“Reaching My Autistic Son Through Disney,” by Ron Suskind

In the New York Times article, “Reaching My Autistic Son Through Disney,” by Ron Suskind, a father explains his moving experience with his son’s autism. Although I have read a few books about boys struggling with this disorder, the interesting perspective of a father trying to find a way to communicate with his “lost” son is an enlightening view point.

The central idea of the text is that however irreversible and detaching autism seems, there will always be a way to reach your child. The father describes first “losing” his son to autism and how for the first three years of his life, Owen showed no signs of autism, speaking regularly and with normal social habits for a toddler. When Owen was around three, he stopped speaking and his family was devastated that they could “no longer reach him.” 

     A few years later, Suskind and his family were watching a movie and Owen spoke- although not in his own words, he could articulate. This was one of the hopeful anecdotes Suskind used to convey his positive message that there will always be a way for a parent to reach their child.

     However positive the message is towards the reader, Suskind does use personal, emotion provoking anecdotes. As Suskind follows Owen through his life, marking memorable biographic moments with an anecdote, the reader falls into sync with Suskind’s empathy towards Owen- as well as a hunger for even more communication than what is happening then. When Owen speaks for the first time after a year, Suskind waits for a sentence. Even when Owen can carry out a conversation with the assistance of borrowed Disney movies’ lines, Suskind is waiting for an original thought or feeling to emerge. An extremely emotion provoking anecdote was when Owen is freely conversing with his father about how he is a “sidekick,” someone who “breathes life into the hero,” and is satisfied with always being second best.

     I think that both Owen and his father are very inspiring people because of their perseverance and hope. This perspective differs from other authors’ stories on autism because it is less focused on the child’s traits- their social disabilities and stereotypical IQ- but more focused on the family’s journey to the next checkpoint in the child’s slow but sure advancement. Suskind places a realistic view on his experience with autism, and how although it was toilsome, he broke through to his son.