Finding Robert: What the Doctors Never Told Us About Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Hard Lessons We Learned

Stevens, the father of a child diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) at a young age, writes a memoir of the struggles he and his wife, who also contributed to the book, faced in trying to find the right treatments and educational settings for their son, Robert. He was initially placed in a special education class and treated with medications. Robert's behavior was not greatly improved, however, and the drugs had many side effects. His parents never gave up, though, and continued searching for new doctors, treatments, and schools. Their tenacity paid off when they discovered the right combination of alternative therapies and could finally establish Robert in a mainstream educational venue that understood their son needed to be challenged intellectually. Robert improved and was finally weaned off his medications. Stevens does not claim that every child can stop taking medication and stresses that all children are different, but he encourages parents to ask questions, research a combination of treatments including alternative therapies, and never stop looking for the right school for their own children.