Heigh ho, Silver

Before we proceed, gallop, don't walk to this story, take some anti-nausea meds and give it a read, if you haven't already:

"A Gallop Toward Hope: One Family’s Adventure in Fighting Autism" http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/books/15horse.html

Okay...

Those of you who know me know that I tend toward the cynical side of "magical" cures, and not without reason. We've been to our share of "healers," albeit not shamans, I'll grant you that.

There are quite a few things about this story that get my gorge rising. My own little pet dream is to collect some of my writings (and that collection grows daily) into a book about our life - isolation brought on by several factors, not the least being autism. I know that I'm looking at a struggle to even get something published. This man, Mr. Isaacson, got one million dollars...BEFORE HE WROTE A WORD. So maybe he has an established history as a travel writer. Okay, he gets points for that. But in the publisher's (Michael Pietsch) own words:

“It just touched so many points of interest — helping to heal an autistic child, traveling under difficult circumstances...Most of all, I felt this was a story entirely driven by the chances you’ll take for love, and I felt, who’s not going to want to read this story when they hear the outlines of it?”

Well, I can think of one or two people...

Reading this story reminded me of an entry I did last year about the surfing camps for kids with autism. I'll repeat a sentiment I hope I established back then: I am NOT saying that kids with autism shouldn't or can't do anything they want. I'm also not saying that riding horses or surfboards or carnival rides might not improve their behaviors temporarily. What I AM saying is that this does not a cure make.

Mr. Pietsch, right up there in his quote, says "helping to heal..." How many families are, right this minute, Googling "horseback riding/shaman appointments in Mongolia"? I'm really not joking. Some parents are THAT desperate. And again...with very, very good reason.

Another quote: “'The Horse Boy' traces Rowan’s early difficulties with 'demonic' tantrums, speech delays and incontinence. The only thing that seemed to help, Mr. Isaacson discovered, was riding horses. On horseback Rowan was calm, gave verbal directives and expressed joy."

Okay, on horseback he was calm, he spoke some, and was happy. That's fantastic. Did he suddenly ask for a port-a-potty to be strapped on to the horse? Stephen is calm when he's in Wal-Mart, clutching a new DVD, and he expresses joy when he gets to watch it. Have I hit upon a cure? Or, perhaps, our magical cure is found tucked between the golden arches - he's calm, verbal, and joyful there. A friend on FB suggested that maybe the McDonalds corporation would like to give me a million dollars to write about our life, including plenty of product placement...

The Little, Brown Company gave Mr. Isaacson a cool mil to head off on this adventure. Is there even a slight possibility some extra excitement was thrown in? A few "strategic" photos snapped? After all, you have to give the reader what they want, and they want real life DRAMA. The endless supply of reality TV shows gives a good bit of credence to that fact. Again, from Mr. Pietsch:

"Our usual response is, ‘Go have the adventure, and then we’ll decide'...[but]...regardless of the outcome in Mongolia, we thought he would write a very moving and interesting and dramatic book.”

I suppose it appears that I'm questioning Mr. Isaacson's integrity, and I guess I am in a way, but how much pressure was he under when the publisher expects a "moving and interesting and dramatic" book? There's no way to predict that an severely autistic child would have a marvelous adventure flying to Mongolia to have strange experiences. Is it possible? Sure. Best-seller material? Apparently. A cure? No way.

Mr. Isaacson says that if someone had written a book like this when his son was first diagnosed, he would've been reassured - that he would've liked to know that a family with an autistic child could still have "adventures." Good god, isn't life with a kid like this terrifyingly adventurous enough for someone? It is for me. I long for peace and quiet and calm. But that's just me.

I'm not the only skeptical party here - right in the article a mother reacts to Isaacson's careful avoidance of the word "cure," substituting "recovery" and "healing," which, of course, mean TOTALLY different things altogether. The mom says that it's hard to know if the trip, the horses, and the shamans were the reasons, or if his improvement could be attributed to natural progression (which DOES happen). She also said, "To make this story more engaging, it has to be portrayed as something miraculous and fantastical, because ordinary, everyday, slow-plodding progress does not read so well..." She's right...or is she?

I'm writing about our everyday, ordinary struggles, and many of you seem to appreciate that fact. This, the blog where I put my thoughts, fears, hopes, and, yes, Stephen's progress, is REAL. There's no magic here. I want to share our story...but there is no sunshine being blown up anyone's...skirt...here.

Mr. Isaacson is also very careful to say that this was merely what worked for HIS son, and his family. "You don’t have to get on a plane and go to Mongolia. It’s just that our particular story was that." Yes, indeed. But there are still families cashing in 401K's (well, if there's any money left in them) so that they can retrace this journey, so they, too, can gallop toward hope. More snake oil is being sold here...the false hope that is so rampant and which I've touched upon when mentioning the book by Paul Offit. The publishers are marketing this book like crazy - a book tour and all the trimmings. The brochure describes the book in a way that will appeal to a broader group - "the adventure and optimism of ‘Three Cups of Tea’ with the powerful connection between man and animal that readers loved in ‘Marley and Me.’ "

Marley and Me? I actually chuckled out loud at the mention of that oh-so-precious story about that loveable scamp, Marley - it is such an obvious tie-in to this topic.

One bookseller was sold after seeing the cover which is reportedly a "triumphant" picture of Rowan on horseback on the Mongolian steppe. I mean, what's not to like, she wonders: "It’s inspiring and uplifting and it’s about horses." A formula for success!

I dream of finding a way to tell this story of my heart, which sometimes pours forth in gentle streams but more often in painful explosions. And it'll be realistic and down-to-earth and about a little boy and his family. If you want to read about horses, pick up Black Beauty.