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A review by awesomebrandi
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
5.0
Happiness Falls is a well paced mystery/thriller novel about a missing father, but more than that; it is about the journey of a misunderstood, nonspeaking, disabled teenager, who is the only person to know what really happened.
As the parent of a brilliant, beautiful, amazing, loving, incredible nonspeaking Autistic son, this book reached into my soul. To see things written inside a piece of fiction that are almost identical to things my son was able to say once he had a way to communicate (typing). To feel the sweet relief of seeing a fiction book representation the TRUTH of the lived existence of so many nonspeakers with motor challenges, who have had their capability and personhood overlooked and denied. I cried a lot. I'm crying right now, as I write this. It was clear that Angie Kim clearly listened to nonspeakers, as they have been begging people to do. To see the words I've been privileged to see written first hand by nonspeakers, to tell their true story wrapped within a delicious mystery/thriller.
There were just so many elements that hit the nail on the head. While I have always believed in my son, and I always knew his brain was full of capability, I had the world telling me his story was already written. Just like the family in this book was told that Eugene's story was already written. And, as much as I have always been my son's advocate, I know that I am not perfect, that I am always unlearning and working to do better. While I am also neurodivergent, I will never know what it is like to live as my son does, with a powerful and brilliant brain, in a tempermental body that does what it wants. I appreciated that Angie included the guilt aspects, the guilt of not always presuming competence. The guilt that I think stands behind so many people's refusals to believe in S2C (spelling to communicate) and other AAC methods.
One of the quotes that really just felt like it reached into my soul, was this:
"Under this theory, Eugene not speaking might be a symptom of a hyper-verbal and hyper-cognitive mind rather than a hypo- one, the paradoxical consequence of an overabundance of thoughts fighting for processing bandwidth, clogging up the nerves like a traffic jam and causing a total breakdown."
When my son was younger, this is what I said. I said, when his beautiful brain was developing in the womb, it just hit the apex and kept going. It kept going to another level, and all we needed was a way to build a bridge and know what was in his brain. To see a similar sentiment echoed in this book just had me sobbing.
This is a work of fiction, but there are elements of truth in so many works of fiction. Angie Kim has done the work to show the truth of so many nonspeakers who have been able to share their words thanks to letterboards, typing and more. I would encourage everyone to take their reading a step further by reading the words of nonspeakers. There are many brilliant books, blogs, social media accounts and more, authored by nonspeakers. Don't dismiss the parts of this book that are lived truths for people like my son, and other wonderful humans. Let this book be a jumping off point to be a better ally to the disabled community. We are stronger together, and that certainly includes nonspeakers.
A few books by nonspeakers:
[b:The Reason I Jump|16113737|The Reason I Jump|Naoki Higashida|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1384018847l/16113737._SY75_.jpg|22016567]
[b:Leaders Around Me: Autobiographies of Autistics who Type, Point, and Spell to Communicate|52283506|Leaders Around Me Autobiographies of Autistics who Type, Point, and Spell to Communicate|Edlyn Vallejo Peña|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1570156206l/52283506._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73628424]
[b:Ido in Autismland: Climbing Out of Autism’s Silent Prison|17081557|Ido in Autismland Climbing Out of Autism’s Silent Prison|Ido Kedar|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356130311l/17081557._SX50_.jpg|23450094]
I also encourage you to check out [b:The Bookbinder|63946934|The Bookbinder|Pip Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1678145859l/63946934._SY75_.jpg|96894720] by Pip Williams, which also features an Autistic young woman who communicates with echolalia. Another beautiful and respectful book that shows communication happens in many ways, and those ways are valid.
As the parent of a brilliant, beautiful, amazing, loving, incredible nonspeaking Autistic son, this book reached into my soul. To see things written inside a piece of fiction that are almost identical to things my son was able to say once he had a way to communicate (typing). To feel the sweet relief of seeing a fiction book representation the TRUTH of the lived existence of so many nonspeakers with motor challenges, who have had their capability and personhood overlooked and denied. I cried a lot. I'm crying right now, as I write this. It was clear that Angie Kim clearly listened to nonspeakers, as they have been begging people to do. To see the words I've been privileged to see written first hand by nonspeakers, to tell their true story wrapped within a delicious mystery/thriller.
There were just so many elements that hit the nail on the head. While I have always believed in my son, and I always knew his brain was full of capability, I had the world telling me his story was already written. Just like the family in this book was told that Eugene's story was already written. And, as much as I have always been my son's advocate, I know that I am not perfect, that I am always unlearning and working to do better. While I am also neurodivergent, I will never know what it is like to live as my son does, with a powerful and brilliant brain, in a tempermental body that does what it wants. I appreciated that Angie included the guilt aspects, the guilt of not always presuming competence. The guilt that I think stands behind so many people's refusals to believe in S2C (spelling to communicate) and other AAC methods.
One of the quotes that really just felt like it reached into my soul, was this:
"Under this theory, Eugene not speaking might be a symptom of a hyper-verbal and hyper-cognitive mind rather than a hypo- one, the paradoxical consequence of an overabundance of thoughts fighting for processing bandwidth, clogging up the nerves like a traffic jam and causing a total breakdown."
When my son was younger, this is what I said. I said, when his beautiful brain was developing in the womb, it just hit the apex and kept going. It kept going to another level, and all we needed was a way to build a bridge and know what was in his brain. To see a similar sentiment echoed in this book just had me sobbing.
This is a work of fiction, but there are elements of truth in so many works of fiction. Angie Kim has done the work to show the truth of so many nonspeakers who have been able to share their words thanks to letterboards, typing and more. I would encourage everyone to take their reading a step further by reading the words of nonspeakers. There are many brilliant books, blogs, social media accounts and more, authored by nonspeakers. Don't dismiss the parts of this book that are lived truths for people like my son, and other wonderful humans. Let this book be a jumping off point to be a better ally to the disabled community. We are stronger together, and that certainly includes nonspeakers.
A few books by nonspeakers:
[b:The Reason I Jump|16113737|The Reason I Jump|Naoki Higashida|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1384018847l/16113737._SY75_.jpg|22016567]
[b:Leaders Around Me: Autobiographies of Autistics who Type, Point, and Spell to Communicate|52283506|Leaders Around Me Autobiographies of Autistics who Type, Point, and Spell to Communicate|Edlyn Vallejo Peña|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1570156206l/52283506._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73628424]
[b:Ido in Autismland: Climbing Out of Autism’s Silent Prison|17081557|Ido in Autismland Climbing Out of Autism’s Silent Prison|Ido Kedar|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356130311l/17081557._SX50_.jpg|23450094]
I also encourage you to check out [b:The Bookbinder|63946934|The Bookbinder|Pip Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1678145859l/63946934._SY75_.jpg|96894720] by Pip Williams, which also features an Autistic young woman who communicates with echolalia. Another beautiful and respectful book that shows communication happens in many ways, and those ways are valid.