My Thoughts on the Book entitled "I Am In Here"

I just finished reading the book “I Am In Here” by Elizabeth M. Bonker and Virginia G. Breen. It is an excellent, yet heartbreaking story of a girl with autism. The story is written by her mother, but also contains passages and poems from the daughter, Elizabeth. She is nonverbal, but uses a system to communicate. I can particularly relate to this story, since my daughter, Ashley, is also nonverbal. Actually, Elizabeth’s story and Ashley’s story are remarkably similar. They both developed normally for a time, and then regressed into autism. They both self-injure. They both are very smart, but locked within the confines of autism. As a mother, I found Elizabeth’s poems interesting and sad. I am left wondering if that is also how Ashley feels. The story also gives me hope that one day we might find a way to communicate more personally with Ashley. Ashley has her talker, and does great with expressing her wants and needs, but does not use it to really converse with us. The story discusses the lengths this family has gone to in order to help their children (their son also has autism). She discusses the two types of people – “the how people”, who focus on where to go from there and “the why people”, who wonder why this happened to them. Most books I have read, written by mothers of children with autism, end with the child being cured or at least noticeable better after treatment. I have always said our story is – we tried everything, nothing “cured” autism, but we are still okay. That is this family’s story as well. It was almost a relief to read a story that has a family stilling living with autism, and still hoping for more answers to come. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who has a child with autism in their life. A poem by Elizabeth M. Bonker written at age 9 - Me I sometimes fear That people cannot understand That I hear And I know That they don't believe I go To every extreme To try to express My need to talk. If only they could walk In my shoes They would share my news: I am in here And trying to speak every day In some kind of way. Like us on Facebook   Originally posted March 2012