MOTHER WARRIORS A Nation of Parents Healing Autism Against All Odds

Tavia Gilbert's urgent reading captures the complexity of this controversial polemic on the causes of autism and strategies to overcome it. Sometimes her militant tone sounds out of sync with her otherwise attractive vocal range, but it's a good match for the same kind of conflicting energies in Jenny McCarthy's writing. The author explains that autistic symptoms can improve with medical treatments and that the medical establishment is blind to these treatments and to the environmental causes of the disorder. She makes her case with anecdotal evidence and relentless faith in her beliefs. The tasteful, appealing balance in Gilbert’s narration—ultimately more personal and convincing than argumentative—makes listeners want to believe in McCarthy’s position. T.W. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2010]