Customer Reviews
wonderful 
2007-11-19
the most honest look at her story and the trials and tribulations that came with it. EXCELLENT READ
Let Me Hear Your Voice 2007-10-10
Exceptional book. Not just for those with autistic family members. A must read.
helpful but 
2007-07-11
I know aba does wonders for some forms of autism and I know this book has been a big part of getting the word out.
Like the author I have three kids though my son's autism was present from birth. One theme that is a huge issue for many families and was absent from the book: lack of resources. We are a middle class family with one car living in a fixer-upper and debt.And compared to many we do very well. Her senario of having a nanny and paying out of pocket for lots of therapy are way way beyond our means. Our insurance does not cover any therapy and they run at $140 per hour. Anytime I work with my son I have to find & pay someone to watch my twin toddlers. This runs steep pretty fast and her descriptions of traveling, affording 20+ hours a week of kid therapy, seeing scores of doctors (a one-time evaluation by a neurologist costs 5 thousand dollars in our city) and having time for her own self and nannies just left me marveling. Most families affected by autism do struggle enourmously financially and logistically from day to day. And most kids are not as responsive as her kids were to the therapy.
I am very happy for her success and glad she is spreading the word on ABA but I think she misses how most families have to struggle with the basics .
AUTISM 2007-04-12
THIS IS THE SECOND BOOK I READ AFTER MY GRANDSON WAS DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM. IT IS EXTREMELY WELL WRITTEN AND FILLED WITH INFORMATION ALL PARENTS/FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF A NEWLY DIAGNOSED AUTISTIC CHILD SHOULD KNOW. IT WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH A NEW SENSE OF HOPE AND DIRECTION TO FINDING AND PROVIDING THE BEST INTERVENTIONS/TREATMENTS TO RECOVER YOUR CHILD FROM AUTISM. I HIGHLY RECCOMMEND IT!
Fantastic. This is going to be required reading of new clients. 2007-02-12
I am going to purchase this text for all new clients/parents who seek early intervention services I found this text so interesting, captivating, and enlightening, demonstrating a parent's perspective with the struggles of the diagnosis of a child's autism. Whether one agrees with her reaction or approach, she lays it all out in the open, exposing herself for others to learn from so that others may gain insight and perhaps learn. It also provides a good picture of what behavior modification is and how Applied Behavior Analysis works for those who have heard misinformation.
Interesting book 2007-01-22
She was a beautiful doelike child, with an intense, graceful fragility. In her first year, she picked up words, smiled and laughed, and learned to walk. But then Anne-Marie began to turn inward. And when her little girl lost some of the words she had acquired, cried inconsolably, and showed no interest in anyone around her, Catherine Maurice took her to doctors who gave her a devastating diagnosis: autism.
In their desperate struggle to save their daughter, the Maurices plunged into a medical nightmare of false hopes, "miracle cures," and infuriating suggestions that Anne-Marie's autism was somehow their fault. Finally, Anne-Marie was saved by an intensive behavioral therapy.
Let Me Hear Your Voice is a mother's illuminating account of how one family triumphed over autism. It is an absolutely unforgettable book, as beautifully written as it is informative.
"A vivid and uplifting story . . . Offers new strength to parents who refuse to give up on their autistic children." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Outstanding . . . Heartfelt . . . A lifeline to families in similar circumstances." -- Library Journal
Giving children with autism a voice for effective treatment 2006-11-29
As a professor and clincian trained in applied behavior analysis, I generally tell students that four major events profoundly affected the future outlook for children with autism: 1) The publication of Lovaas's 1987 study in which nearly half of children treated with an applied behavior analytic (ABA) program "recovered" (with a substantial additional number of children making substantial progress), 2) the publication of Cooper, Heron, and Heward's professional book "Applied Behavior Analysis," 3) the publication of Maurice's powerful book "Let Me Hear Your Voice," and 4) the founding of a standardized certification credential for professionals in behavior analysis by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. The first event (Lovaas's 1987 study) laid out the objective empirical evidence supporting the use of ABA with children with autism. The second (the Cooper et al book) described the thousands of evidence-based techniques and principles of learning that make up the science of ABA. The third event (the Maurice book) popularized the idea for many thousands of people that recovery from autism was possible and that there was a science-based treatment approach that could lead to such recovery. The fourth event (certification in ABA) came about, to a large extent, from the demand for ABA services generated by Maurice's book.
As "old" as Maurice's book is now, to date there are still no controlled peer-reviewed studies that have demonstrated the effectiveness of any of the alternative treatments for autism (many of which were described in Maurice's book). On the other hand, studies examining and confirming the effectiveness of ABA continue to appear in peer-reviewed scientific journals (most recently a replication of Lovaas's 1987 study by Sallows and Graupner in 2005 that found the same "recovery" rate of nearly half the children with autism that were treated). Despite this continued reliability of effectiveness, ABA is still attacked by its critics as "inhumane," "rigid," or something that generates "robotic children" even though there has never been a scrap of empirical evidence to support such mischaracterizations. ABA continues to be ignored by many school districts as the intervention of choice for autism despite its impressive track record. It continues to be naively derided by popular educational "advocates" such as Alfie Kohn (see his books "Punished By Rewards" and "Unconditional Parenting"). It continues to be denied funding from insurance companies who have no problem funding other less expensive non-evidence-based "treatments." Fortunately, Maurice is still fighting pseudoscience and advocating for science-based autism intervention through her work in the Association for Science in Autism Treatment, her speeches, and through her other books ("Behavior Intervention for Young Children with Autism" for example). She continues to inspire parents and professionals alike to do what is ethically right for our children: to teach them to speak, to teach them to love, to teach them to learn! so that THE CHILDREN have the tools to decide who they want to be and what they want to do in life. There can be no more noble endeavor than helping this happen for our kids.
