Raising Blaze: A Mother and Son's Long, Strange Journey into Autism

Debra Ginsberg knew that her son was unique from the moment he was born. Blaze never crawled; at one he simply stood up and walked. By the time he was four, he knew the complete works of Miles Davis. At five, he assigned colors to the days of the week. When he turned ten, he asked to reenact his own birth, so that this time he could have "enough breath to cry." But from his first day of kindergarten, Blaze was considered a problem in the classroom. All his life he's defied diagnosis by a host of experts who have sought to label him. Writing with blistering honesty and irrepressible humor, Debra Ginsberg interweaves her moving personal story and tales of her hard-fought battles with schools and medical professionals to create a book that speaks to all parents. Raising Blaze is a message in a bottle to all the square pegs who refuse to be shaped, shoved, or squeezed into unyielding round holes.