The Forgotten Child is a book full of emotional intensity that carries the reader into Emily's world where she is fed up with her no-good husband and decides the time has come to make a long-needed change. She takes her daughter Katy and hires on as housekeeper, nanny and cook for Brad who is a rancher and a father to an autistic son. It takes Emily some time to make Brad aware that the problems with his son are medical ones and that he needs special care and attention. Just as Emily settles into her position in the house and into a budding romantic role with her boss, his runaway wife returns and upsets the whole apple cart. Poor Emily is ousted and humiliated until Brad sees what's really going on and takes steps to straighten out the mess in his life. Until the end, a lot of heartache and trauma happen that force the reader to keep turning the pages.

Adam is a 9-year-old boy who has Asperger's Syndrome (AS). AS is a neurobiological condition that is on the autism spectrum. People who have AS confront any number of sensory processing and communication issues. Adam gives good, factual explanations for how and why people with AS run into social road blocks. The best part of this book is that Adam appears to accept himself and the AS part of himself. That is what makes this book so outstanding.

This book will no doubt prove helpful to adults on the spectrum in helping to approach the subject of being on the a/A (autism/Asperger's) spectrum with NT (neurotypical) relatives, co-workers and other peers. It is a wonderful introduction to a/A and bridges the chasm between a/A and the NT population. It brings all readers onto neuro-neutral ground.

How I wish I had had this book when I was Adam's age. How lucky Adam is to know what his "undefined differences" were at a young age! This book is definitely worth reading and I can't recommend it highly enough. It will help remove those road blocks that people on the a/A spectrum confront on a routine daily basis.

Please read this and share it with somebody. You will be so glad that you did.