Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity

What Our Readers Are Saying

Share your thoughts on this title!

Average customer rating 3.8 (4 comments)

---

`

Was this book published in the 1950s? Here is a direct quote, "The cliche about autism is that the syndrome IMPEDES THE ABILITY TO LOVE, and I began this research interested in how much a parent could CONTRIVE TO LOVE a child who could not return that affection." As a special education teacher and Autism advocate, I cannot BEGIN to tell you how much this blatant falsehood angers me and belittles the students and families, and their teachers with whom I have worked. SHAME on Andrew Solomon for spreading fear into the unknown, but more-so-emerging world that is Autism.

`

Very exceptionally written book. Informative and telling about people on the fringe of society and how this impacts their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

`

Anyone who is a parent or thinking about ever becoming one, or anyone who is a teacher or thinking about becoming one, must read this book. Andrew Solomon eloquently and compassionately explores the families of children who are not what their parents expected. Separated by chapter, the lives of children with various "conditions" including deafness, dwarfism, autism, Down Syndrome, mental illness and more, are examined through the eyes of their parents. The book is ultimately very positive, teaching us a lesson about the beauty of the very textured fabric of the human race.

`

If you're a parent, this incredible book will change the way you think about parenting. But even if you are not, it will change how you think about humanity. Solomon deftly explores nature verses nurture and delves deep into identity in ways you doubtless haven't considered. How parents adapt when confronted with non-typical offspring is explored on the surface, but what emerges is a deep unearthing of the roots of what we think is true. It's challenging my assumptions in a good way. The book is long and sometimes the ideas need to chewed on for awhile, but so worth the read. It knocked all my other books off the shelf for a while.