This is another audiobook, so I’ll review the content as well as how I enjoyed the audio narration. I’d seen little blurbs for this book on my internets and had wanted to read it for a while before it was on sale on my audible account (speaking of which, I am reminded of credits that I need to spend…). I am particularly interested in books of this nature as they deal with a subject that I am interested in. What does life look like for mentally disabled adults once their parents have passed away? What do relationships with siblings look like? I have a brother who is intellectually disabled who currently lives in a facility with other disabled persons. As my own parents age, I’ve often wondered what will happen when they pass away. This book wasn’t terribly comforting in that sense.
Todd Aaron (our main character) has lived at Payton Living Center since he was eleven years old and the narrative takes place from his point of view. He is now one of the older residents and we see his peers through his eyes. Men and women with challenges that Todd, who has autism, does not completely understand but the reader is aware of the life Todd can not see. Todd does not know it but he craves stability and the simple compulsions that drive him keep him calm and happy until a new staff member joins Payton Living Center around the same time Todd is roomed with person who suffered a brain injury and tends to be violent. He also begins taking his medication erratically at the suggestion of another patient. It is in this moment that he feels an intense desire to return to his childhood home. He wants to be surrounded by things that he hasn’t seen for over forty years, but he is sure will make him comfortable. The book follows this unique journey “home” and his relationships with those around him, some of those people, like his parents, appear only in memory.
Not going to lie, I cried a lot while listening to this book. I found the passages when Todd speaks about his mother to be particularly beautiful. The words are those of a simple child, even though Todd is a bit above middle aged, but the sentiments are real and profound. His relationship with his brother is also complex and required the shedding of a few tears. Back in the day I worked for the State of Utah involved in a medicaid waiver program for those with disabilities that would lead well into adulthood. That job lead me into contact with various residents of what was called The State Developmental Center. Years before I was born, when it was still the accepted practice, parents with children who were born with mental disabilities or chromosomal disorders were given over to the developmental center and raised in the institution. Kim, the man who served as the basis for Dustin Hoffman’s character in Rain Man, famously gave interviews and would refer to his doctor telling his parents to “drop him off in American Fork” when he was born. The residents that grew up in that facility are almost all deceased now, but I wonder what their lives were like, and hope in some measure that they were happy. Todd’s own journey was one to come to understand why he had to live apart from his family. Through his memories we understand the difficulties that both of his parents faced and the misunderstandings that arose. We also see the relationship between siblings and the sense of responsibility, sometimes taken out of obligation rather than love.
Though Todd’s narration is simple, the book is beautifully descriptive and the reader feels they can see and are there with Todd. As for the audiobook narration, Bronson Pinchot (of Perfect Strangers!)was the narrator and his voice lent very well to the subject matter. Pinchot took a rather soft, slow, and careful approach as he said the words that were filling Todd’s head, and when he spoke the words that were coming out of Todd’s mouth I also think he did a great job of interpreting what that voice would physically be. I did enjoy this book, and while it doesn’t give amazing insight into autism, or even living with autism, it does paint a picture of relationships and interpretations and what “home” really means.
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