Very little is really known or has been written about the autistic
child - that most "undisturbed of disturbed children" who lives
hermetically sealed off from the world in a state of unresponsive
isolation. (In the popular literature, Karin Junker's The Child in
the Glass Ball-Abingdon-1964 - an unextended personal experience;
in the clinical field, a new book by Bruno Bettelheim). Towards the
end of this book which deals with Mrs. Park's first years with
Elly, her fourth child, she makes the point that parents need as
much help as children such as this which is certainly the intention
and achievement of this book, based on a very detailed record of
Elly's development, from the uncertain diagnosis of a relatively
unfamiliar condition at 22 months. Untouched by human experience,
totally acceptant, serene and self-sufficient, Elly would have
remained just that way unless Mrs. Park had not attempted to expand
her world and make her relate, which to some extent she has by now
succeeded in doing. It's a very interesting record thereof as well
as of what professional help she could secure (psychiatrists here;
Anna Freud's clinic in England; special schools); it also does show
the prevalent patterns in this condition (from the "refrigerator
parents" - intellectually superior, reserved, detached, to the
various ways in which these children can be reached) which are
important. Also, that love is not enough. But books like this will
illumine and instruct. (Kirkus Reviews)
At age two, in 1960, Jessy Park was remote, withdrawn, unable to walk or talk, yet oddly content within the invisible walls that surrounded her. Doctors were baffled. The study of autism was still in its infancy. Jessy's family stepped in. "Confronted with a tiny child's refusal of life, all existential hesitations evaporate. We had no choice. We would use every stratagem we could invent to assail her fortress, to beguile, entice, seduce her into the human condition." This powerfully moving book, now widely regarded as a classic work, charts a surprising journey of discovery as it records the challenges and rewards of the first eight years of Jessy's life.
Visit www.jessicapark.com to view the Paintings of Jessica Park.
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