Pentapod reviewed Life, animated by Ron Suskind
Review of 'Life, animated' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I picked up this audiobook after hearing an interview with the author on NPR. It's written by the father of an autistic spectrum son (Owen), recounting the family's discovery that the boy was locked into a state where all he seemed to be able to understand was Disney movies, and how the family learned to use Disney movie dialog to communicate with him and help him learn to understand the outside world also.
While I'm not a particular fan of Disney, it was a fascinating perspective on them that I'd never seen before. Apparently the original hand drawn classics were animated to have such realistic emotional expressions that the animators kept a mirror at their desk in order to check their drawings against their own facial expressions. Possibly because of these very clear, exaggerated emotions, apparently many kids with autism like symptoms are drawn to the movies, and at least …
I picked up this audiobook after hearing an interview with the author on NPR. It's written by the father of an autistic spectrum son (Owen), recounting the family's discovery that the boy was locked into a state where all he seemed to be able to understand was Disney movies, and how the family learned to use Disney movie dialog to communicate with him and help him learn to understand the outside world also.
While I'm not a particular fan of Disney, it was a fascinating perspective on them that I'd never seen before. Apparently the original hand drawn classics were animated to have such realistic emotional expressions that the animators kept a mirror at their desk in order to check their drawings against their own facial expressions. Possibly because of these very clear, exaggerated emotions, apparently many kids with autism like symptoms are drawn to the movies, and at least in Owen's case, use them to help learn about and understand "normal" human emotions that are otherwise very difficult for the autistic to interpret.
The family's dedication to helping Owen and the lengths they go to is both impressive and daunting. Fortunately they had the resources to do this; I couldn't help thinking as I read, how many other families simply wouldn't have a chance to give their son all the many vast advantages that Owen received.
I wasn't entirely sold on the style of writing, and I can't help thinking that the picture of family life portrayed in the book is so wholesome and Brady-Bunch-idyllic that it makes me wonder exactly how much was swept under the carpet by the father author. But it was still an interesting and thought provoking read.
