Autism in the Hood

ABA in NYC by Benjamin Wolfson. Book synopsis.

Imagine a world of empty refrigerators, no transportation, single parents with one or more children and the only income, the twice monthly social security check. A place to live that is owned and maintained by the City. Where the heat is only on for a few hours by night and no air conditioning by day. Add to this, a newly diagnosed child with autism. Offices to visit, doctors to write letters for approval of services, service centers on the other side of a town of eight million people. This is the world of the Hoods in Brooklyn, New York. The families who lived there were mostly Black, Hispanic or immigrants from the Islands or places where they did not speak English.

The 112,000-word book is a chronicle of the children and families I worked with in the Hoods. Children aged 0 to three with an autism diagnosis. The mothers of such children were usually taken aback when a White, Orthodox Jewish male made his way through the hood to find their thrice locked apartments to find her child. Each chapter retells the story of overcoming suspicion and finding hope. Of learning to trust people from different cultures and of discovery by both the families and the therapist. It details the work, progress, lack thereof and joys and sorrows working in such environments.

The book is intended for parents of children with autism, professionals and those interested in autism, working with cultures different than your own and insights into the difficulties faced by families due to poverty.