By Dan E. Burns
University of North Texas Press, 2009, 154 p., $22.95

Saving Ben: A Father's Story of Autism is more than just another autism memoir; it is the powerful story of writer Dan E. Burns' quest to cure his son and how in the process he discovers his frailties, determination, devotion and ultimately acceptance.

Burns knows his craft and packs the plot with unexpected twists, suspense and a running metaphor that compares his journey to that of Dorothy in Oz persevering until she finds her way home.  

Parents of children with autism will relate as the author describes how he probed doctors for medical solutions, battled special education administrators and encountered mental health professionals who deemed institutionalization a better solution.  However, I found the most relevant and perhaps disturbing aspect of this drama to be that Ben as a baby developed motor and language skills that were lost by the time he was two. He0 was ripping up books that he had previously enjoyed looking at. By four years of age Ben was so developmentally delayed he tasted everything he touched, was repeatedly treated for objects stuffed into his ears, smeared feces on walls and fled the house the instant an opportunity arose.

As an occupational therapist, I was fascinated by the transformation from this profound degree of disability to, to a large extent, "recovery." I highly recommend that you read "Saving Ben", and although it will be difficult to pin down which of the many interventions (including intensive ABA training) was the magic bullet, it is well worth trying to fit the puzzle pieces together.

There are two aspects of this book of special interest to occupational therapists. One is that Ben's father recognized early on how to meet baby Ben's sensory needs with rocking, car rides, placing the infant seat on the washing machine and holding him upside down. A consultant recommended a home based sensory integration program  for three-year-old Ben twice a day for a month that included a suspended ceiling swing, rolling on mats, squeezing limbs, spinning in a swivel chair and lots of deep rubs with a towel. Although Ben loved the stimulation and his eye contact improved a bit, many destructive behaviors continued unabated and there was no baseline or data to prove where the efforts would lead. This experience was one step in the process of demanding that the educational system do their job.

Occupational therapists will also find of interest the variety of alternative treatments tried on Ben because some of these seemed to work at times and so many parents these days are trying them out. These include trials of: high dosage vitamin B, the mind boosting supplement DMG (dimethylglycine), casein and wheat free diets, phototherapy, a Clonidine patch (usually used to treat hypertension), immunoglobulin infusions (used to treat immune deficiencies) and chelation to remove toxic metals.

Saving Ben is an intensive read, packed with useful information, entertaining drama and much food for thought. Twenty-one years of Ben are packed into 154 pages of emotional roller coaster as Burns rises to the challenge of "Saving Ben" whom he calls "a work in process".    

This book is available through University of North Texas Press, 1155 union Circle #311336, Denton, TX 76203-5017, 940-565-2142, http://web3.unt.edu/untpress.

Reviwer Barbara Smith earned a B.A. in English from S.U.N.Y New Palz and a M.S. from Tufts University's Boston School of Occupational Therapy. With over 30 years' of experience working in schools, day programs, community residences and institutions, Barbara currently works on a hippotherapy farm and treats many children on the autism spectrum. Smith is the author of The Recycling Occupational Therapist- a guide to designing and creating therapeutic activities for individuals with developmental disabilities and Still Giving Kisses: A Guide to Helping and Enjoying the Alzheimer's Victim You Love. Learn more about Barbara, upcoming presentations and her work at HorseOT.com.