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buttermellow's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, and Ableism
Moderate: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Child death
Minor: Grief, Self harm, and Medical content
lakesidegirl's review
5.0
It's been a summer or two since I read this book, but I loved it. It's such a powerful story of Savarese's love for his son. It's also terrifying for someone (me) who wants to work with children with disabilities, because all of the "politics of neurological difference" are just...ridiculous. The bureaucracy, the abuse, everything that Savarese and his wife go through to adopt and raise their son is just horrendous.
iamshadow's review
5.0
Even if you never read any other in depth book about facilitated/augmentative communication, adoption, disability rights, autism activism, or autism/disability in society, you should read this one.
DJ was an abused, non-verbal, severely autistic foster kid when the Savareses started working with him, teaching him basic sign and providing an environment of unconditional love and trust. Their journey to help DJ heal, communicate and become a member of their family is a long, complicated one, and will change your perceptions of disability, autism, family and self.
Even if you’re an FC cynic, give this book a go. For further homework, watch a copy of Sue Rubin’s documentary Autism Is A World, or read [a:Lucy Blackman|197297|Lucy Blackman|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]’s [b:Lucy’s Story|343848|Lucy's Story Autism and Other Adventures|Lucy Blackman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415588680s/343848.jpg|334189]. FC isn’t the cut and dried ‘fraud’ that you may have been told it is. As always, the truth is grey rather than black and white, and there are a whole bunch of non-verbal autists who have progressed to unassisted typing, or even to speech.
DJ was an abused, non-verbal, severely autistic foster kid when the Savareses started working with him, teaching him basic sign and providing an environment of unconditional love and trust. Their journey to help DJ heal, communicate and become a member of their family is a long, complicated one, and will change your perceptions of disability, autism, family and self.
Even if you’re an FC cynic, give this book a go. For further homework, watch a copy of Sue Rubin’s documentary Autism Is A World, or read [a:Lucy Blackman|197297|Lucy Blackman|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]’s [b:Lucy’s Story|343848|Lucy's Story Autism and Other Adventures|Lucy Blackman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415588680s/343848.jpg|334189]. FC isn’t the cut and dried ‘fraud’ that you may have been told it is. As always, the truth is grey rather than black and white, and there are a whole bunch of non-verbal autists who have progressed to unassisted typing, or even to speech.
val_halla's review
4.0
This is an amazing story that covers development disabilities, inclusion in mainstream classrooms, foster care and adoption. I gave it four stars because I very much enjoyed reading about how the hero (DJ) overcomes his tumultuous past and uses his skill of typing to help other kids with autism. His father's writing, however, leaves much to be desired. At times "poetic," other times dense and scholarly, this book really isn't accessible to most of its intended audience. You need to have a good amount of university education in order to understand half the words Savarese uses, and I doubt anyone can appreciate his occasional forays into poetry. This would have been one of my favorite books ever if Saverese had just stuck to one style of writing, i.e. documentary or memoir.
memarq0's review
4.0
Definitely had some very scholarly moments that I thought actually balanced really nicely with the memoir itself. I cried multiple times in this one as DJ’s story and his family’s experience unfolded.
sarah_d's review
3.0
DJ's story was quite compelling but this book was unnecessarily long and really could have used an editor. I think that having full transcripts of all communication with one's child might make it easy to get bogged down in the sheer volume and hard to cut things out in order to let a more concise picture emerge. I definitely found myself skimming parts.
rosiesuzanna's review against another edition
3.0
Lengthy, dense, and at times disturbing, Reasonable People is worth the effort only for those with a strong interest in autism and abuse. As Savarese is a writer, the prose is smoother than most memoirs of the kind, and he includes a chapter by his adopted autistic son at the end. Especially provacative in the context of the Facilitated Communication scandal.
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