Following Ezra
Subtitle: what one father learned about Gumby, Otters, autism, and love from his extraordinary son
By: Tom Fields-Meyer
Publisher: New American Library
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York, N.Y
Language: eng
Number of pages: 241
ISBN-13: 9780451234636
Subjects: Mental health; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs; Parents of autistic children; Autistic youth; Patients; FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Children with Special Needs; Autism; Biography
Description: "A heartwarming and hopeful memoir of a father's experience raising his autistic son.  When his son Ezra was diagnosed with autism, Tom Fields-Meyer knew little about parenting and even less about neurological disorders. This intimate memoir chronicles his remarkable experiences of learning and growth from the time Ezra was diagnosed at age three to his bar mitzvah at thirteen. In that time, Ezra evolves from a remote, peculiar toddler to an extraordinary young man, not "cured," but connected-in his own unique way-to the world around him"--

"When Tom Fields-Meyer's son Ezra was three and showing early signs of autism, a therapist suggested that the father needed to grieve. "For what?" he asked. The answer: "For the child he didn't turn out to be." That moment helped strengthen the author's resolve to do just the opposite: to love the child Ezra was, a quirky boy with a fascinating and complex mind. Full of tender moments and unexpected humor, Following Ezra is the story of a father and son on a ten-year journey from Ezra's diagnosis to the dawn of his adolescence. It celebrates his evolution from a remote toddler to an extraordinary young man connected in his own remarkable ways to the world around him"--