A Journey with Brendan: Life with a child with autism, by a mother and paediatrician

Today 1 in 60 children are believed to be on the autism spectrum. In the UK, there is a 24 to 36 month wait under the NHS for diagnosis and many families are simply lost and desperate for help, advice and reassurance. May Ng’s book fills that gap. Through her knowledge both as an award-winning paediatrician and as the mother of a 13 year-old son with autism, May has documented her own tough journey to help countless parents with children on the autistic spectrum. There is no other book like this -that brings it all together under one umbrella; that not only gives a first-hand account of bringing up a child with autism but that brings together the wide range of resources and practical advice to help families cope. May and her husband Eugene, born in Malaysia and met as teenagers studying in Singapore were both awarded scholarships to study medicine in Australia. Brendan, their first child was diagnosed with autism at three. Over the years, while managing a full-time career and two other children, May researched, tried and documented almost every treatment and therapy available for autism – ‘public and private, new and old, mainstream and alternative. As she fought to help her son, May often felt the conflict between being a doctor researching any available evidence for a treatment and a mother willing to try anything that might help, however unlikely it sounded. May worked painstakingly, with persistence and patience, to teach Brendan to manage many basic life skills for himself. It was incredibly hard, but the long, arduous years of working to help Brendan speak, to be toilet trained, to get him into the right school and to access and develop his potential were worthwhile. Today, Brendan is a happy 13 year-old in an autism school and is able to do many things they once believed might not be possible.