One of the tasks on last week’s 2nd week of Awesome was to read at least 4 chapters from a book.  This book Winter’s Flower is one that I have been meaning to read for some time now….. (meaning for the last 7 years since I first became a rapid eye technician) It’s about the founder of RET- Renee Johnson and her life and struggles raising an autistic child.
This book was soon good I soon forgot the 4 chapter goal and ended up reading the whole book in 2 days!
It was so eye-opening to me to learn about the experiences in detail that a parent of an autistic child has on a daily basis and what their life is like.  It gave me a whole new respect for those parents.

The first part of the book I felt exhausted just reading about all the demands and worry, not to mention drama and hurt they had to deal with from outside sources.

I compared the ages of her son throughout the book to the ages of my own children.  Trying to imagine my 2 year old wandering off every time we turned around.  Or a 4 year old climbing up on the roof, and so on.  Then to think of how no traditional form of communication, punishment or teaching would work.  It certainly would leave one to get creative and think outside the box!

Before reading this book I already loved and had a high esteem for Renee and every time I’ve spoke with her on the phone it’s been an absolute joy.  She is so loving and sweet you can’t help but feel her unconditional love just talking to her.  When I became a certified RET I worked with Sharlene and Lynell, two of her daughters, and just fell in love with them!  The entire Rapid Eye family of technicians is a great group of loving and non-judgemental people.  You can’t help but feel at home when you’re around them.

I would highly recommend this book to any parents with autistic children as well as people like myself that may not have first hand experience but it will give you a better understanding and empathy for those parents.

You can order the book online here.

Visit: www.rapideyetechnology.com  to learn more