Things happen to a mother when her child is diagnosed with something. It's like she becomes the pilot of an airplane that is headed for the Bermuda Triangle - a strange and unknown dimension that thrusts her into this whole chaotic world devoid of normalcy - whatever that is. I don't care what anyone tells you, when you find out your child has a condition or disorder, it's devastating. It changes things inside of you.
When Jacob was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome (TS), I went into immediate panic mode. Did I give this to him? Was it my fault? What did I do wrong? With these thoughts reeling through my mind, I began to slowly disappear into my son's diagnosis, and it consumed my every waking, and sometimes sleeping moments. I searched for answers, cures, solutions - anything to take this away from him. Anything to fix him.
Then something started to happen. I began to really look at Jacob and I noticed that his TS didn't bother him. It didn't stop him from being a "normal" kid. Even Nicholas, our youngest, didn't seem to notice Jacob was different. So why did it bother me so much? Once I started paying attention to how life really was for Jacob and not how I perceived it to be, once I started accepting things the way they really were, life for Jacob, and for all of us began to change.
He's Not Broken: A Mother's Journey to Acceptance provides parents of children with special needs validation for the emotions that come flooding in when they realize their child is "different". It offers encouragement and proves that one can rise above challenging diagnoses, and use the full force of emotions to make a difference.
Ultimately, He's Not Broken is a book of hope - a book about the spiritual and emotional journey with my son. It's a book about realizing that sometimes you don't get the child you expected and prepared for. But in my case, and I suspect many others, my special needs child turned out to be the special child I didn't know I needed.
He's Not Broken is a book about a remarkable child who believed in himself and who taught me to believe so much more than I ever thought possible.
He's Not Broken is a book for any parent who has felt challenged in the role of caregiver. It's a book for any parent who worries that she has made a wrong decision as to what is best for her child. It's a book for any parent who has ever worried that her child would never fit it. It's a book for any parent who has ever felt that her child is broken in some way.
Simply put, He's Not Broken is a book for parents.
