The thrilling extreme sporting adventure of Free Solo meets the
heartfelt honesty of growing up with autism depicted in Atypical in
WITHOUT RESTRAINT (98,000 words), the story of a father's unlikely
discovery of his son's prodigious talent for skiing that ultimately
saved his son's life. Ryan DeLena's childhood was a complicated
one. When he was a toddler, he would launch into impassioned
monologues from classic books and films, was fascinated by
ventilation systems, and loved climbing the walls of his
house-literally. His eidetic memory, penchant for brutal honesty,
and defiance led to a diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental
Disorder-a subclass of the autism spectrum. When public preschools
weren't equipped to manage him, his parents, Rob and Mary Beth,
enrolled him in a private "therapeutic" school program, a decision
that locked Ryan into a school that relied on destructive methods
of behavior modification-including painful physical restraints and
extended isolation, practices that are still used in these programs
to this day. Some teachers pinned him to the floor for prolonged
periods of time, covered his mouth, and left him with rug burns.
Ryan's noncompliance to these techniques ultimately led to the
prescription of a variety of harmful antipsychotic medications
encouraged by the school staff, and, further, to a two-week stay in
a mental hospital to evaluate whether he should reside permanently
in a treatment facility. Fortunately, when Ryan was seven years
old, Rob made an impulsive decision to kill a few hours at a local
ski hill. Within his first lesson, Ryan was barreling down black
diamond slopes. By his twentieth day of skiing, Ryan was executing
expert runs with 3,500 feet of vertical drop. Ryan's newfound
obsession-and Rob's apparent death wish-led them to extreme ski
runs around the world. With each skiing conquest, Ryan blossomed,
and Rob learned not only to appreciate his son's strengths, but
also to understand and accept his quirks. Soon, Ryan was no longer
a child with a disability; he was a world-class ski mountaineer.
Emboldened, Rob decided to fight the medical and educational
"industrial complexes" over the decisions made about Ryan's care
and school placement-and won. Written in two voices (Rob's in book
and Ryan's in italics), WITHOUT RESTRAINT is a joint father-son
memoir told with both pain and levity, struggle and strength,
adventure and heart. It is the story of a misunderstood boy, a
father's growth, and a shared love of the outdoors that formed
their unbreakable bond. WITHOUT RESTRAINT will appeal to
parents-particularly those of children with disabilities-and
outdoor enthusiasts alike. From a marketing standpoint, Ryan is a
highly regarded video blogger, whose skiing descents have around
150,000 views on YouTube and have been featured on Outside TV and
the "Right This Minute" viral video show. He is also a regular
contributor for the Ski the East and Ski the Whites brand pages.
Rob and Ryan are committed to leveraging their close connections
with highly visible media contacts and members of the outdoor
community-including Olympic skiers, CNN and NFL contributors, and
prominent environmental activists.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
