How Can I Talk If My Lips Don't Move Inside My Autistic Mind

9781559708593

155970859X

"When Tito was diagnosed with severe autism at the age of three, his mother, Soma, refused to accept the conventional wisdom that severely autistic people were incapable of communication, or even of insight. She was determined to teach him how to read and write. The process was painstaking, but the results were nothing short of miraculous: Tito wrote his first book, The Mind Tree, between the ages of eight and eleven. He garnered nationwide attention, appearing on 60 Minutes II and in the pages of the New York Times, National Geographic, and People." "In this new book, Tito gives us an ever-expanding window onto how the autistic mind thinks, perceives, and operates. He chronicles his growing knowledge of himself and of his place in the world. In moving, often poetic language, he explains common behaviors, such as hand flapping, rocking, climbing up and down stairs, playing with switches, and other repetitive movements. He reveals why the severely autistic refuse to make eye contact or what may trigger a temper tantrum. And because Tito is synesthetic - sounds become colors and smells - his work is a glorious rhapsody of the senses. Throughout, he displays sparks of playful humor and a profound self-awareness that leads him to ask: "What is my reason for being? What is my contribution to society?"" "At a time when 1 in every 150 children is diagnosed with autism, Tito is a gift, a beacon of hope to all those living with the condition, their families, teachers, doctors, and the scientists who study the disorder. For if he can do it, perhaps others can, too."--BOOK JACKET.