Customer Reviews
Strange Son 
2008-01-09
Very good book to read for anyone working with children with Autism. It provides insights to children who are non-verbal and appear to be in "their own world". Helps us to realize that there is a real child in there if we can only find a way to help them express themselves. The determination and perserverance of the mother is impressive.
Incredible courage and tenacity for both mothers and sons 2007-11-28
One of the best books I have read in years. I bought additional copies to give as gifts for my friends who work with both gifted and special needs children.
Great True Story 2007-11-13
I think this books helps all people, not only parents, to realize what goes on in the mind of a person with aurtism.
I have worked with different types of children, and I was really happy that many of my questions were answered.
A book to make money not worthy to read though... 
2007-10-15
The disrespect of the author for Tito is an alarming sign of her attitude about autism.
Fascinating journey through a strange place 2007-09-16
An excellent and well-written account of a mother's journey to understand the mental space that her autistic son occupies. It is filled with beautiful poetry ..rigorous science .. current practices ..and the harrowing struggle to be heard. Along the way you begin to understand the delicate balance between the mind and the senses that goes on inside us all. I highly recommend this book for scientists, mental health practitioners, care-givers as well as the general reading audience. It is highly readable and sheds a much needed light on the subject of autism .. the field of neuroscience ..a family's struggle with both autism and the scientific community ..as well as the need for compassion and receptivity when presented with behaviour we do not fully understand. While reading this book, my heart goes out to Dov, Tito, Soma and Portia ..and their efforts to try and bring clarity to an area of human development overlooked far too long.
Are we reading the same book? 
2007-09-15
Part memoir, part detective story, this is the powerful story of how two mothers from opposite sides of the world united in an effort to communicate with their severely autistic sons, discovering breakthroughs that challenged prevailing theories about autism.
Tito Mukhopadhyay, an autistic boy from India who spends most of his time flapping his fingers in front of his eyes, has an IQ of 185. He favors the writings of Wordsworth and Ibsen. He loves philosophy, reads
People, and worries about conflict in the Middle East. He also writes beautiful poetry.
That Tito can communicate at all is due to his mother, Soma, who single-handedly developed a revolutionary method of teaching him in their one-room apartment in Bangalore, a "classroom" that lacked even running water.
Portia Iversen, an Emmy-winning art director whose life was turned upside down when her own son Dov was diagnosed with autism, heard of Soma's miraculous story in the course of her own desperate search for a cure. Under the auspices of Cure Autism Now, the foundation she started with her husband that is now one of the largest funds for autism research in the world, Portia brought Soma and Tito to America to help researchers understand how Soma accomplished this amazing feat and to determine what can be learned from their success.
Together, Soma and Portia have made remarkable progress in teaching their sons how to break through the walls of autism. And, in the process, they have assisted scientists in making astonishing discoveries about the nature of autism itself.
Strange Son is the extraordinary account of two families who redefined how autism-and autistic people-should be treated, all the while helping to answer some of autism's most baffling questions and prompting new research. Iversen weaves the twin stories of Soma and Tito (and how Soma's methods mystified experts) together with her own story of how she and her family came to understand Dov. The result is a book suffused with uplifting human drama.
Strange book 
2007-07-26
Upon finishing this book, I was left dissatisfied with the lack of content it actually provided the reader. I had hoped for more, but this was a one-sided tale. Once I finally reached the "meat" of the book concerning Tito's testing, it was overshadowed by the continuous disrespect to both Tito and Soma. It was painful to read at times. We should be more thankful and dignified in our appreciation to Soma and Tito.
Free the others 
2007-07-11
I enjoyed reading this book. As a speech-language pathologist who has worked with, and advocated for, individuals on the autism spectrum for almost 20 years, I found many of Iversen's speculations about the mysteries of autism to be quite interesting. As a fan of Tito's and Soma's, however, I was disappointed with how they sometimes were portrayed. Iversen, who is obviously extremely knowledgeable in many areas, sometimes came across as insensitive and disrespectful toward Tito and Soma.
It was intriguing to read that many of the scientists who were introduced to Tito found it absolutely mind-boggling to believe that such a person could exist. They couldn't seem to grasp that a person who was viewed as essentially non-verbal and severely autistic could possibly communicate through writing. And yet, since the late '80's there have been many thousands of individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities all over the globe who have communicated effectively with Facilitated Communication (FC)--often describing their experiences with autism in words similar to those used so elegantly by Tito. Volumes of such writings are available. How is it that so many researchers/scientists are unaware of what these people have written? I found myself wishing Iversen would have said more about that. Is it possible that she is not aware of the similarities between FC and Soma's Rapid Prompt Method?
Despite these disappointments, I think the book is well worth reading. It will, hopefully, make many readers re-think their mistaken beliefs about autism, and come to recognize that not being able to speak does not mean one does not have intact "inner language". Soma has helped many to express their thoughts, as has FC. As an autistic friend of mine writes, we need to "Free the others"
H. James
Fascinating, through provoking, but leaves a lot of questions 2007-06-16
This is a fascinating book. It involves an idea about autism I've often thought myself---are some children with autism auditory learners, not visual? Ever since Thinking in Pictures, visual thinkers get the press, but my son (who has Aspergers) has always been much more driven by auditory input. I know that's even rarer in Aspergers, but it's the case---I think he thinks almost totally in dialogue and sounds.
Ironically, the author thinks that being more stimulated by auditory input leads to being non-verbal. I think she is onto something (my son is very verbal, but he has AS, not classic autism). It's amazing what Dov was able to accomplish with Soma's help, although I think Portia doesn't give herself enough credit for the foundation she laid.
However, I felt that there were some lingering doubts about Soma's methods (that she used to reach her severely autistic some Tito). I think Portia had many questions and doubts about just what was happening, and why Tito and the other children made so little progress without Soma around. From what the book says, there is no doubt Tito was communicating on his own, as was Dov, but how did it really happen? How can it be used? To her credit, the author leaves these doubts in the book, but this does make for a bit of an unsettling read. I feel sort of like I'm reading a work in progress. The focus was somewhat scattered---going from Tito to researchers to Dov. I would love to read a book just about the author, her family and interesting life, and Dov. I am glad I read this book---it certainly got me thinking.
Torn 2007-05-26
When I first read this book I thought it was enjoyable and moving. I respect the author for the money raised to fund Autism research. However like most other reviewers I can't stomach all the name calling and the horrible descriptions of Tito. The author took it upon herself to take potshots at Tito at every turn. I have a son on the spectrum and if someone described my son like that, it would be over.
