A Shot of Hope

Real Wisdom from a Real Sibling Warrior Providing Real Hope for Autism

By: Zack Peter

Narrated by: Aaron Landon

Length: 4 hrs

Publisher's summary

Autism shakes up your world. It has changed my life and I wasn't even the one diagnosed with it. My brother's name is Ethan Wolfgang, but we call him Deets. He is one of the greatest gifts my family has ever received. And one of the most challenging.

So begins Zack Peter's memoir of his family's struggle to cope with his brother's autism. And thus began Peter's mission to ensure that his brother will one day live an independent life. He candidly describes his attempts to get his family on board with Ethan's biomedical treatment and his fight against their reluctance. He relates how his life changes when he comes up with the idea of hosting a local fundraisers, which then throws him into the world of activism. He describes how this leads to his becoming a full-time advocate for autism. As everything in his life becomes more and more centered around the spectrum, Peter faces the personal struggle of being a voice for the cause while trying to maintain his own identity. Sharing the wisdom he's learned in a voice that's equal parts snark and heart, Peter offers a memoir that's as funny as it is poignant, filled with no-nonsense advice and what he calls "The Hope Rules," which are designed to help preserve sanity, dignity, and the will to stay strong. Whether you know someone with autism or not, Zack Peter's refreshing take on his life as a sibling and activist serves as inspiration to persevere, even when the odds seem impossibly long. It's everything you need to help keep your head up like the bottom of your glass.

©2014 Zack Peter (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Interessante Geschichte

Die Geschichte selbst ist interessant, aber wirklich viel Neues konnte ich nicht heraus hören, wenn man sich selbst ein wenig informiert und paar Bücher gelesen hat bereits, findet man hier kaum Neues. Trotzdem meinen Respekt an den Autor, so einen Bruder hätte ich auch gerne gehabt, wäre ich Autist. Positive Einstellung, ja, aber noch ein Buch von dem Autor muss ich nicht lesen, einmal empfehle ich es aber doch, die Lebensgeschichte war interessant zu hören

Disappointing

A Shot of Hope: Real Wisdom from a Real Sibling Warrior Providing Real Hope for Autism, by Zack Peter (2014, audiobook 4 hours). My response to this book is mixed. To me, it’s rather presumptuous of the author to offer “real wisdom”, to provide “real hope for autism” (whatever that means), and a bit self-aggrandizing to describe himself as a “warrior” for his brother. On the positive side, the author relates what appears to be true devotion to having a positive influence on his autistic brother’s life. Unfortunately, Mr Peters throughout his book references a goal of “curing” his brother of autism. For a variety of reasons, that is objectionable. There are many reasons to work to assist an autistic person in his or her life, but at its core, hoping for a cure seems to categorize the autistic person as ill—someone who with the right medical regimen will somehow become normal, whatever the hell normal is. (What a horrible fate: to be normal.) More importantly, while the author disclaims being an anti-vaxxer, he uses some of that group’s thoroughly discredited arguments. He also believes heavy metal toxicity is one of several cause for his brother’s autism, another widely panned theory. There are other arguments he advances about the cause of his brother’s autism, including gut issues and toxins in the general environment, like those emanating from his non-organic bed. Moreover, he claims of improvements in his brother’s behavior when changing his bed, and giving him vitamin supplements, among others. None, of course, have led to a cure. And the information is given as proof of the effectiveness of his actions, essentially cause & effect. Let me stress that we all take different measures in working with autistic family members to assist them, but we need to be careful when suggesting to others that those measures are definitively curative or effective. Some people are desperate for definitive answers, but those are few and far between. We should be careful about offering solutions to intractable issues, especially given the sometimes extreme variations of people on the spectrum. The author is to be applauded for his efforts to assist his brother, but I agree with other reviewers that this seems to be more a self-congratulatory encomium than a guide for siblings.

Waste of time

Maybe a kid would have found this interesting, but as an adult.. No.. Just NO..