Release Date: 1/21/16
Here it is – ta da – my new book!
It’s called Walker Finds a Way: Running into the Adult World with Autism. A sequel to Running with Walker, this book catches up on life since then, while focusing on the catastro-comedy of my autistic son Walker’s life in the last three years or so.
Running with Walker ended when Walker was 15, with a hopeful and positive feeling about the future. Things continued to go well for several years until he entered a new land of troubles. Walker Finds a Way chronicles how Walker found an escape route and taught his parents a great deal about autism and life in general. It provides an intimate look at a family and a glimpse of an issue that looms larger in society year by year.
Walker is one of a growing population of young people with low-functioning autism. All over the U.S., when children “age out” of state-supported services, they and their parents suddenly find themselves abandoned by a system that purported to care. Adults with disabilities are practically invisible in comparison to young children with the same difficulties. How can people like Walker lead secure and satisfying lives? How can they have friends and work and feelings of self-worth? How can they make progress throughout their lives in connecting with others?
Walker Finds a Way explores these issues by looking closely and honestly at how one family—ours—faced them. It’s a book—if I do say so myself—that would be rewarding for any reader but especially for family and friends, teachers and caregivers of people with autism.
On Autism and Other Things 