An astounding new work by the author of The Mind Tree that offers a rare insight into the autistic mind and how it thinks, sees, and reacts to the world. When he was three years old, Tito was diagnosed as severely autistic, but his remarkable mother, Soma, determined that he would overcome the problem by teaching him to read and write. The result was that between the ages of eight and eleven he wrote stories and poems of exquisite beauty, which Dr. Oliver Sacks called amazing and shocking. Their eloquence gave lie to all our assumptions about autism. Here Tito goes even further and writes of how the autistic mind works, how it views the outside world and the normal people he deals with daily, how he tells his stories to the mirror and hears stories back, how sounds become colors, how beauty fills his mind and heart. With this work, Tito whom Portia Iversen, co-founder of Cure Autism Now, has described as a window into autism such as the world has never seen gives the world a beacon of hope. For if he can do it, why can't others?
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From Publishers Weekly
In short chapters, some including evocative prose poems, Mukhopadhyay, a severely autistic adolescent whose mother painstakingly taught him how to read and write, introduces the reader to his daily inner life. Sometimes his thoughts are compulsive—he misses an entire film while mentally drawing diagonals across every one of the design squares on the cinema's ceiling—and sometimes fragmented, as when looking at a bucket: I might easily get distracted by its redness, since it would remind me of how my hands bled when I had fallen from a swing, how I was so absorbed in that red that I had forgotten about my pain, and how that red resembled a hibiscus.... Mukhopadhyay reflects on autism without romanticizing it, acknowledging my physical and neurological limitations and declaring, I am not worried about hell because I have experienced it here on earth. Occasionally, his writing is somewhat sketchy, but for the most part this is an eye-opening book on a serious disorder and the hope that other autistic children can learn to transcend it through education and imaginative self-reflection. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay was diagnosed in early childhood with severe or low functioning non-verbal autism. He communicates primarily through writing and has learned to develop his reading, writing, and thinking abilities. The national organization Autism Speaks sponsored Tito and his mother, Soma, to come to the United States so he could participate in scientific trials. Tito is now an accomplished writer. He lives in Austin, Texas.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By DB
Format:Hardcover
If anyone wants to understand the mind of an autistic, here it is. Recommended to teachers and parents of autistic children. For too long our definition of autism has relied on outside people looking at the behaviors and judging the children. Here is an account of what went on inside Tito's head. Truly important piece of scholarship. Very much recommended.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.9 out of 5 stars
25 reviews
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Window Into My Own Son's Mind
Jan 15 2008
By Lisa Helt
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This book was one of the best books I have read about autism. I feel like I understand my son (with autism) so much more than I did before. The author was excellent at helping us understand how he perceives the world. It is amazing to me how much people with autism are misunderstood. This book makes it clear that autism is not a disability of the mind but rather an alternate way of perceiving the world around us. This book is a must read!
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Inspiring Read Regarding Dignity and Respect For Non-Verbal Autistic Persons
Jan 18 2008
By Todd C. Rhea
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
An inspirational and poetic story that gives a unique window into the perceptions and experiences of a non-verbal autistic boy from a very young age through young adulthood. Also, this book tells a wonderful story of Tito's mother Soma, who along with Tito, gave up their family, culture and daily comforts in search of a way to allow Tito to communicate and share his world. This search led to a lifetime of work and sacrifice which has resulted in Tito being able to share his life with us through this book. Tito wonderfully describes the misconception of autism as a "disease" rather than a "disability", and the perhaps misplaced need for families, and indeed society, to find a "cure" for autism rather than focusing on maximizing the true (and often hidden) potential of autistic persons through meaningful education, support, dignity and respect. This story is a rare, first person account of Tito's growing up with autism and being able to perceive and understand the world around him, while at the same time being unable to communicate his experiences until learning to write. Tito sums up his story with, ". . . I feel blessed for being what I am." We are blessed and privileged to share his story.
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A "full screen view" into autism..
Jan 20 2008
By Stacey M. Lewis
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This is a front row seat on a journey through the mind of a phenomenal young man ! Tito articulately and artistically addresses some of the most common misconceptions about Autism ! Many things this author wrote about from his own experiences I found similar to my own son who is autistic. Tito offers his readers a unique outlook on autism . One that the rest of the world needs to take a good long look at!
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4.9 out of 5 stars
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