Book Reviews

This book is a real page turner. I was totally enthralled. Barbara is an excellent author. The book is well written, easy to follow, and very entertaining. Barbara tells a tragic story, however, it's done in a very comprehensive, compassionate, and humorous way. It's filled with love, showing the great lengths and perseverance that a mother will go through for her child. Although it's a personal journey for Barbara and Kenny, it will totally engulf you emotionally. Not only do you get the challenges and successes of Kenny... you also get to read about his thoughts and unusual abilities. It definitely left me wanting more. A must have piece of work.

When Kenny Coppo, Jr. was born on February 1, 1978 he was a healthy, thriving baby. He developed normally until he received a vaccination from the Wyeth Labs on September 6, 1979. From there, he developed autistic behaviors and his cognitive abilities were not as readily apparent. His 16-year-old sister Rhonda, always loving and protective of her brother was especially devastated. In addition to the autism, Kenny became epileptic and to this day takes anti-seizure medication.

Kenny's behavior appeared to be severely autistic and he made the rounds of special programs in the Bay Area. One especially good placement in the Spectrum School was where Kenny's cognitive abilities and special skills shone. Marginally verbal since 1979, Kenny worked with a team of dedicated and kind specialists on Facilitated Communication (FC), where he pointed to words or printed them out on a computer. It was at Spectrum where Kenny's telepathic abilities were uncovered. Those working with Kenny would think of a word and he would immediately print or point to it. From June 15, 1993 until August 7, 2000 transcripts of Kenny's sessions with his teachers have been provided. Readers get to travel with Kenny and take in his incredible progress.

Kenny also had a facination with stars and even named several. Some of the stars such as Vegas were ones he recognized and whose names he knew. This has yet to be explained. So far, the only explanation came from Kenny who said that he knew the stars' names and that the names came from space. He also demonstrated incredible mathematical skills and could point to the correct answer out of a list of multiple choice questions.

My favorite parts were when Rhonda sang with the Beatles as a toddler (good early cultural exposure) and Kenny's strong spirituality. During several of his FC sessions, he told his teachers that he knew Jesus; that Jesus would help him and made other deeply profound and poignant statements about the Lord Jesus Christ. I found that especially beautiful and moving. I also loved the part about a priest known for his healing ability developing a deep bond and rapport with Kenny.

This is an excellent book that will leave a lasting impression on readers. Kenny's behavior remains severely autistic, but he is clearly an intelligent person who, as he said can't talk as he is trapped in his mind. His attraction to windows seems especially a propos in light of his remarkable intelligence and interest in things celestial. Once he was able to express himself, he provided a window to galaxies (not Fords) that few ever imagined possible.

I found his expressions interesting and very a propos; I was also impressed by the fact that he taught himself to read. Kenny traveled down quite a Long & Winding Road and his story makes me think of the Grateful Dead classic, "Truckin'," because what a long, strange trip it's been!

This is an excellent reminder to all that talking in a normal fashion to a person who is nonverbal at worst, marginally verbal at best is an excellent way to show respect and to recognize that the person comes before the autism.

 

This is a story that touches my heart. Not only do we have 1 in 150 children with autism, we have a growing population of adults suffering the devastating effects of vaccine damage. The brother of an autistic boy recently said "If I could just go back in time, and stop that doctor from giving him all those shots everything would be different, but I can't."

There is a book that focuses on the DTP vaccine and all the damage it caused called A Shot in the Dark. Many people unfortunately believe the newer DTaP is safe, but there is evidence to the contrary in such books and DVDs as Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective and Vaccines: What CDC Documents and Science Reveal.

Luckily there are stories out there of full recovery, such as Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism and He's Not Autistic But...: How We Pulled Our Son From the Mouth of the Abyss. Both women acknowledge the roll vaccines played in their son's illness.

