Arthur Fleischmann

There have been many fiction books released that feature an autistic protagonist - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend and just recently Love Anthony. I've read all three and really enjoyed them. Each author has brought their own 'version' of Autism and Autism spectrum to the written page.

But Arthur Fleischmann and his daughter Carly Fleischmann bring more than an imagined protagonist to the written page. Carly's Voice is an absolutely riveting show more memoir recounted by a father and his autistic daughter.

Arthur and his wife Tammy are overjoyed when they give birth to twin daughters. With son Matthew their family is complete. Taryn meets her milestones and thrives.....but, Carly doesn't. Carly is non verbal and severely autistic. What follows is an exhaustive tale of appointments, diagnoses, therapies, frustrations, and more. (Mom Tammy is fighting cancer as well.) I just could not even begin to fathom what the Fleishmanns went through. Arthur and Tammy are tireless advocates; determined to do whatever they can to help their daughter.

"Carly has autism. Three short words must suffice to explain a tome of weird behaviours and limitations. It's a shorthand for Carly-is-different-she-acts-in-odd-ways-she-loves-taking-off-her-clothes-especially-if-what-she-is-wearing-has-a-spot-of-water-on-it-she-likes repetitive-motion-like-that-of-a-swing-she doesn't speak. We didn't know what Carly knew and what she was incapable of knowing. She made odd movements and sounds and covered her ears when it was noisy. She cried often. And she never, ever stopped moving. Never."

And, in one of those 'what if we hadn't' moments....Carly types...Help Teeth Hurt. Although Carly was able to point to pictures for what she wanted, no one had any idea that she was able to communicate in this fashion. And at last Carly has a voice - she is finally able to 'speak'. But Carly's story doesn't end there - her fight to control her body, her desire to live like any other teenage girl, her family's dedication to helping Carly be the best she can be is an ongoing, uphill battle. And you won't believe the places it's take her....so far.

"What keeps us moving forward? Sometimes its just inertia. But we keep sight of Carly's dream to be accepted. She wants to live life fully, accomplish great things, and not be pitied. She just wants to be understood. What else can we do? We get up in the morning when the alarm goes off. And never accept 'no' or maybe."

I really couldn't put the book down. I was so humbled and inspired by Carly. As I type this up using all of my fingers, I am struck by the image of Carly labouriously typing one letter at a time with one finger while trying to control her body's spasms.

Carly is an inspiration to all, but especially to those who are living with, coping with or touched by autism. For those who haven't got a clue - it's an eye opener. Highly recommended.

"I am an autistic girl but autism doesn't define who I am or how I'm going to live my life." Carly. show less

If you have an autistic child, an autistic family member or work with autistic individuals, you need to read this book. Although the family's story is compelling, what I found to be most valuable is the insight that Carly herself provides into how autism feels, why she is irresistibly compelled to behave in certain socially unacceptable and even dangerous ways, and why her form of autism makes receptive and expressive communication so extremely difficult.

As the mother of an autistic teenager show more with severely impaired communicative abilities, I am desperate to understand how my daughter experiences the world so that I can help her adapt and progress to the best of my ability. Though I can't know or assume that her perceptions and feelings are exactly the same as Carly's, I have a better sense of what her internal life may be like and why she reacts to things the way she does. I have always suspected that there is much, much more going on within her than meets the eye, and thanks to this book, I am more sure of it than ever. show less

This is a really interesting way this book ended up coming out. The vast majority of this book is written by Arthur Fleischmann, who is Carly's father. This is written from his perspective. I don't really know how much input Carly had on his parts, but when you read the afterword portions which are written by Carly, it comes through (at least to me) that a lot of the "problems" which I saw from the story, and ways it "failed to really be respectful" seem to be shared by Carly, as she writes show more "around" how certain aspects like "inappropriate behaviour" should probably be looked at as something which are likely coming from "other places" than what typical people wish to view them from.

Even at the end, Arthur is *supporting* ABA, which there is strong indication that it has been highly problematic in Carly's life, *and* that Carly believes that it was problematic. Unfortunately this is something which while I could understand the perspective, gives a good look at some things which I am aware of from "outside the book" though it's not explicitly stated even those "elsewhere" places. I hope that someone really does get to realize what is being "screamed" by Carly, but because she literally hasn't been given the language for it (she's been *told* "this is good for you" and even when she says "but it hurts" it is barely heard, and she doesn't have language beyond that, due to the fact that she probably hasn't had a chance to hear other messages that would be more progressive). show less

I am normally not the type to cry over books. This one, I did. Good crying, though. It was a beautiful book. Carly is an amazing girl, and she's very lucky to have the family she does. Reading her story taught me more about autism than I've ever known. Definitely recommended.