From Publishers Weekly
Now 15 years old, the Bengali boy known as "Tito" wrote the texts collected in this book between the ages of eight and 11. That fact would be remarkable in itself, given their exquisite beauty and concision in describing the world of their author ("the cobweb of uncertainty remained"), but Tito's severe autism, diagnosed when he was three, makes them little short of miraculous. Tito's mother Soma taught him to write in Bengali and in English by working with him intensively over years. While there have been skeptics of Tito's writing ability (as documented in 60 Minutes and Good Morning America features), the experience of reading the book together with testimony from psychiatrist Lorna Wing convinces that Tito wrote it himself. It documents, with patient and poetic clarity, the experience of not fitting in, of finding the world beautiful, of having trouble making oneself understood-in short, of life as most people experience it.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Once in a great while, a special person emerges in the history of science and medicine whose unique set of characteristics sheds light on an entire disorder and sometimes even on the mysteries of the human brain. Tito is such a person. Although he is severely autistic and nearly nonverbal, his ability to communicate through his extraordinary writing is astonishing. At the age of three, Tito was diagnosed with severe autism, but his mother, with boundless hope and determination, read to him and taught him to write in English. She also challenged him to write his own stories. The result of their efforts is this remarkable book-written when he was 8 to 11 years old-comprising profound and startling philosophical prose and poetry. His beautifully crafted language reveals how it feels to be locked inside an autistic body and mind. THE MIND TREE is the work of an artist. With each page, Tito bursts through his silence into a world of art, beauty and hope.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Once in a great while, a special person emerges in the history of science and medicine whose unique set of characteristics sheds light on an entire disorder and sometimes even on the mysteries of the human brain. Tito is such a person. Although he is severely autistic and nearly nonverbal, his ability to communicate through his extra-ordinary writing is astonishing. At the age of three, Tito was diagnosed with severe autism, but his mother, Soma, refused to accept the conventional wisdom of the time that her son would be unable to interact with the outside world. With boundless hope and determination, she read to him and taught him to write in English. She also challenged him to write his own stories.

The result of their efforts is this remarkable book, written when Tito was between eight and eleven years old, comprising a collection of profound and startling philosophical writings about growing up in the most challenging of circumstances. His eloquent self-expression and beautifully crafted language reveal, for what experts say is the first time in history, how it feels to be locked inside an autistic body and mind.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Now 15 years old, the Bengali boy known as "Tito" wrote the texts collected in this book between the ages of eight and 11. That fact would be remarkable in itself, given their exquisite beauty and concision in describing the world of their author ("the cobweb of uncertainty remained"), but Tito's severe autism, diagnosed when he was three, makes them little short of miraculous. Tito's mother Soma taught him to write in Bengali and in English by working with him intensively over years. While there have been skeptics of Tito's writing ability (as documented in 60 Minutes and Good Morning America features), the experience of reading the book together with testimony from psychiatrist Lorna Wing convinces that Tito wrote it himself. It documents, with patient and poetic clarity, the experience of not fitting in, of finding the world beautiful, of having trouble making oneself understood-in short, of life as most people experience it. (Oct.) Forecast: A 35,000 first printing is a fair bet on this book's appeal beyond the autism community, to parents and kids who have responded to Mattie Stepanek and other child writers. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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