''Strange Son: Two Mothers, Two Sons, and the Quest to Unlock the Hidden World of Autism'' is a 2007 book by Portia Iversen. It concerns the development of her second son, Dov, who started expressing

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

characteristics around age two, and how she used the

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

technique

rapid prompting method The rapid prompting method (RPM) is a pseudoscientific technique that attempts to aid people with autism or other disabilities to communicate through pointing, typing, or writing. Also known as Spelling to Communicate, it is closely related to t ...

with him and believes it has helped him.

Plot summary

Iversen's second son Dov, born in 1992, developed typically as an infant. At age two, he began reacting atypically to noises and also made unusual noises himself. He was

nonverbal Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a nonverbal platform such as eye contact ( oculesics), body language ( kinesics), social distance ( proxemics), touch ( haptics), voice ( prosody and paralanguage), p ...

at age three and fascinated by objects. These characteristics resulted in an autism diagnosis. Dov was still nonverbal at age eight. Iverson heard about an autistic boy named Tito who lived in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

with his mother,

Soma Mukhopadhyay Soma Mukhopadhyay is credited with creating rapid prompting method (though others have developed similar techniques, known as informative pointing or alphabet therapy), a pseudoscientific technique that attempts to aid people with autism or other d ...

. She heard Mukhopadhyay had taught her son how to speak, write poetry, and explain how the poetry made him feel. Hoping Mukhopadhyay might also be able to help Dov communicate, Iverson invited Mukhopadhyay and Tito to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

for a month. In the end, Iverson believed Mukhopadhyay's

helped Dov start communicating with her.

Cure Autism Now

Iverson's husband, Jon Shestack, founded Cure Autism Now (CAN), an organization that aimed to find a cure for autism and increase society's understanding of autistic people. A part of ''Strange Son'' sales benefited CAN's Innovative Technology for Autism initiative. CAN merged with

Autism Speaks Autism Speaks Inc. is an American non-profit autism awareness organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governm ...

in 2007.

Reception

Critics of

, a

technique, have criticized the book for supporting it. Ernst VanBergeijk of ''

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders The ''Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering research on all aspects of autism spectrum disorders and related developmental disabilities. The journal was established in 1971 as the ''Jou ...

'' found it disappointing that Iverson briefly mentioned that Dov began expressing autistic characteristics following

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

, stating, "This causal impression does a disservice to families" because of "mountains of data finding no causal link between

vaccines and autism Extensive investigation into vaccines and autism spectrum disorder has shown that there is no relationship between the two, causal or otherwise, and that vaccine ingredients do not cause autism. The American scientist Peter Hotez researched the ...

". Abigail Zuger,

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

, writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

,'' highlighted how the book does not gloss over problems as is common in other books that detail medical stories. Regis Schilken of

Blogcritics Blogcritics is a blog network and online magazine of news and opinion. The site was founded in 2002 by Eric Olsen (writer), Eric Olsen and Phillip Winn. Blogcritics features more than 100 original articles every week, and maintains an archive of a ...

said, "''Strange Son'' should be read by psychiatrists, psychologists, doctors, counselors, and at all costs, by politicians who must provide money for autism research."

References

{{Autism resources Penguin Books books Non-fiction books about autism 2007 non-fiction books