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William Morrow
April 2010
On Sale: April 1, 2010
Featuring: Shonda Schilling
240 pages
ISBN: 0061986836
EAN: 9780061986833
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir
Until the summer of 2007, the word Asperger's, was
not a part of Shonda Schilling's vocabulary, but that summer
changed everything. By then, her household was in chaos as
her son Grant spiraled out of control. His acting out and
refusal to listen had grown to epic proportions, but even
worse was his apparent inability to relate to the people
around him. None of the Schillings' other three kids ever
acted like Grant; his behavior wasn't just unruly, it was
irrational. Complicating matters was the fact that
Shonda's husband, Curt, was constantly on the road pitching
for the Boston Red Sox, so he wasn't always around to see
Grant's behavior firsthand. Seemingly everyone Shonda
encountered had an opinion—"he's too spoiled," "he needs a
good spanking," "he needs more discipline"—but it was a
disastrous first attempt at summer camp that told Shonda
something was definitely wrong. It was then that a
neurologist diagnosed Grant with Asperger's syndrome—a form
of high-functioning autism that, in recent years, has been
found in children who at first glance appear disruptive and
difficult. Now in The Best Kind of
Different, Shonda details every step of her family's
journey with Asperger's, offering a parent's perspective on
this complicated and increasingly common condition. Looking
back on Grant's early years, she describes the signals she
missed in his behavior and confronts the guilt that engulfed
her after she came to understand just how misguided her
parenting had been before the diagnosis. In addition, she
talks about the harsh judgment she's faced from people who
don't buy into the diagnosis and how she's used passion and
information to fight the ignorance of others.
Celebrating Grant's successes and learning from his
setbacks, Shonda demonstrates how Asperger's forced her and
her husband to reconsider everything they thought they knew
about their son and each other, but in the end, it has made
their marriage and their family stronger and happier. A
tribute to Grant's strength and a candid glimpse into a
family coming to terms with its differences, The Best
Kind of Different is an intimate portrait of two parents
struggling to understand the complex beauty of their son.
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