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   Book Info

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The Mind Tree: A Miraculous Child Breaks the Silence of Autism  
Author: Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay
ISBN: 1559706996
Format: Handover
Publish Date: June, 2005
 
     
     
   Book Review

From Publishers Weekly
Now 15 years old, the Bengali boy known as "Tito" wrote the texts collected in this book between the ages of eight and 11. That fact would be remarkable in itself, given their exquisite beauty and concision in describing the world of their author ("the cobweb of uncertainty remained"), but Tito's severe autism, diagnosed when he was three, makes them little short of miraculous. Tito's mother Soma taught him to write in Bengali and in English by working with him intensively over years. While there have been skeptics of Tito's writing ability (as documented in 60 Minutes and Good Morning America features), the experience of reading the book together with testimony from psychiatrist Lorna Wing convinces that Tito wrote it himself. It documents, with patient and poetic clarity, the experience of not fitting in, of finding the world beautiful, of having trouble making oneself understood-in short, of life as most people experience it.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Once in a great while, a special person emerges in the history of science and medicine whose unique set of characteristics sheds light on an entire disorder and sometimes even on the mysteries of the human brain. Tito is such a person. Although he is severely autistic and nearly nonverbal, his ability to communicate through his extraordinary writing is astonishing. At the age of three, Tito was diagnosed with severe autism, but his mother, with boundless hope and determination, read to him and taught him to write in English. She also challenged him to write his own stories. The result of their efforts is this remarkable book-written when he was 8 to 11 years old-comprising profound and startling philosophical prose and poetry. His beautifully crafted language reveals how it feels to be locked inside an autistic body and mind. THE MIND TREE is the work of an artist. With each page, Tito bursts through his silence into a world of art, beauty and hope.




The Mind Tree: A Miraculous Child Breaks the Silence of Autism

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Once in a great while, a special person emerges in the history of science and medicine whose unique set of characteristics sheds light on an entire disorder and sometimes even on the mysteries of the human brain. Tito is such a person. Although he is severely autistic and nearly nonverbal, his ability to communicate through his extra-ordinary writing is astonishing. At the age of three, Tito was diagnosed with severe autism, but his mother, Soma, refused to accept the conventional wisdom of the time that her son would be unable to interact with the outside world. With boundless hope and determination, she read to him and taught him to write in English. She also challenged him to write his own stories.

The result of their efforts is this remarkable book, written when Tito was between eight and eleven years old, comprising a collection of profound and startling philosophical writings about growing up in the most challenging of circumstances. His eloquent self-expression and beautifully crafted language reveal, for what experts say is the first time in history, how it feels to be locked inside an autistic body and mind.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Now 15 years old, the Bengali boy known as "Tito" wrote the texts collected in this book between the ages of eight and 11. That fact would be remarkable in itself, given their exquisite beauty and concision in describing the world of their author ("the cobweb of uncertainty remained"), but Tito's severe autism, diagnosed when he was three, makes them little short of miraculous. Tito's mother Soma taught him to write in Bengali and in English by working with him intensively over years. While there have been skeptics of Tito's writing ability (as documented in 60 Minutes and Good Morning America features), the experience of reading the book together with testimony from psychiatrist Lorna Wing convinces that Tito wrote it himself. It documents, with patient and poetic clarity, the experience of not fitting in, of finding the world beautiful, of having trouble making oneself understood-in short, of life as most people experience it. (Oct.) Forecast: A 35,000 first printing is a fair bet on this book's appeal beyond the autism community, to parents and kids who have responded to Mattie Stepanek and other child writers. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

As the subject of stories on 60 Minutes and in the New York Times and People magazine, Mukhopadhyay, now 15, is internationally known for doing what was before thought impossible: born and raised in India, the severely autistic boy (he was, in fact, mute) was taught to write and communicate. Between eight and 11, he wrote this book, which describes his childhood, his feelings, and the training that he received from his mother, in turn providing what some have called a "map" to the autistic mind. Mukhopadhyay uses a fairly difficult style that could be described as artificially elegant. Reminiscent of "scripted" language (that is, words and phrases that autistic children read or hear and use as their own), his prose sounds unnatural for a young boy and could represent not only borrowed words but also borrowed meaning and feelings. The book would have been far stronger had a coauthor explained what Mukhopadhyay was experiencing and how others saw his condition. Despite these shortcomings, this child's perspective is recommended for public and academic libraries with comprehensive Autistic Spectrum Disorders collections. For more information on Mukhopadhyay, see his web site (www.cureautismnow.com/tito).-Corey Seeman, Univ. of Toledo Libs., OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

     



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