text: Alex the Boy: Episodes From a Family's Life With Autism: Jeff Stimpson: 9781607259275: Amazon.com: Books
  by Jeff Stimpson (Author)
  The author of Alex: The Fathering of a Preemie and webmaster discusses the next five years of his son's life, as Alex's family grapples with issues of sleep deprivation, Alex's limited diet, his (sometimes dangerous) public behavior with autism, and a host of other issues.
  Chapters are broken out by subject, and for educators and book groups study questions are included.
  "We fear for Alex as he grows up and maybe comes to depend too heavily on a system that was built when there was a lot more money around. It seems that all my life, money has been running out for just about everything but corporate retail. Is there a reason to suppose that a money shortage is going to abate just because Alex is closer to 21 years old than he used to be? To think that these might be the best days of Alex's life..."
  "His eyes were dull and flickering, and soon they went to the right, and stayed there. I scrambled to give him a neb; he took it in good spirit. But he still retched, his fine pink tongue flexing back and forth. His foot began to jimmy. Jill called for a report, and we were on the phone for perhaps two minutes when I had occasion to say, 'And here comes the vomit!'..."
  "Would he still have his sandals on, or would he have taken them off and left them while he strolled on and on? Would people look at him curiously, try to offer him help, ask his name, then give up when he didn't answer? Would anyone try to take him? Would he go? Such a stranger wouldn't have much chance of enticing Alex anyway unless he also had Saltines and happened to be wearing an Elmo suit. My big fear was that Alex would leave Central Park, get out to Fifth, and be plowed down by a car..."