The surprisingly honest book MIRACLES ARE MADE: A Real Life Guide to Autism was written by global autism expert and mother Lynette Louise MS, BCN-T, CBS PhD in M.O.M. This book could not have been written so beautifully by any other.
As a global autism expert she is invited eagerly into homes around the world-from Beirut to India to Kansas and more- as she shares her unique blend of play therapy, family dynamics counseling and neurofeedback (biofeedback for the brain), effectively guiding parents comfortably into the role of expert in their family's healing.
As a single mom (although often married, rarely co-parenting or co-bill paying) of eight now grown kids-six adopted, four of whom were on the spectrum of autism- she is non-judgmental, informed and quite hilarious. She is also my mother.
Because of this I hesitated in writing this review. I figured people would read it as biased and maybe even self-serving. Perhaps some people will read it that way.
The reality is, this review is quite possibly more valuable because of my relationship with the author.
Let's all remember that our parents' endeavors generally make us nervous. Our fear regarding how it reflects on us (although not the gargantuan proportion it was as teenagers) is always present. I was always nervous when my mom stepped on stage to sing or preform stand-up comedy. My palms sweat when she was about to make a radio show appearance or otherwise share her vision with the world. I suppose it didn't help that until neurofeedback my mom herself was still struggling with social skills and face blindness. So whenever she was in the spotlight I was scared. I wanted her to succeed. I wanted her to be "right' or "smart' or funny. Sometimes, admittedly, I wanted her to shut up.
But with MIRACLES ARE MADE, she has shared with passion, humor and intelligence our lifetime of learning. The therapies, struggles and mistakes made along the road to independence for three of my four autistic brothers have become a gift for other moms. Other sisters. Other families. I don't know if it is "smart' or "right', but I do know that it is beautiful and helpful. And downright funny!
I have four sons of my own, my two youngest being almost autistic themselves (read my diary entitled MY BOYS AND THEIR BEAUTIFUL AUTISM for more on that) and my highlighter was put to the test during my first, second and third reading of mom's new book. The overall attitude and narrative make the concrete parenting answers easily grasped, understood and remembered.
