Monster Child: A Memoir - Paperback

by Kristal M. Johnson (Author)

By the time her son Konner was 5 years old, Kristal Johnson was afraid of him. He was strong, angry and he barely slept, and he threw the kind of tantrums that made other parents look for a quick exit. Kristal, determined to rein Konner in, tried every parenting tactic she could find, from elaborate daily reward charts to social-skills classes to punishment. Nothing worked. The doctors said Konner was defiant, yes, but they had no real advice to give. The daycare center said: Don't bring him back.

When her son was 6, Kristal finally got the dreaded call. Konner had been suspended from school for violently attacking his teacher during a temper tantrum. Furious at her son, Kristal walked into the school principal's office to pick Konner up one last time. That's when she saw him, her real son, trembling next to the big wooden desk, his brown eyes hopeless and scared. It wasn't the monster who terrified her, but the child trapped in that monster's body. She had no idea he had autism yet. But she knew her son was suffering, and she would stop at nothing to set him free.