Interesting Book 2006-11-09
It was an interesting book, but the author wants to sell the idea that ABA is the best and only approach to autism dismissing other choices like DIR/ Floortime, which in fact has proven to be more helpful in kids with PDD. Read Engaging Autism by Dr. Greenspan. Living with autism is more than just drills.
Melissa Albert's review is filled with inaccuracies 2006-06-05
Like Catherine Maurice, I have two children that were diagnosed with autism at age two; one in 1994 and the other in 1996. I am a registered nurse and a long-time autism advocate. My kids are at opposite ends of the spectrum at this point but both were very severe at diagnosis. I cannot help but wonder what field Ms. Albert is in; perhaps a restaurant reviewer? She appears to have so little basic knowledge of autism, its symptoms and effective evidence-based treatments. Do you have or know any children with autism Ms. Albert? The Maurice kids displayed very classic signs of autism and the doctors that diagnosed them and later published a study detailing their descent into autism and recovery are some of the most respected autism experts in the country. To question their credibility and the reality of her children's diagnosis just makes Ms. Albert look foolish. And to actually endorse Martha Welch's holding therapy, which borders on child abuse, along with other useless or unproven treatments just adds to the absurdity of her claims.
Look, Catherine Maurice never offered anyone false or unrealistic hope, she just offered some hope and information back when there was none. It is true that sometimes parents can cling to someone's story and hope that their experience will be the same, but I for one was glad to know that autism was not necessarily a "nightmare without end." She never claimed that ABA would recover all or even most kids, but study after study shows that some children make incredible gains, and some actually do lose their diagosis after years of intensive treatment. Catherine Maurice shared her journey into the world of autism, including her mistakes and doubts, very eloquently and truthfully. How many could put themselves out there and detail this highly emotional experience? Why would anyone bother with bullies like Melissa Albert? While we are all entitled to an opinion, we should be responsible enough to check facts before discrediting an author's story. And lastly, slamming Catherine Maurice for being wealthy is just over-the-top and unfair. Autism strikes families from all socio-economic classes and her experience was as heart-wrenching as mine. So she found a therapy that worked for her kids but she should not take the time to tell parents about it because she is wealthy? How easy it would have been to dismiss autism from her life after her kids recovered, and just move on. She wanted to help other parents and write an honest account of her family's experience. And she did help. Today school districts and states are starting to offer funding for ABA, in major part because of her book and the published studies of many fine researchers and clinicians. I feel blessed to have learned about ABA through Catherine Maurice's book "Let Me Hear Your Voice" and I will always be grateful to her for offering my family that light in the night to guide our way.
Interesting, just a bit dated at this point 
2006-05-19
As a special ed teacher of an autistic classroom, I found this book very interesting. It was written at a time when ABA treatment for autism was a little known and cutting edge treatment, whereas now you can barely Google the word 'autism' without countless ABA references. As a result, Ms. Maurice describes a journey through a world of therapy options that have fallen by the wayside in today's treatment world...play therapy, holding therapy, and the like. This book is famous because it helped, in part, to make ABA the widely used therapy it is today.
As others have noted, a part of me does wonder how much of the two recoveries in this book were attributable to ABA. I think it was a factor, but I think there were likely other factors at play as well. Many children receive 40+ hours of this therapy a week with widely varied levels of success...if I remember correctly, Anne-Marie was only getting about 10 hours a week (well below the number of hours required for ABA to show effectiveness in controlled studies) and yet she fully recovered in less than two years. Autism is not an all or nothing proposition...I'm sure the therapy aided in their recovery but it seems likely that these children were also high functioning to begin with.
I did appreciate Ms. Maurice's take on some of the older treatments for autism that were in widespread use at the time. I think play therapy is fine if it's being used to teach skills...as in, let's hide the balls 'in', 'on', and 'under' the furniture to learn about prepositions. I disagree with the type of play therapy described in the book, however, which seems to operate on the idea that autistic children are emotionally disturbed and need psychological healing in order to recover. The same basic idea is used in holding therapy. I don't think it can be said enough...autism is NOT, I repeat NOT, a psychological problem. It is a neurological difference that is present from birth or develops soon thereafter. Unless a child is severely neglected or physically abused to the point of neurological injury, autism is NOT caused by bad parenting (or by any particular style of parenting at all, for that matter). So even if I don't agree with the super pro-Lovaas-style-ABA philosophy of this book, I thought Maurice made an important point there.
