About Running with Walker:
“Such an affecting and instructive story, and one told so very well: a father’s relentless love for his son, offered time and again, no matter the boy’s troubles. Here is human connection at its stirring, challenging best – and here is a lesson of family love for all of us to consider.”
— Robert Coles, James Agee Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard University“There’s scarcely a page in the whole book that doesn’t contain some startling, inventive piece of art, usually of a very subtle unflashy kind, but sure to be cherished. I say to myself, is it right that I’m finding this terrifically serious book so entertaining, so much fun to read?”
— Christopher Herbert, Professor of English, Northwestern University
From the book’s back cover:
By the time he was three, Walker’s parents were concerned enough about his delayed development to consult a paediatric neurologist. Doctors diagnosed autism and issued a grim prognosis: “I hold out not hope for this child.” But they hadn’t accounted for Walker’s intelligence, affection, and sense of humour – or for the remarkable bonds that grew within his family.
Walker’s father, Robert Hughes, tells a touching and inspiring story of discovering that their “perfect little boy had a problem.” With disarming honesty and humour, the book tells how a family copes and keeps hope alive despite the staggering difficulties autism presents.
On Autism and Other Things 