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    Daniel Isn’t Talking
    Unavailable
    Daniel Isn’t Talking
    Unavailable
    Daniel Isn’t Talking
    Ebook305 pages4 hours

    Daniel Isn’t Talking

    By Marti Leimbach

    3.5/5

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    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this ebook

    A powerful novel exploring the effects of autism on a young family from Marti Leimbach, author of the international bestseller ‘Dying Young’, who has experienced and dealt with the condition within her immediate family.

    My husband saw me at a party and decided he wanted to marry me.

    Melanie Marsh is an American living in London married to Stephen, the perfect Englishman, who knew the minute he saw her that she was to be his future. But when their youngest child is diagnosed with autism their marriage starts to unravel at great speed. Stephen runs back into the arms of his previous girlfriend while Melanie does everything in her power to help her son and keep her family together.

    And then one day Melanie hears about a man named Andy O'Connor, who calls himself a ‘play therapist’ and has a client list so long she can barely get him on the phone. Some say he's a maverick and a con artist of the first degree, but when he walks into the house and starts playing with her child, Melanie knows she's found the key to her son's success, and possibly to her own happiness.

    ‘Daniel Isn't Talking’ is a passionate and darkly humorous novel that explores a mother's determination to help her child. A love story for grown ups, it somehow extends its wisdom far beyond the parameters of disability and into the substance of human nature itself. A tense, moving novel that will make you laugh out loud even as it breaks your heart.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateSep 4, 2008
    ISBN9780007279272
    Unavailable
    Daniel Isn’t Talking
    Author

    Marti Leimbach

    Marti Leimbach was born in 1963 in Washington, DC. She has written several other novels, one of which, Dying Young, was turned into a major feature film in 1991 staring Julia Roberts. Marti now lives in the UK.

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    Reviews for Daniel Isn’t Talking