Five Stars - Tenna, Author, "He's Not Autistic, But..." This story is moving and tragic. The book is about Kenny who is born healthy and develops normally until 19 months old, when he is given the DPT shot (which stands for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertusis). The next day he goes into seizures, which continue on for the rest of his life. He is eventually diagnosed with autism. Amazingly, early on, one of the doctors in the hospital tells Kenny's parents that it was the vaccine that caused the seizures. That would never happen today. They eventually go to court and sue the vaccine manufacturer, which you can't do today. She says she learned a lot in the lawsuit that most people don't know, such as after a vaccine death the pharmaceuticals will plant false stories of a pertusis outbreak. Kenny's parents are passionate advocates for their son and fight to get him into appropriate programs, which is quite difficult, because his condition is so severe. He is practically non-verbal, has violent outbursts, and runs like a cheetah. They go from one program to another for various reasons. They usually start out looking promising, but then staff changes, or they lose funding, or Kenny gets too old. One of the more interesting sections is the one on facilitated communication (fc), which is almost 200 pages long. Fc is a method of assisting non-verbal people to communicate. The non-verbal person guides the facilitator to letters. Like most things in the autism community, it is controversial. In his fc, he expresses likes and dislikes, such as he wants more puzzles, he's bored at school, he wishes people wouldn't talk to him in baby talk, and he has a passion for stars. Stars are one of his past times, and he makes up exotic names for them. Some of the names he gives them are the correct scientific names, and they can find no way that he would have known that. Through fc, they discover that Kenny is telepathic. Yes, I realize this sounds absurd in today's modern world. But this isn't the first time I've heard someone say that a child with autism knows what people think. On some level, we are all able to tell what people are thinking at certain times, maybe not as specifically as Kenny, but we've all known that someone couldn't be trusted, or that they liked us, or numerous other things. It's certainly an interesting twist in the story. Unfortunately, he loses interest in fc somewhere along the line, so we quit seeing inside of his head. He also graduates from school at 22, because that's as far as the school system will support a disabled child. His mother definitely feels like he this was a big loss for the whole family, as he then only wants to sit and look out the window. Barbara, Kenny's mother is the author, and like many other parents of children on the spectrum, her whole life has revolved around recovering and caring for her son. She has a couple of respite care workers that make it possible for her to have a little bit of time to herself, but now at the age of 65 she dreads the thought of her death, and Kenny being left behind. She has someone who has agreed to take him that she is as comfortable with as she can be in this circumstance. But, it is still a frightening proposition, the prospect of leaving behind an adult-child, that is so disabled, and that needs so much intense supervision and care. Five Stars - Dr. Carol Hoyer for Reader Views One of the things we mothers have is an incredible sense of things going wrong with our children. Barbara Coppo was no different. She and her husband Ken already had a beautiful healthy girl, when she found out she was pregnant again. She wasn't sure how she felt about being pregnant again now that she had a great career and her daughter was a teenager, but as time went on she was very excited and hoped that this pregnancy would bring her husband and her closer together. On February 1, 1978 she delivered a healthy boy whom they named Kenny. Kenny was the center of attention for his first year of life--adored by everyone. When it came time for Kenny to have his eighteen-month shots, Barbara got a "feeling," and wasn't sure what was causing the apprehension. After several lengthy discussions with her pediatrician, her husband and family members, she finally decided to get him his boosters. On September 6th, 1979, Kenny got his last series of the d.p.t. booster - his life would change forever. After a few days, Kenny wasn't able to talk, walk or respond in his normal happy way. Even the doctor's were stumped as to what had happened-- they continued to explain that vaccines for children were very safe. And again the next day Kenny began to have convulsions -- still no reason why. This was Kenny's life to this day-- seizures, mobility problems, no friends and he has characteristics of autism. Doctor's even had the gall to tell his mother that he was retarded. With numerous evaluations, behavioral schools, special classes and countless hours of care and research by his mother, it was realized Kenny would never be a normal child again. Even through the years, pediatricians kept telling Kenny's parents that vaccines were safe. Yet one doctor finally told Barbara that through research it was indicated, after the d.p.t. vaccines, that some children became autistic, mentally-challenged and some even died. This is a parent's worse nightmare - all of us today think about the effect of vaccines on our children. Yet never once did Kenny's parents, friends, therapists give up on him. They continued to push him to the point that he was finally able to talk through the use of facilitative communication. No one even imagined he had all those thoughts and intelligence in him. He was very aware of his challenges and knew he was different. He was also very mathematically inclined. To this day, Kenny is a loner, but has many friends and supporters. He loves to watch people through his upstairs window. He has a set routine that no one can upset or his violent behavior will come out. But he has made great strides even though he came across many obstacles with very little support from the school systems. How does a mother do this? You do what you have to do to save your child, never take no for an answer. Many parents of children with special needs have been through this high and low road. Having worked with family members who have children or adult children with special challenges for over 25 years, Barbara Coppo's story is the same for many of them. The frustration, anger and trying to figure out what they did to cause this. My personal and professional opinion is that everyone involved with children; teachers, coaches, school boards and therapists should read "The Boy in the Window" to get a first-hand knowledge of what families go through.