our son, which included 8-10 hours of ABA. We would have liked at least 20, but 8-10 was all we could afford. And it really made a difference!!

For example, my 3 year old child had no idea what the word "say" meant. For years, we'd been telling him, "Say bye to Grampy! Say Please! Say Night Night! Say No Thank You!" and the response was silence, not even eye-contact, no real acknowledgement that we had addressed him.

So on week 1, the ABA therapist sat our son in a chair in an unfurnished, undecorated area of the basement and held out an M&M and said, "Say 'ah'". My son reached for it, ignoring her. She pulled it out of his reach and repeated, "Say 'ah'". He reached for it. She pulled it away and repeated her demand.

This continued for about three minutes, until he finally threw himself back in the chair and whined, "ehhhh!" Even though that wasn't "ah", it was a response, so she gave him the M&M and tried again with another M&M. "Say 'ah'" and THIS time, he said, "ah"! And after that, he repeated anything we said, and quickly understood that saying "I want juice please" was MUCH more effective than grabbing my hand, dragging me to the refrigerator, and throwing my hand at the door!!

I have pondered why ABA can be so effective, and I think it is in part because ASD children simply don't know the most important thing to attend to in the environment. They are not wired to turn to the human voice. So if I'm saying, "Say bye to Grampy!" and the door is open and the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, my son's attention was never focused on me or language. ABA - at least initially - takes away the distractions and focuses on teaching one concept in isolation.

Anyway, we used ABA for about 8 months, and then moved on to other approaches as my son's language, communication, and academic skills improved. He is not "recovered", but he is delightful, conversational, quirky.

Autism is a SPECTRUM disorder. Some children are severely affected, others not. Some children have severe sensory disorders, others don't. Children - and families - have different needs! In my area, I know of two families who claim they tried ABA and it 'didn't work' so they did floortime instead and "recovered" their children.

Regardless, I strongly urge ANY parent of an autistic child to at least investigate ABA as a possible component to their child's therapy program. And to that end, Catherine Maurice's book gives an incredible testimony to just how successful ABA can be.

I do believe this book is very useful and provides great strength for parents (such as myself) who are fighting the same battle. However, there are a couple of points that rankled -- first, autism has many manifestations (which is why it is called the "spectrum") and some of these symptoms may require different interventions than what Maurice's children responded well to. I wish this were suggested more strongly in the book.
Second, the assumption that throwing oneself heart and soul into well researched treatment programs for a year or two can "cure" the child forever and forever.... while I am very happy for her and her kids, I am sure that many parents who have been working in the trenches with equal intensity and committment do not see such results for a long, long time, if ever. Hence, a "Results not typical" disclaimer must be added.
Overall, slightly condescending and self righteous, in light of the large number of families who are tearing themselves apart fighting the same enemy, and not seeing such quick success stories.

A must have. Incredibly inspirational story when I felt the weight of the world on my shoulder and hopeless.

When I initially began reading the book I was skeptical, as I myself had a recently diagnosed child with severe autism. As I continued to read, I began to fully identify with the mother as she carefully relates her children's specific behaviors and I yearned to experience the same joys as she. My child could not speak and was totally unapproachable. Being from rural Kentucky, we were without the resources (financial and geographic) to obtain the same behavioral services as Ms. Maurice was able to obtain in Manhatten. However, her book was written with enough detail for me to be able to design and implement a home behavioral program myself. My husband and I were the "therapists". The appendix which listed her son Michael's program in detail was very helpful to us as well. It's almost three years since my son's diagnosis and since I read this book. It has been life-changing for our family. My son just turned 5 and he is a totally different child. He is brilliant, loving, verbal, and happy...and we now too get to argue with professionals about the fact that he once WAS severely autistic! Thank you, Ms Maurice for the inspiration!