    3.5/5

    108 ratings15 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Don't read this book!!! The author gives a completely stereotyped, unrealistic portrayal of children with autism. Being a speech-language pathologist that works with children with autism, I was offended by the generalized portrayal and lack of research put into this book. I actually wrote to the author because I was enraged by her portrayal of speech therapist in certain chapters.
    • 4/5
      This is a good book which I appreciated much more after I read it completely and also read "A note from the author". During my read of the novel, I thought it was transforming into a competition between the two men in Melanie's life, but, by the end of the book, I saw it was much more than that. My favorite part about Daniel, Melanie's autistic son, was when the author wrote the following which seemed to run more true in the way it was expressed than anything else in this book."Some mothers appear to make a badge out of autism, behaving as though it is not a disability but a "difference" and that we shouldn't be seeking to cure these children. Understanding is what is in order, they cry, a broader mind, an enlightened perspective. What you know about such people is that they have a child who functions very well, who may have Asperger's syndrome and not full-blown autism, and that they have probably not scrubbed feces from their carpet, or watched their child dry and rock in what looks like agony because he cannot speak. These people annoy me a little, although I admire how they cope, admire their presence of mind, their fearless defenses of their children. But we've walked different paths, and they are talking about mine as though they've been there, which they have not, and will not. Because having a child with autism--at least the type of autism I have experienced--is less like walking a patch than like hacking at a jungle with a scythe, not able to see much in front of you at all except more stuff you have to clear or step over, or around, or through."
    • 1/5
      Melanie can't understand why her three year old can't talk and avoids all sorts of human interaction. When they, Melanie and her husband Stephen, finally find the cause of why their son is the way he is they don't know what to do. He's autistic. Stephen unable to cope with Melanie's overbearing motherly instincts and his son's autism runs into the arms of an old flame. Left alone to try and help her son, Melanie turns to, Andy, a man who deals with and helps autistic children and their families. Will Melanie and her family ever be able to move on and find the happiness they deserve.When I first saw this book I thought it could be interesting don't get me wrong it was. I just didn't like the attitude of the book, the way it was written or the female protagonist.This book irritated me more than words can describe. The protagonist was more concerned about making her autistic son "normal" than with learning to cope with his condition. Yes, I understand that you'd do anything and everything you can to help your child become the very best they can be. I didn't feel this was the case with Melanie. I felt she just wanted to do anything and everything she could to stop her son being autistic but not for him, for HER. This book to me belittled everything about a disabled person making them seem like nothing but dribbling imbeciles. This quote could possibly be why I came to this conclusion: "But I don't want to put him in a classroom. What is so great about a classroom anyway? It holds no magic. How will it help him, to be with children whose behaviour is abnormal?... All he will do is imitate children who aren't acting like ordinary children in the first place. I've spent six months teaching him how to imitate and now they want his role models to be children who are not able to attend regular school themselves?"She was more focused on ranting about her husband, or rather soon-to-be ex, and being "me, me, me" focused. I nearly gave up several times and carried on hoping the book would get better. I hate to say it didn't. This was full of stereotypes. The attitude about special schools, well, that just annoyed me more. Not only was it deemed to be more of a prison, or even worse a concentration camp, but that only the simpletons of the world dare pass their threshold - having had a sibling go to such a place and met people from there I know this is not the case. Here's an example that showcases why I got irritated and perfectly sums up the book: "'He's autistic. That's what they've said. He will not grow up like a normal child. It's the worst thing that can possibly happen." He's autistic so therefore he's not going to have anything that slightly resembles a life that the mass majority have.
    • 4/5
      Vaccines don’t cause autism. Unorthodox ideas don’t cure it. But autistic kids are real individuals with real families, and Marti Leimback’s novel convincingly evokes that reality with engaging humor and enthralling detail. The only way I knew this book was fiction, in fact, was from the way those details drew me to share the protagonist’s life rather than just hearing about it.An American woman living in England, Melanie feels that slight detachment from reality familiar to expats everywhere. A fracturing marriage adds to the separation of real life from intended dreams. But her autistic child is even more detached, and Melanie fights to get the right treatment for him—treatment that might work—running the gamut of “was it the vaccine?” “will goat’s milk help?” and “please don’t lock him away in a school for no-hopers.”Daniel isn't Talking isn't a personal experience story or a self-help book. In fact, it would probably be risky to use it for self-help as, among other things, it honestly explores the doubts a mother might have about the vaccines and the prognoses given her child. But it's an enthralling novel, filled with memorably characters, humor, pathos and hope. Its miracles are those small miracles of real life, and its message offers a hope worth pursuing, for mothers, wives, carers and children alike.Disclosure: I picked it up at a book exchange because I have a relative with autism.
    • 3/5
      Seemed like chick lit for autism moms. Was entertaining, poignant, a little on the harlequin romance side with the perfect child-play-therapist-who-saves-the-child developing into a love interest. But shoot, if we don't need a little escapist fantasy, who does?
    • 4/5
      When a young boy is diagnosed with autism, the whole family is affected.The story is told through the eyes of the mother who has been aware that her older child is different from other children his age. The father doesn't want to acknowledge that there is a problem. As the mother searches for every possible way to help her child, her marriage falls apart and she finds herself falling in love with Daniel's therapist.This is a very readable and realistic portrayal of a family in crisis dealing with autism.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed thsi book. I have worked with many children with austism and found this book to be insight of family dynamics. I hated the father in this story although through the story I began to understand he was just fearful and felt sorry for him.
    • 2/5
      Much too pointed in its blame of the causes of autism, and what the “right” therapies are, with not enough actual science to back up the claims. Reads more like a help book for parents of autism with a little story thrown in than an actual novel, and there was not enough depth of exploration into the family dynamics that the diagnosis created.
    • 4/5
      This book was recommmended by Anita Shreve, Deborah Moggach, and Joanne Harris and that was good enough for me. I bought it and read it and I certainly was not disappointed. At the age of two, Daniel is diagnosed with autism and nothing will ever be the same for his family. The story is told by his mother Melanie who is determined to teach Daniel to be as normal as possible but she finds little support from the experts that she consults and none from her husband. This heartbreaking story is delivered with warmth and humour and is a great read. Ms Leimbach is a fine writer and I am glad to have discovered her.
    • 4/5
      Daniel Isn't Talking is a book about a child with autism and the way his family deals with his diagnosis and treatment. It's an easy read - I finished it in one day. Leimbach's descpiptions of Melanie, Daniel's mother, were realistic and inspiring. However, the book had more of a "chick lit" feel to it than I like. Her husband was a predictable jerk, without much depth. Leimbach's point that having a child with disabilities takes its toll on a marriage was made, but it would have been a better novel if she had tried harder to present the complex feelings of all of the characters, including Daniel's father. That said, it was great as a light read.
    • 5/5
      I was drawn to this story because the plot involves a young family trying to come to grips with the reality of a small child who is not talking. Since I have a grandchild who had language delays, I readily identified with the struggle, fears and pain of the young mother, an American woman who married a British man and lives in England. The writing is so candid and realistic, that I was certain the author wrote from personal experience. After finishing the story, I wrote an email to Marti Leimbach and to my surprise, she answered immediately and yes, she is the mother of an autistic son. This book does not sugar coat the situation and yet is not depressing. Realistically dealing with the family dynamics the novel shows that such life events impact everyone in the family and the author champions honesty and authenticity.
    • 4/5
      "Daniel Isn't Talking" by Marti Leimbach is a glimpse inside the life of a mother who is passionate about finding the key to unlock her young autistic son's mind. Her husband, Stephen, is a man who does not look beyond the surface of Daniel's illness, which eventually drives a wedge between the couple, and they separate.Melanie seeks out every doctor, every alternative, every possible method to try to set her son free from the quiet prison of autism....and meets a man named Andy who begins the process of "play therapy" with young Daniel. Over time, Daniel begins to respond to this therapy, slowly but surely....and Melanie's hopes begin to soar.Melanie goes back and forth, wishing her husband to be a participant in this effective treatment for their son, as well as to come back home, at least for the children's sake (there is a young daughter too, who is not autistic). But between her longing for her husband to come back home, she begins seeing Andy as more than just a therapist for her son, but as a man who seems to care for her and her family in a personal way.The book is a page turner, smooth and very well written. If the reader knows a person with autism, you will relate to this book. If the reader does not know a person with autism, you will find this book to be a fascinating look inside the complex world of a challenging and sometimes misunderstood illness.I very highly recommend this book to all. I'd love to read more by this excellent writer.
    • 4/5
      Good read. Mother in the story experienced many of the same emotions I did about my daughter with Down Syndrome.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this book greatly. It was a story that made me want to cry in the beginning and cheer at the end. Though slightly predictable, it made me feel good about myself as a mother and a woman because I could place myself in Melanie's shoes and understand her guilt, frustration, and finally, strength. Truly beautiful.
    • 3/5
      A novel that reads like a memoir about a mother dealing with an autistic son, her husband leaving her, and a man who works with autistic children with whom she falls in love.