Stephen Gallup Book Review: What About the Boy? A Father’s Pledge to his Disabled Son

(Kikay Mom Note: This is yet again one of the posts from my former blog which I just couldn't bear not to republish. I read this book about a year ago, when I was considerably less confident of my ability to keep up with an active toddler while being a newly-singled mom. You can also read Stephen Gallup's guest post by clicking here.)

With free time at a premium, I have been very selective about what I have been reading lately.  Reading Stephen Gallup’s memoir took me about a day, in between attending to the Wonder Boy.  Now that I have read it twice, I can say that it was free time well-spent.

A few minutes after I had picked up my copy of the book at the Post Office, I read a few pages while sitting in the backseat of the car.  The first few pages telling of Joseph’s difficult birth had me instantly hooked, and I could hardly wait for my Wonder Boy to settle down for the night so I could continue reading.  I read the rest of the book straight until the wee hours of the morning, and it left me so affected that I felt I had to let a few weeks pass before writing a review.

When Your Child Has a Disability– Three Things to Remember

Guest post by Stephen Gallup

(The Kikay Mom note: I initially published this guest post last year on my now-defunct blog. At that time, my own Wonder Boy was still less than two years old and it got me thinking how blessed I was that he turned out so healthy, so intelligent, and so loving. Steve is the author of the book What About the Boy? A Father’s Pledge to His Disabled Son; I will be republishing my review of the book next week because I still feel then, as I do now, that it was a good read, containing interesting insights in between gritty anecdotes of a family dealing with a special child.)

Sooner or later, all parents deal with unexpected crises. Worry is just part of the adventure of raising kids. However, a surprisingly large number of parents also discover, usually sometime in the first three years of their child’s life, that a developmental disability is also part of the picture. Their child could be given a label like Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, ADHD, or autism. Or perhaps no diagnosis is offered, despite obvious problems.

My son Joseph was one of those who with no useful diagnosis. His birth in 1985 started our family on a very long odyssey in search of help. Here are a few lessons I learned along the way.

Steve with son Joseph at 3