Product Description

If someone you love is diagnosed with autism, LOUDER THAN WORDS is the first book you should read.

One morning, Jenny McCarthy was having a cup of coffee when she sensed something was wrong. She ran into her two-year-old son Evan’s room and found him seizing. In that moment, Jenny went from being the mother of an average toddler to being in the midst of a medical odyssey. Doctor after doctor misdiagnosed Evan until—after many harrowing, life-threatening episodes later—one amazing doctor discovered that Evan is autistic.

Though Evan finally had a diagnosis, Jenny didn’t know what to do next and she soon found herself alone without any resources except for her determination to help her son. Jenny eventually realized that she’d have to become a detective. She spoke with many doctors, parents, governmental agencies, private foundations, and essentially earned a Phd in “Google Research.” At last, she discovered an intense combination of behavioral therapy, diet, and supplements that became the key to saving Evan from autism. And, now in this book, she creates a roadmap for parents who are concerned about their own child.

Jenny does more than just reveal the winning formula that worked for Evan. Her story shares the frustrations and joys of raising an autistic child and shows how with love and determination a parent can shape their child’s life and happiness.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50050 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Review
"Jenny has done an incredible job retelling the story of Evan, who also was forced to make the perilous journey through autism. Autism is not a dead-end diagnosis. It is the beginning of a journey into faith, hope, love, and recovery." --Jerry J. Kartzinel, from the introduction, MD FAAP

Review
"Jenny McCarthy takes us on journey of a mom dealing with her son’s Autism diagnosis and treatment. We learn what it is like to be a parent and have your dreams shattered. We learn about a disease and about how others dealing with similar circumstances can aid one another. We learn about alternative approaches that seem promising. We learn about healing, hope, and faith."
—David Feinberg, from the foreword, MD, MBA
Medical Director, Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA

“Jenny has done an incredible job retelling the story of Evan, who also was forced to make the perilous journey through Autism. Autism is not a dead end diagnosis. It is the beginning of a journey into faith, hope, love, and recovery.”
—Jerry J. Kartzinel, from the introduction, MD FAAP

About the Author
Jenny McCarthy is the New York Times bestselling author of Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth; Baby Laughs: The Naked Truth About the First Year of Mommyhood; and Life Laughs: The Naked Truth About Motherhood, Marriage, and Moving On.

Customer Reviews

There are better books from a parents' perspective
I too have a child who has autism and I was disappointed in Jenny's book. If you can get past the swearing (I'm not sure why she has to cheapen her experience with expletives), she definitely writes from her heart. However, as a non-celeb mom trying to find ways to deal with autism and not go bankrupt in the process, I had a hard time identifying with Jenny's journey since she seems to have a lot of money to put towards her son's treatment, and other help like nannies and cleaning ladies and such. Further, Jenny did seem to find a treatment that worked for her son, but I feel that all kids on the spectrum are so different and respond differently to the various treatments out there. She seems to advocate that this is "the only way". I think there are better books out there from a parent dealing with autism. Look at Susan Senator's Making Peace with Autism for starters. I appreciate the awareness Jenny has brought to autism with her TV appearances, but sadly, I thought her book was a little disappointing.

I suppose it's OK...
You can summarize most of the book by "Mommy Instinct" and "Google University".

As a person with a Masters in Biochemistry, it pains me that surfing around on Google now qualifies as "research" worthy of printing in a book. I'm sure the true autism scientists who get up every day painstakingly working toward some answers, must cringe that Jenny McCarthy is now their spokeswoman. I suppose any press is good press, and with media coverage comes grant money... so perhaps Jenny may be helping them out somehow.

As a person who is a now a physician, I think Jenny should understand that the doctors she bashes for the first 50 pages of the book did not go to medical school, and work 90 hours a week during their residency, and incur huge debt, just to come to work and give her bad advice. Doctors are human, and actually do care (especially the new ones), yet they must handle situations as they are taught. True, the outcome (or lack thereof) might be frustrating for a parent... but I wish she would accept that the people at the time were likely trying to do their best... and doctors are not God... they sometimes do not know all the answers for a situation that falls outside of the norm.

As a parent of a four year old with autism, I do feel that Jenny accurately conveyed the joys, frustration, fear, tears, more frustration, confusion, and even more frustration that is associated with a parent's discovery and subsequent acceptance that their child has autism. Herein I think is the value of this book. It may give some insight to friends and families of those with autistic children... what goes on in our homes when we are alone. Her best line was to the effect of... "please offer to babysit for these parents so they can go out to dinner."

I wonder if Jenny could appreciate the challenge facing other parents with autistic children, who cannot afford a nanny to help out, who cannot afford intensive therapy, who may have been kicked off their medical insurance plans. Now that would be an interesting follow-up book.

Gluten-free diets. There is no scientific proof yet that these diets help for certain. I think that if your child has obvious GI problems then it is worth a try... however there are also legitimate businesses capitalizing off Jenny's PR campaign who charge $1500 to evaluate a child and then prescribe the same diet to every child. If that child makes gains over the 1-2 year monitoring period... was it the intensive therapy... or classroom instruction... or the diet... or just the passage of time... that caused the improvement?

OVERALL: Its a decent read. Took me four hours. Rather than buy it, go borrow it from a friend and donate $20 to an autism society instead.

A book of heartbreak and, more importantly, hope
Jenny's latest book, "Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey In Healing Autism," is a book full of heartbreak, as Jenny relates the story of how her son was misdiagnosed and how she had to fight the health care system to get the right diagnosis and the right care for him. But more importantly it's a book full of hope, as Jenny tells how behavioral therapy, diet and supplements have helped her son immensely. It's a book I highly recommend to anyone with concerns about autism and any Jenny fan. It's an awesome read.