A Child Called Noah
Greenfeld, Josh. (1972). A child called Noah: A family journey. New York, New York: Holt, Rinehart and WinstonThis is book tells the story of a family with a child named Noah that is Autistic. Josh Greenfeld is an author by trade but displays a unique perspective on his families struggles with Noah. He has chosen to write this book as a collection of journal entries, as he says in the opening, "Let me cull some entries from my journal, for although often muddled and uninformed, I think they can best communicate who we are as people, and the nature and quality of the experience." I believe that by using this approach he has done a masterful job in conveying the genuine emotional struggles that a family with a child who is disabled might go through. The story is set up with the author painting a picture of he and his wife Foumi are as people, as all too human people with their frailties and complexities. Greenfeld even goes as far as to admit that had his wife and him had the money they would have aborted Noah. I was quite surprised by the raw truth that he d
This does not seem to be the case with Noah, and will not be the case for the rest of his life. The idea of respite care is never more poignant then in this situation. One is left to wonder whether their marriage will dissolve or whether they will stick together for the benefit of the children, will be equally tragic. Now here it is important to recognize the complexities involved with being second time parents and worrying that you are being overly protective. As most literature suggests Noah is quite normal at birth and continues this way for the first 6 months. Some thought provoking things come out of this story. This unfortunately is not as cut and dried for autism. The book only takes us through Noah's fifth birthday so how Karl's life will ultimately be affected is not known. The other concern and I am sure it is that way for must families I the tension that Noah's disability causes in the marriage of Josh and Foumi they really seem to be at each others thoughts throughout the story yet they remain together. Another example of the difficulties that the family of an autistic child faces is driven home in an argument with a doctor in which he suggests that perhaps they are to concerned with Noah and should consider having another child. Josh and his wife have one other child Karl that although having the normal baby things has had a quite normal development. What I found interesting is the calm that comes along with a diagnosis, for parents the not knowing must be the hardest part, because with a diagnosis comes a cure or a course of treatment. At the age of two, an absolute diagnosis of autism is made. I think that the concerns as a family are the most interesting concerns in this book.
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Rinehart Winston,
family child,
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